Common Mistakes [TGS]

We see these situations repeatedly. Usually when clients ask for help after something has already gone wrong. None of them are unusual. All of them were avoidable.

1. Assuming your home-country structure travels well.
The way your business is set up – its legal form, its ownership structure, the way profits flow – may create unexpected tax exposures in another jurisdiction. What works perfectly at home can be costly, sometimes seriously so, once you cross a border.

2. Missing the employment law moment.
Many countries require formal employment contracts, contributions to state schemes, and compliance with local labour law from the very first hire. The instinct to get established first and sort the paperwork later is understandable. It’s also how penalties happen.

3. Underestimating permanent establishment risk.
If your employee or representative is doing business in a country – closing deals, signing contracts, holding stock – tax authorities may conclude that you have a taxable presence there, whether or not you intended that. The thresholds are lower than most people expect.

4. Getting the VAT or sales tax wrong.
Indirect tax rules vary enormously between jurisdictions, change frequently, and apply at different points in a transaction depending on where you are. Digital services, cross-border goods, and the distinction between B2B and B2C all have rules that don’t work the same way everywhere.

5. Opening a bank account too late.
In many countries, opening a corporate bank account takes weeks or months, requires in-person attendance, and depends on very particular paperwork. Businesses can find themselves legally established and operationally paralysed – unable to pay suppliers or receive payments while they wait.

6. Trusting a translation but not a context.
A contract translated accurately from one language to another may still not say what you think it says, because legal concepts don’t map neatly across jurisdictions. “Director,” “partner,” “beneficial owner” – these terms carry different legal weight in different systems, and the difference matters.

7. Leaving transfer pricing as an afterthought.
If your business operates across borders, the prices you charge between your own entities are subject to rules that tax authorities take seriously. Many growing businesses discover this at audit rather than in advance. By then, the options are limited.

8. Moving faster than your advisers.
The most common theme in cross-border problems is simply this: the business moved – hired people, signed leases, started trading – before the structure was ready to support it. Speed is a competitive advantage. But it has a cost when the compliance catches up.

-

If any of these feel familiar, or if you’re about to do something that might belong on this list, that’s what the network is for.