To Belgium/European webmasters
 

Good morning everybody!

How is the legal situation regarding online porn in your country?
I know that in the Netherlands they don't care about hardcore sexual intercourse on web sites.

I'm looking for a country where I can incorporate.
In Holland are the taxes high and a B.V. costs 18000 Euro.

How is the situation in Belgium/UK/Austria or Switzerland?

:helpme

Starting a BV doesn't cost €18000. The business has to have a starting capital of at least €18000 in either money or goods.

I don't have any goods (but the money :winkwink: )

Corporate taxes are relatively low in Austria. At the moment it's 34% but will be lowered to 29% next year.

Authorities care very little about legal porn on the Internet. Much less than in Germany where you have to take seroius measures against minors accessing your sites.

The following types of porn are considered illegal in Austria: CP (under 16), BDSM, beasts, veggies(!), pee, scat

You're kidding, right?

We got several belgium webmasters on my board if needed, contact me.

Hey Jenny, I'll send you a mail until tonight (I will use your webmaster link)

I'm from Belgium and answered this exact same thread on another board, for you to figure out which one :)

I will have a look, Fonz!

keep it coming
post more infos
interesting read here

I think in Germany an AVS in front is needed, anyway many German webmasters do TGP galleries, free sites etc.

Yupp, germany wants to have every naked tit behind an AVS, but those AVS are really free! You just have to put your passport ID and get access, much easier as stealing daddy's creditcard and pay $, but yo, thats germany LOL

Come to Serbia&Montenegro,we don't have taxes for porn here:thumbsup

Actually I am not. As far as I know it's forbidden to publish sex with food. It's legal though to have sex with "them" as long as you don't publish it :)

We simply don't want our cucumbers & carrots being raped.

You are welcome.

Yes. But actually their AVS start requiring people to go through a procedure where they have to proof their legal age to an official at a post office before joining the AVS. It's mad!

BS

I just read in a newspaper that Austrian parliament "upgraded" the lagal age for published porn to 18 years, effective next year.

yep the porn laws in germany are just crazy.

Wow, a very informative comment. Maybe you can clarify the amount?

why don't you get some professional help with that? Setting up a BV is far less than 18000?. Don't know the amount by hearth but it's far far less... (I'm from Belgium BTW)

Amounts like 18000? are usually "minimum capital" requirements. It's not the cost for incorporation. You just have to deposit that amount on a bank account and as soon as the incorporation has been completed you may use the money again. So it's just locked for a few days or maybe weeks.

i've often considered running away to Belgium to work for the summer...

you can always hit me up on 324724751 (icq) if you want some info, and I'll help you around in Belgium (places to stay,eat and stuff,work...)

What part of Belgium are you in? I went for the first time a couple years ago and straight off the bat I fell in love with the place. Every city I go to is better and better.

what part? Belgium is ony 200km/200 miles wide:thumbsup I'm from Flemish Brabant... centre part of Belgium. Believe me Belgium, if you know your way around, you won't go back. Best food in the world by far, and I've seen alot when I was young:thumbsup

I want to get an overview about country specific rules. I thought that here are a lot of webmasters from different countries. Before I spent any money I'm asking other webmasters. For the final decision I can hire professional help.

I meant which City are you nearest and yes are you in the French or Flemish area :)

I have spent some time (more than one trip each) in Ostende, Bruges, Brussels and Ghent (Ghent only once). I without a doubt found the Flemish people to be the friendliest to us as English speakers. I desperately want to learn Flemish but I was told to go the route of learning German or Dutch first and then going to learn Flemish.

The only problem we have had is that my husband is in a wheelchair and Brussels in particular was a nightmare for getting around in the chair. If they changed it so that people could actually use a wheelchair on the sidewalks I am pretty sure we would be spending a good part of the year in Belgium.

As long as you have a warning on your website for the visitors, that your site contains porn, it's ok. Like the warning on the us-pages, where you only have to click YES or NO to enter the page.
No AVS required - so I would say quite good situation here :) hardcore magazines / movies (for example hustler dvd's, vivid dvds, ...) you can buy here on most newsstands.

Thank you!
I was unsure about the situation in Switzerland, but your answer helps a lot!
I know that the swiss tax system is middle-lower range in Europe,
but different from state to state (Kanton)

Well I'm 15 min drive from brussels... Flemish people tend to be open minded towards foreigners and most flemish people can speak English to some degree... If you want to learn flemish... good luck, you'll need it. MUTCH harder than French or German. Oh and btw, Flemish = almost the same as Dutch. The main language in Belgium is Dutch btw (Dutch is also the main language in the Netherlands). Flemish is some sort of dialect derived from Dutch. (impossible to master:thumbsup)

The E18.000 only has to be in your account on the day you create your BV, they don't care if it's gone the next day or not.

I'm from Belgium and ain't liking it here anymore

It's good to live here for the average Joe, but once you start making some good money the tax guy will take all your money and benifits.

I remember the wise words of my economics teacher in college: once you make good money, get your ass out of this country if you can :321GFY

I took some German in school and even though I forgot most of it just having a little bit helped me to figure out some signs in Belgium. I know it isn't the same at all but in some cases the words are almost the same if you sound it out.

i live in belgium (brussels)

Belgium happens to be a tax haven.

Yes that sounds incredible even to native belgians - but any tax lawyer here will explain to you why.

dont be fooled by the high marginal tax rate - there are so many deductions you can get away with paying zero taxes no matter how much you make.
for instance there is the expatriate tax regime which exempts you from taxes all income you generate outside belgium.

and yes they are totally ok with hardcore porn.

just turn on the tv in any hotel to know that :)

hit me up on ICQ.. always fun to know some fellow Belgians... (icq in post above):thumbsup