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Comments
600$ is not realistic in any way for 1m2 space, power and BW in HK. And it never was. @randvegeta knows that as well.
Well back in 2005, property prices was far more affordable than it is today. But yes, it was still very cheap, and bw prices were actually higher back then, and I was sucking up a good 40Mbit average (all international) out of those 2x 100Mbit lines that came with my rack.
The company pretty much collapsed when we were forced to move (not because of price increases, but because of REAL dodgy practices by a REAL dodgy company). Had to rebuild from 2008.
Any way. Costs are out of control in HK. BW prices are coming down, which is good, but property is ridiculous (makes London and New York look cheap!), and of course staff wages must go up too. I don't know why anyone would want to start a new hosting company in HK nowadays.
Space wise, sure. Including power (not even speaking about BW)... not really. I don't remember any time when the amp 220V was below US$ 20, and if they included 10A that are US$ 200 alone.... not even counting in the required AC...
Yea, even the crap areas are expensive by now (did someone say Kai tak...?). Hell, you can live nowadays cheaper in Macao if Beijing allows you to... but the gambling mainlanders get annoying.
Well, the mostly no tax is pretty attractive, as is the simple incorporation....
I guess that the motivation behind the LEB pricing practice of "recurring, for the life of the service" is that this is a market where the prices have tended to decrease over time, so it seemed like a fairly safe bet for a provider to adopt this practice. (Compare, for example, the average price of a KVM VPS with 512M RAM and a 10G HDD in 2017 versus in 2012.)
My sense lately has been that LEB prices are already close to rock bottom, and so we won't witness the same kind of price decreases in the next five years as compared to the last five years. What will still change is that the specs will improve for the same price: for example, in five years, $5/m will get you a VPS with better specs, but you will still pay $5/m, as you do today. (This assumes a scenario without major catastrophes, such as world war.)
Ah yes that is true. It's not NO TAX though to be fair. Just low and simple tax. You make enough money and the higher costs are offset by your tax savings. But in HK that's really getting hard.
I spend a lot of time in Lithuania now, and I figure for the same lifestyle in HK and Lithuania, you need to spend at least 10x more. Not an exaggeration by any means.
I mean if you live in a tiny apartment near the MTR (train) station and you eat only Asian foods (mostly veggies + chicken/pork) then sure, you can get by on a modest income in HK. But if you want a car, a house and to eat 'Western Style' food, the costs are crazy. Not to mention, no matter how rich you are, the streets, restaurants, hotels, cinemas, and so on, are ALWAYS busy and crowded. I'm starting to really love the time I spend in LT!
Well, both of these are REALLY high end luxury things in HK, same as in SG.
Keep in mind once you live in LT you pay EU income tax - 30%+.
Not quite. LT tax rate is 15%. If you're self employed then you get pretty close to this figure. As an employee, you end up paying more. So being a business owner in LT is not bad.
Plus ~10% health insurance. Flat 15% with nothing further is only applicable for non resident companies. Compare that to Croatia - we have 20% "flat" tax on profits which is ultimately less than LT still as there are less costs on top and unlike LT/LV nearly anything is company payable (including cars).
As company director you are also liable to company profit tax and personal income tax.
Personal income tax in LT is flat 25% (which is the same as Croatia until ~13k income annual) - anything less than 20% is not available in EU (Bulgaria and Cyprus have this, with Cyprus changing from 15% some years ago).
Only the canary islands (Spain) and the azores (Portugal) have less, and they are exempted as outermost territories.
I pay ultimately around 30% in Croatia while the UAB of someone i know runs him for around 35% - not much more but still a difference. Simplicity wise Bulgaria is much better as you have only 20% and the rate for everything (VAT + income) is the same (not directly but as result).
Well it seems to be a bit more complicated. There are whole bunch of exceptions and there's even a 5% rate applicable for small companies and even 'personal activity'.
For sure as an employee it's more like 30% but as a self-employed or business owner, the rates can be competitive.
Bare in mind if you own a company and you take the money out as a dividend, so long as you own more than 10% of the company, dividend income is also tax free.
But no doubt, tax is way more complicated in LT and EU in general compared to HK.
I don't see why the hosting industry should be immune to laws of supply and demand and the market forces that in some form or another dictate every other industry on the planet. Price increase all you want.
I do not think Açores works different. They should have exactly the same conditions in AT (finances). Same applies to Madeira. Just two islands, fees are the same.
No, they are not.
Relevant EU decree is C-88/03.