The legal shell of a one-person software business

  1. Map your establishment, customer locations and sales channels
    1 hour

    Start with where you are, who you sell to and how the money reaches you. That determines which register, tax office and data-protection authority can ask you for paperwork.

    Create a one-page table with four columns: Home base, Target markets, Sales route, Authority.

    • Home base: country, UK nation or US state where you live and where you are tax resident. This decides your company register and tax registration.
    • Target markets: every country, EEA member state, UK and US state you actively target with language, ads, currency or shipping. Being outside the EU does not by itself remove EU rules.
    • Sales route: for each market mark direct sale from your site, Apple App Store, Google Play, or merchant of record such as Paddle or Lemon Squeezy.
    • Authority: note the competent register, tax office and supervisory authority per route. Keep the sheet dated — later steps copy from it.