Stripe in unsupported countries: how to connect

This question worries many entrepreneurs, especially those involved in dropshipping or e-commerce. Stripe is considered one of the best payment gateways available on the market and has already surpassed its main competitor, PayPal, in many respects.

Stripe doesn’t allow citizens of Ukraine, Georgia

Unfortunately, Stripe doesn’t allow citizens of Ukraine, Georgia, and other post-Soviet countries to open accounts and accept payments from clients. However, we have several solutions to this problem.

The most cost-effective option is renting a Stripe account. In this case, your account is created under a foreign legal entity, and you simply connect your website and Payoneer card to this account for withdrawals. This is a good temporary solution for testing the success of your niche or product in the market without the additional costs of registration.

Please note that this is a temporary option, as long-term use of this mechanism is unstable and risky. After all, the account is registered to someone else’s legal entity, and the only security mechanism is that you are the only one who knows the password to your Stripe account. By using a rented account, you lose all legal protection.

There’s a cheaper, but riskier, option. It involves registering an account under the name of a foreign citizen. Some companies offer this option, but it’s not a viable solution, as the Stripe payment system may require verification of the account’s identity at any time.

In most cases, this is impossible and as a result, your account is blocked along with all the funds you have earned.

We do not recommend doing this, as it is a direct violation of the payment system rules and will lead to disastrous results.

Most Appropriate Option

The most appropriate option is to register your own company in a foreign jurisdiction. The United Kingdom or Estonia are among the most suitable countries for this purpose.

The advantage of these jurisdictions is the simplicity of the tax system: Estonia has a 20% tax on withdrawn capital, which allows you to literally never pay any real tax, while the UK has an 18% corporate tax, which is calculated for the fiscal year using the “income minus expenses” formula, with a very wide range of transactions that can be included in expenses.

Secondly, these countries have a stable political system with access to a vast capital market and low costs for both company registration and reporting. Subsequently, a corporate bank account is opened for the company and a Stripe account is connected.

This company can be registered to a CIS citizen and operate completely legally. This option is completely risk-free, as you are the legal owner of the company and can manage the funds in its accounts independently, without the risk of falling victim to fraud. Using this option, you can always confirm the origin of your funds, protect your earnings, and generally conduct your business properly. Of course, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

You gain access to the capital market, the opportunity to attract additional investment, and the ability to pay taxes correctly by calculating VAT and using other tax planning methods. In short, this will be a real, scalable business, not a “student side hustle” dropshipping small quantities of goods to the US/EU markets.

Conclusion

As for “liability,” it’s primarily a matter of proper legal registration and the proper use of tax instruments. If you plan to conduct serious and transparent business, you should consider this option. You can connect additional websites, apps, or stores to this company at any time.