Extension of the e-residency card - why paying taxes is important

Recently Estonia published a list of countries which' citizens will not receive e-residency and who's e-residency will be extended only in very special circumstances, the countries are:

Russia, Belarussia, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, North Korea, Mali, Nigeria, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso.

This does not mean the other nationalities will face an easy extension.

Recently the Police and Border Guard are looking more and more into the fact if the e-resident's company is actually contributing to Estonia - mainly this is done via payment of taxes. This can be taxes on dividends and salary mostly. They are also looking at the fact if the company has any kind of business in Estonia - if they do not have but are using Estonia VAT, this is a definite red flag. If there has been no business or no company created, extension likely will not be given.

So how can you make sure the e-residency card is extended? Do not misuse the Estonian VAT and pay some taxes in Estonia. There is no guaranteed amount that will get the extension but you have to show the company is also benefitting Estonia.