Good morning Quezoy,
to open a private business in Macedonia you have basically 2 options: private enterprenour or limited liability company. Usually accountants advice this second option, whihc requires a minimum capital of around 5.000 EUR (but please check this information, may be my memory is not so good).
In this second case you shall employ yoursefl, with a salary which cannot be less than the minimum stated by the law (in this moment it should something like 100-150 Eur NET, but once more please check).
In any case the tax rates are:
-company income tax: 10%;
-personal income tax: 10%
-gross salary(=company cost)/net salary= approx 1.5 for ordinary salaries (as higher, as more regressive the total cost become, weird but true).
About your wife, considering the unemployment rate and the average salaries here, i don't think she would improve her chances here.
The only plus, for now, is the cost for living. Anyway consider that the public health system has several lacks, therefore almost everybody who can afford it uses private health system, cheaper than in EU but not for free.
Regards
