There are two ways to start a business in Slovakia. One way is to establish a new company; the other is to buy a ready-made company. Becoming statutory body of the company also guarantees a residence permit.
A ready-made company is a company that was established some time ago, but it has not conducted any business. Therefore it has no history. There are companies, who establish new companies for the sole purpose of its sale (they make profit out of it). The most popular form of company is so-called s.r.o. That is because its shareholders are not liable for debts of the company.
For many people it is easier to buy a ready-made company than to establish a new company. This is because it takes about two to three weeks to establish a new company in Slovakia and it requires quite a lot of paperwork. If someone needs the company right away, the purchase of ready-made company is the best solution.
There is also an option to buy a company with history that does not conduct any business today. Many companies offer such companies for sale also. All legal and accounting obligations are sort out. If there occurs such obligation later, the previous owner is liable for it.
If the company´s turnover achieves 49 790 eur per 12 consecutive months (does not have to be a calendar year) it must be registered as a VAT (value added tax) payer at the local tax office. If the company´s turnover is below this threshold registration is optional. Still, many companies choose to be registered as it enables to deduct VAT invoiced by business partners.
It is possible to purchase both types of companies (registered VAT payer and not a VAT payer). Generally the company which is registered as a VAT payer is much more expensive. That is because the company, that intends to register itself can be required to submit some documents to the tax office and asked to pay a security fee beforehand. All these formalities and costs might be avoided by purchasing a VAT payer.
For EU-citizens nothing is required to enter and leave Slovakia. If the person stays in Slovakia for more than 3 months, he/she is required to notify the Border and Alien Police. No fee or other obligation is required.
The situation is a little more complicated for EU non-citizens. For the shareholder of the company, the residence permit is not required but the ownership of the company´s share does not guarantee a residence permit for the person.
The statutory body of the company in Slovakia is an executive director. That means he is the person who acts in the name of the company. For the executive directors, the residence permit is guaranteed.
It is allowed to be both – a shareholder and an executive director of the company.
Many companies also offer a service with providing a virtual office. That means that they provide their immovable property as a registered seat of the company. After signing such power, they also offer a service of scanning letters addressed to the company. Afterwards they send these letters to the owner via email.
The purchase of a ready-made company is the perfect solution for those entrepreneurs who have found themselves with an unexpected business opportunity but do not have the time to handle all the necessary formalities associated with forming a new company.
The purchase of a ready-made company – essentially the purchase of the equity interest – can be arranged in much less time than that required for all the processes of forming a new company (obtaining a trading licence, registration in the Commercial Register, tax registration). This is why buying a ready-made company is so popular.
Changes can be registered in the Slovak Commercial Register for up to 15 business days.
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