Setting up a limited liability company in Central Europe is pretty fast, between 1-4 weeks, depending on the country. Company setup is fastest in Hungary and the Czech Republic (only 2-5 days).

The application procedure is different in each country, and you should consider it already before company setup, when planning your operation.

• Hungary: immediate EU VAT number, assigned automatically when your company is registered.
• Slovakia: ca. 30 days (officially 30-90 days) after company registration.

VAT rates in the EU vary country by country, while on some products, reduced rates apply. Standard VAT rates cannot be lower than 15%, but there is no maximum.

In Central Europe, you will find the following standard VAT rates: Slovakia: 20%, Czech Republic: 21%, Poland: 23%, Hungary: 27%. Note that companies are able to reclaim VAT on most expenses, and also international B2B trade is mainly without VAT added.

POA is short for power of attorney. It is an authorization that lets our team members and lawyers take care of Central European company formation for you even if you cannot or do not want to travel to Europe for the time being. While company formation is possible through a POA in all of Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic, you may need to make a personal visit to the bank to set up your local corporate bank account; if travel is an issue for you, please consult our team for options.

While the euro (EUR) is widely accepted in Central Europe and it is often used for calculations and in international trade (meaning you can set up an EUR bank account everywhere), currently only Slovakia has the euro as its official currency. The other countries still use their traditional national currencies: “HUF” or “forint” (Hungary),  “CZK” or “koruna” (Czech Republic), and “PLN” or “zloty” (Poland).

A registered seat is the official address of your Central European company. Your company will need a registered seat in the country where you set it up. This is where local authorities will expect to find it, meaning that any mail sent here will be considered delivered. Because of this, it is essential that mail at your registered address is signed for and opened regularly by someone who speaks the local language (as much of the mail will come from the authorities) and can instruct you on how to respond. This is essentially what our ‘virtual office’ service includes, to guarantee that your company will remain fully compliant (see below).

Virtual office is a service that combines registered seat and mail forwarding. If you have no office and/or staff in the chosen jurisdiction, do not worry: we will not only provide you the address for your company, but will also make sure that there is competent personnel every day who can receive, handle, and forward your incoming official mail appropriately.

You can have the same virtual office throughout the entire life cycle of your Central European company, meaning that you get proper mail forwarding even before renting your office or hiring your first assistant, and that you do not have to modify your company data every time you move your main place of operation (office or shop).

Yes, as the MD of a Central European company you can apply for residency in the country where your company is registered. Please, feel free to ask our colleagues about your options.