Company registration in the Czech Republic

Foreign individuals and companies may set up or buy Czech companies on the same terms as Czech entrepreneurs, according to the state agency CzechInvest. The usual form for small and medium-sized businesses is the s.r.o. The company comes into existence on the day it is entered in the obchodní rejstřík kept by the registry court (krajský soud). The founding document must be executed by a Czech notary as a notarial deed.

Key facts about the Czech s.r.o.

The amounts above are official fees and statutory rates under Czech law as of October 2026. Our professional fees are separate.

How the registration works

1. Structure. We establish the members, beneficial owners, the future jednatel and the planned activities. The activity determines the type of trade licence (živnostenské oprávnění): about 80 activities fall under the free trade licence, others require a qualified responsible representative.
2. Registered office. We arrange an address and obtain the written consent of the owner of the premises. The owner's signature must be certified and the consent may not be older than 3 months (Section 14 of the Public Registers Act No. 304/2013 Coll.).
3. Members' documents. A corporate founder needs a register extract not older than 3 months. Ukrainian documents are filed with an official Czech translation. According to the Czech Embassy in Kyiv, no apostille is required for Ukrainian documents under Article 18 of the 2001 Czech-Ukrainian treaty on legal assistance in civil matters. We confirm the requirements of the specific notary in advance.
4. Notarial deed. The founding document is signed before a Czech notary in person or through a representative. A power of attorney for this act must be in writing with a certified signature (Section 441 of the Czech Civil Code).
5. Contributions. The contributions administrator (správce vkladů) opens a special bank account and the members pay their cash contributions. Total contributions up to CZK 20,000 may be paid without a special account. CzechInvest recommends that the contributions administrator visits the bank in person; some banks accept a power of attorney.
6. Register entry. We file with the registry court or arrange a direct entry by a notary. The court makes the entry or decides within 5 working days; for documents not in Czech, the period starts when the translation is filed (Section 96 of Act No. 304/2013 Coll.).
7. After the entry. The trade licence and tax registration can be requested in one application at the trade licensing office (živnostenský úřad). The company records its beneficial owners in the register of skuteční majitelé (Act No. 37/2021 Coll.) and automatically receives a data box (datová schránka) for official correspondence.

Registered office in the Czech Republic (sídlo)

Every s.r.o. needs a registered office, and the full address is entered in the register. The founding document may state only the municipality (obec), so a move within the same municipality changes only the register entry (Section 136 of the Civil Code). The company must hold the right to use the premises for as long as the address is registered.

• the address can be an office, a virtual office or a flat, provided it does not disturb the peace of the building;
• the application includes the owner's written consent with a certified signature, not older than 3 months;
• authorities deliver official documents to the data box, where a message counts as delivered 10 days after it arrives, so the box needs regular checks;
• the company address and the owner's home are separate matters: proof of accommodation for immigration purposes is arranged separately.

Changes after registration

Owners most often change the executive director (jednatel), the registered office, the members or the business activities. The application is filed without undue delay after the decision; if the company has not filed within 15 days, anyone with a legal interest may do so (Section 11 of Act No. 304/2013 Coll.). The official fee for a change is CZK 2,000 at the court or CZK 1,000 through a notary.

Accounting and tax in brief

• corporate income tax 21%, personal income tax 15% and 23% (CzechInvest, 2026 rates);
• VAT (DPH): standard rate 21%, reduced rate 12%;
• a company becomes a VAT payer from the next year once its domestic turnover for a calendar year exceeds CZK 2,000,000, or from the day after it exceeds CZK 2,536,500 within the year (Section 6 of Act No. 235/2004 Coll.);
• annual financial statements are filed in the collection of documents of the register (sbírka listin).

For a wider overview of Czech taxes and the business residence options, see the INNOVA guide Czech s.r.o. for foreign founders.

Buying a ready-made Czech company

Buying an existing s.r.o. means a transfer of the ownership interest (podíl). The agreement is made in writing with certified signatures, and a transfer to a third party needs the consent of the general meeting unless the founding document provides otherwise (Section 208 of Act No. 90/2012 Coll.). Before the purchase we check the specific company: the register and sbírka listin, tax arrears, the beneficial owner register, licences, filings and messages in the data box. We carry out this check for a company you have found or been offered.

What we handle

• structure review: founders, beneficial owners, activities, licensing needs;
• documents from Ukraine: extracts, powers of attorney, official translations;
• registered office and the owner's consent;
• notarial deed and entry in the obchodní rejstřík;
• trade licence, tax registration, beneficial owner register;
• changes to the company and checks of a ready-made company before purchase.

More about the region: INNOVA Czech Republic services on innovacg.com. Other jurisdictions: registration of a company abroad, Romania, Hungary, United Kingdom. Documents from Ukraine for use abroad: apostille on an extract from the Unified State Register.

Sources

• CzechInvest, Fact Sheet 19 "Setting up a Business", March 2026
• CzechInvest, "Taxation system", 2026 rates
• Business Corporations Act No. 90/2012 Coll., Sections 8, 142, 190, 208; Civil Code No. 89/2012 Coll., Sections 136, 441
• Public Registers Act No. 304/2013 Coll., Sections 11–14, 96, 108; Court Fees Act No. 549/1991 Coll., tariff items 11 and 39
• VAT Act No. 235/2004 Coll., Section 6; Beneficial Owners Register Act No. 37/2021 Coll.
• Czech Embassy in Kyiv: verification of Ukrainian documents; Czech-Ukrainian treaty on legal assistance in civil matters, No. 123/2002 Coll. Int. Treaties

Checked on 9 October 2026.