In order to establish your own business in the Czech Republic, firstly you need to decide on the legal structure you would like use to conduct business. You might consider opening or buying a ready-made company or registering as a private entrepreneur.
Purchase of a ready-made Czech company (ready-made společnost)
A ready-made, pre-existing company (commonly referred to in English as a „shelf“ company) is a quick and convenient way to start doing business in the Czech Republic without having to go through the whole process of registering a company on your own. Advantages of a shelf company:
- already registered and entered by a notary, or directly by the commercial court, in the commercial register
- fully paid share capital
- absence of any activity, debts and obligations
- presence of a legal address
- opportunity to become a company director within a few hours and to start an active entrepreneurial activity immediately.
Our law firm offers a wide range of reliable and high-quality services when buying a ready-made company. We guarantee a bespoke service tailored to the unique requests and wishes of each client.
The purchase price for a ready-made Czech company include:
- legal consulting
- preparation of an agreement on the transfer of a share in a company and other documents necessary for the entry of new owners and directors into the commercial register
- guidance in paying state fees
- certification of signatures
- submission of documents to the commercial court
- registration of a company as a taxpayer for reporting the income of legal entities
Additional services:
- drawing up powers of attorney and representing the client's interests in all state institutions
- change of statutory documents in accordance with the buyer's requirements
- notarization when making amendments to constituent documents
- provision of a certificate of registration from the commercial register
- amendments to the size of the authorized capital, structure and other parameters of the company
- reorganization of the company
- obtaining additional or expanding existing licenses for any type of activity
- registration as a VAT payer
- drafting lease agreements, director's duties, and so on
To buy a business, we do not require your physical presence — all questions regarding the re-registration of the company can be resolved by phone or e-mail, and all the necessary documents can be sent by mail.
Registration of a private enterprise in the Czech Republic
If you want to run a business on your own without opening a company, you will need to go through the registration process as a private (individual) entrepreneur. This method of doing business has several advantages:
- registration and closing of a private enterprise is much cheaper and requires less time and financial costs than registering or closing a company
- income tax is 15 % (company tax is 19 %)
- flexibility to conduct the vast majority of activities without needing to open a legal entity
- obtaining a residence permit
- no authorized capital required
The main disadvantage is the unlimited liability provided by law for the obligations of the enterprise with all of its assets. The main objective when registering a private enterprise is to obtain a license for entrepreneurial activity, which you can carry out both independently and by hiring employees.
Categories of activities:
- craft (řemeslné)
- licensed (koncesované)
- related to other activities (vázané)
- free (volné)
The first three categories of activity require the provision of proof of qualifications in the chosen field. There is no need to prove qualifications to carry out free activities in the latter category, which makes this category the most popular among entrepreneurs.
To register as an entrepreneur, you will need to gather the following package of documents for submission to the department for entrepreneurial activity (živnostenský úřad):
- police clearance certificate translated and certified by a court translator into Czech
- consent to provide a legal address or lease agreement
- a document confirming qualifications or a certain number of years of practice in your chosen business sector
- receipt of payment of the application fee
To register as an entrepreneur, you need to know the relevant articles of the law on entrepreneurship, which determines the procedure and terms of registration.
Our services in this area include:
- consultation on registration and closing a private enterprise
- execution of powers of attorney
- provision of a legal address
- assistance in obtaining a police clearance certificate
- translation of documents into Czech with the help of a court translator
- notarization of documents
- submission of documents to the department of business activities
- registration in the commercial register
- certification of copies of documents
- opening an account in a Czech bank
- sending documents by mail
- obtaining a bank statement
- apostille of documents
- obtaining new or extending already existing licenses