How to Set Up a Company in Czechia

Each step of setting up in Czechia is manageable on its own. Founders lose time on the order.

Later steps often need a document produced by an earlier one, and some of those documents expire.

Decide on the legal form first

Settle what you are setting up before you gather a single document.

• A trade licence (živnostenské oprávnění, usually called živnost). You register as a self-employed person and trade in your own name.
• A limited liability company (s.r.o., společnost s ručením omezeným). It is a legal person separate from you, with its own accounting duties and its own registration.
• A branch of a foreign company. It fits a group that already trades in another country.

The right form depends on how much liability you are prepared to carry and how you want to take money out. It also matters whether the business has to support your residence permit, the permission to stay in Czechia.

An accountant or tax adviser can tell you what each form means for your annual filings.

Order the documents from abroad early

Documents issued outside Czechia usually need a Czech translation by a court translator (soudní překladatel), an officially sworn translator.

Many also need an apostille or legalisation from the country that issued them. Either one officially confirms that the document is genuine.

This part happens abroad, at the pace of offices you cannot hurry. More often than any other step, it sets the date for the whole setup.

What founders are usually asked to provide

• Your passport, and your residence documents if you already have them
• A criminal record extract from your country of citizenship. Some cases also ask for one from the country where you live.
• Proof of the registered address the company will use
• Proof of qualification if the activity is a regulated trade

The notary and the Commercial Register

An s.r.o. comes into being through a notarial deed, the founding document a Czech notary draws up. You either attend in person or give someone a power of attorney to act for you.

The company is then entered in the Commercial Register (obchodní rejstřík), the public record of companies. Anyone can look the entry up at justice.cz.

The registrations that follow

Next comes a trade authorisation that matches the work the company will really do. Tax registration follows.

When the company starts paying people, it registers for social security and health insurance as well. Each registration belongs to a different institution, and each has its own deadline.

What carries on after the setup

By the end, you have a registered company, a trade authorisation, a registered address and a bank account.

Recurring obligations start at the same moment. The company keeps accounts and prepares annual financial statements. It files tax returns, and payroll reporting is added once there are employees.

Bookkeeping and tax filings belong with an accountant or tax adviser. Choose one at the start rather than after the first deadline.