Company formation

The most common company type in Austria is GmbH (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung) literally “the limited company”.
Most important about this type of company is that its liability towards the debtors is limited to the amount of its basic capital. Currently is the minimal amount of the basic capital 10.000 €.

This basic capital must be on company’s disposal but it doesn’t mean that it cannot be used. Company might use it on its behalf and might invest it. For example it can be used for:

• Reimbursement of the incorporation costs to the associates. Associates have right to collect 2,800 € from the basic capital as incorporation costs right after the company has been registered with the Companies Register
• Renting of the office space
• Loans to the employees
• Accounting and tax advisor´s costs
• Car purchase etc.

The Companies law orders the founders to invest at least 50% of basic capital value to the bank account before the registration of the company with Companies Register. This means that 5,000 € must stay on the special company´s bank account during the registration procedure.

When incorporating an Austrian limited company the following requirements must be taken care of:

• Name (it must not be same or similar as an already existing name and it must describe the activity of the company)
• Minimally one director (any EU citizen)
• Minimally one associate any legal entity and natural person from almost any country in the world
• Seat of the company (it is possible to use virtual office service)
• Trade license (there is a list of the free trade licenses (freie Gewerbe) and the list of the trade licenses which require special permission (reglementierte Gewerbe). In the frames of our services we are taking care of trade license registration and making sure it is done ASAP. It is very important to point out that the director of the company must enclose the criminal record certificate from his home country in order to be able to carry out this function