Things to Know Before Opening a Company in the Czech Republic
As of 2025, Czech companies offer several clear advantages: an official and reliable jurisdiction, simple, fast, and relatively low-cost registration, the ability to register for citizens of any country, and tax authorities that are quite supportive. These benefits have been widely discussed, and they are indeed real.
However, many clients who contact us us fail to consider the downsides, which other company registration services often hide. Once these issues come to light later, enthusiasm for registering a Czech company disappears, and we all end up wasting valuable time. We prefer to be honest from the very beginning – so that neither of us spends time unnecessarily. If these factors are not a problem for you, be sure to contact us, and we will organize your Czech company registration in the best possible way.
Before registering a Czech company, keep in mind the following factors:
Challenges when opening a bank account for non-resident-owned companies
Opening a corporate bank account in the Czech Republic is no longer a mere formality; it is not as simple as the director walking into a bank, signing papers, and receiving account details. If the director of a Czech company is a non-resident (not a Czech citizen and without a long-term visa, residence permit, or permanent residency), be prepared for significant difficulties in opening a bank account.
To learn more, please check out detailed information on opening a bank account for a Czech company (prepare a link for you, coming soon) on our website. To summarize briefly: if the company director is not a Czech resident, the account opening process requires applying to Czech banks with a detailed description of the company’s business activities. Crucially, the director must be able to personally submit these applications and communicate directly with the bank. In fact, nearly all Czech banks now insist that the director handles this process themselves.
Another key requirement is that a substantial part of the company’s business must be conducted in the Czech Republic. This means having actual (or at least prospective) suppliers or clients in the country – real, operational business partners.
If the company director is a non-EU citizen without Czech residency, opening a bank account in the Czech Republic will be extremely difficult (if not impossible). For EU citizens, the process is somewhat easier but still far from straightforward. However, the good news is that Czech companies are not legally required to have a local bank account or payment systems, and many of the clients successfully operate their businesses this way. In fact, Czech law does not legally require companies to maintain a bank account at all.
Czech residency through a company? Forget about it
You may have read online – even in 2025 – that registering a business in the Czech Republic makes it relatively easy to obtain Czech residency. We frequently receive inquiries about this, so here is the actual situation. Technically – yes, you can register a company, prepare a simple and inexpensive set of documents, and apply for Czech residency. However, the actual chances of approval are nearly zero. This loophole worked until around 2010-2012, but due to an increasing number of foreigners in the country, Czech authorities shut it down completely. Immigration officials now routinely reject such applications and they are legally justified in doing so. We have a dedicated page on our website explaining the current situation with Czech residency permits (prepare a link for you, coming soon), including the situation for companies.
If your main goal for establishing a Czech company is getting residency, we strongly advise against this idea. You will waste time and money with almost no chance of success.
All new Czech companies are initially non-VAT payers
Every newly registered company in the Czech Republic is NOT automatically a VAT payer and does not receive a VAT number. Each legal entity must separately apply for VAT registration. Due to widespread VAT fraud schemes involving Czech companies in the past, the Czech tax authorities now strictly check every new VAT registration application. You will need to provide a justification to the tax office explaining why your new company requires a VAT number. There is no guarantee that your application will be processed quickly, with no assurance of a successful result.
Unfortunately, we cannot predict how smoothly your VAT registration will proceed, as this largely depends on accounting-specific factors. Due to these challenges, pre-registered companies with existing VAT numbers are available for purchase on the market. However, they come at an expensive cost, starting from 4,000-5,000 EUR for the simplest cases.
How to open a company in the Czech Republic: a step-by-step guide
If you have decided to handle the registration of a legal entity in the Czech Republic on your own, you will find detailed instructions below. Be prepared for a long read (there is simply no quick fix in this case). We will focus specifically on registering an LLC ("s.r.o."), as in our practice we have never encountered a situation where other business structures were necessary. It is very likely that this is the legal form you will need. For a detailed explanation of what an "s.r.o." is and its key parameters, please refer to the dedicated section on our website here (prepare a link for you, coming soon).
Please note that to complete the company registration process independently, you must fulfill two conditions:
- Company founders must either be physically present in the Czech Republic to personally visit a notary and relevant government offices, or they must appoint a representative through a power of attorney.
- Company founders or their authorized representative must be proficient in the Czech language. This is a standard nationwide notarial practice. Naturally, the person involved must fully understand the procedure, be able to read documents in Czech, and understand what they are signing.
Below you will find a step-by-step guide on how to proceed.
Step 1: Prepare your registration documents and important information
Company registration in the Czech Republic is now a same-day process, completed in a single notary visit. The notary handles nearly all formalities at once, including entering your company into the Czech Trade Register (the official Czech company register). However, preparing for this notary appointment is crucial – and surprisingly, this is the most time-consuming and complex part of the entire process.
Getting ready for your notary appointment.
Prepare the following information:
- Choose a unique name for your legal entity. You can check availability through the official Czech Ministry of Justice website or you can use the name-check tool on our website (prepare a link for you, coming soon) (if our system finds no matches, the name is available). Note that your chosen name will automatically include the mandatory suffix “s.r.o.”.
- Decide on your company’s ownership structure, including the number of founders, directors, and share distribution.
- Provide the founder details, including their full names, dates and places of birth, residential and registration addresses. This information will be entered in the Czech Trade Register (the official Czech company register)
- Determine the share capital. Since 2014, the minimum legal requirement for the share capital is 1 CZK. If you choose to set the capital above 20,000 CZK, you will need to get bank confirmation of the deposited amount. This process has become quite complicated in practice, as the funds must actually be transferred to a bank account. In fact, the share capital does not affect the company operation in any way, therefore, we recommend setting it within the range of 1 to 20,000 CZK, but no more.
- Specify the business activities for your legal entity. It is important to note that these will be formally recorded in the company's charter during registration. In the Czech Republic, business activities are standardized, and you can find a list of freely licensable activities (prepare a link for you, coming soon) (volné živnosti in Czech) on our website. At this stage, it is important to determine your company's activities because they become part of your company’s charter. While changes are possible later, they require amendments to your charter, which can be expensive. We recommend selecting a reasonable range of standardized activities that cover your company’s operations, but without including absolutely everything. Additionally, be aware that the Czech system includes what are called "complex" or "certified" activities (vázané živnosti or remeselné živnosti in Czech). These require what is known as a "guarantor". If you plan to engage in such activities, you will need to secure this guarantor in advance. However, most common business activities can be covered by the simpler "free licenses", and the guarantor requirement applies only in rare cases.
We recommend submitting all this information to the notary in advance so they can prepare your company's charter for signing during your visit. In most cases, this can be done via email.
Prepare the following documents for your notary appointment:
- Consent to register a legal address (souhlas s umístěním sídla společnosti in Czech). This is a permission document from the Czech property owner (or their representative) authorizing the company’s legal address registration at this property. Czech law permits companies to use a formal legal address, commonly called a "virtual" address. These virtual address services are widely available in all cities in the Czech Republic. However, please note that once registered, your company's legal address will determine which local tax office has jurisdiction over your business.
- Founders’ personal documents for verification (if visiting the notary in person), including passports and residence permits (permanent or temporary, if applicable).
- A statement from each director accepting their appointment. While notaries often prepare this document themselves, we recommend preparing it in advance, or at least approving the text beforehand.
- Directors who are neither Czech nor EU residents must provide an original criminal record certificate from their country of citizenship. The certificate must bear an original wet stamp (digital copies are not accepted in the Czech Republic). For directors from certain countries, the criminal record certificate must also bear an apostille certification. You can check if your country requires an apostille here (prepare a link for you, coming soon). The certificate also requires official translation into Czech by an authorized translator. No criminal record certificate is required for directors who are residents of the Czech Republic (are registered in the country) or citizens of EU member states.
These are all the documents required by the notary. Additionally, prepare payment for the notarial fees (confirm the exact amount directly – this often depends on your legal entity’s parameters).
Step 2: Find a notary
In the Czech Republic, company registration is completed through a notary. The notary prepares and certifies the company's charter and registers the legal entity in the Czech Trade Register. Once you have gathered all required information and documents from the previous steps, you can coordinate the entire registration process with a chosen notary. Notaries are available in all Czech cities, with most offering quick appointments.
During your scheduled appointment, the notary will draft the company's charter and submit the registration directly to the Czech Trade Register. In many cases, they will provide an official extract confirming registration immediately, which contains the assigned registration number (IČO) and other company details. The following day the company information appears in online registries. You may check the successful registration through the Czech Ministry of Justice website or via our Czech legal entity verification system (prepare a link for you, coming soon). At this stage, your company is fully registered.
Step 3: Final procedures, licenses, tax registration, and Datová schránka
After visiting the notary, your company will be listed in the Trade Register, but several essential steps remain.
- Get the actual business licenses and permits from the Trade Licensing Office ("Živnostenský úřad" in Czech). This step is VERY IMPORTANT because even though your company is legally registered in the Trade Register, it cannot conduct business without these licenses and permits ("živnosti" in Czech). The company director must visit any Trade Licensing Office (Živnostenský úřad) – location does not need to match the company’s registered address – to submit the license application. Processing times can vary significantly, sometimes taking up to a week.
- Get access to Datová schránka (click here for more information on what this is) (prepare a link for you, coming soon). Securing access to this platform is truly important for proper company administration. Upon company registration, the Czech authorities will automatically send login details to each director's address as recorded in the Trade Register. You can also collect this login information at any CzechPoint office (prepare a link for you, coming soon).
- Obtain a tax ID (DIČ in Czech). The company's tax ID is assigned automatically by Czech tax authorities upon registration in the Trade Register. No additional application is required. Confirmation of your tax ID will be sent to your company's Datová schránka. It is advisable to check that you have received the tax ID.
With this step completed, your company registration in the Czech Republic is complete. The company is now authorized to conduct business activities.
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