Austria · Company forms
GmbH Formation
in Austria
We form Austrian GmbHs for founders who live outside Austria.
- EUR 10,000 share capital
- EUR 5,000 paid in before filing
- EUR 522 state fee, or zero under NeuFöG
- No Austrian residence required by company law
What we form, and which GmbH this is
This page is about the Austrian GmbH, the Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung. It is governed by the Austrian GmbH Act and registered in the Firmenbuch kept by the commercial courts, not in the German Handelsregister. Minimum share capital has been EUR 10,000 since 1 January 2024 (§ 6 Abs. 1 GmbHG, RIS), and the company exists only once the court enters it (USP).
We prepare and coordinate the whole file for founders based outside Austria: the articles, the notarial appointment, the capital deposit, the Firmenbuch application and the registrations that follow it. We are not the notary and we do not set his tariff. If you are still choosing between forms, start with the types of companies guide.
What GmbH formation includes
Name check and the registered seat.
We check the proposed name, obtain the chamber's opinion on it where that helps, and settle the seat and the address the register records for service.
Articles or declaration of establishment.
Two or more founders sign a Gesellschaftsvertrag, a single founder an Errichtungserklärung (§ 3 Abs. 2 GmbHG). Either is executed as a notarial deed, which may be signed electronically.
The § 9a eligibility test.
We test whether the simplified electronic founding under § 9a GmbHG is open to you, and say so plainly when it is not, before anything is drafted on the wrong assumption.
The capital deposit route.
The cash goes to a credit institution or to the notary's Anderkonto, and we obtain the written confirmation that § 10 Abs. 3 GmbHG requires as proof.
The Firmenbuch application.
Signed by all managing directors and filed with the full enclosure set: articles in notarial issue, shareholder list, list of directors, appointment resolution, specimen signatures, deposit confirmation.
The NeuFöG claim.
Where the founder qualifies as a new business, we file the NeuFö 2 declaration with the chamber's consultation confirmation, so that the court fee falls away.
Tax registration and the UID.
Notification to Finanzamt Österreich, the austria tax number, and the UID application alongside it. A UID is not issued automatically and is refused where the applicant is not an entrepreneur.
Trade licence and what follows registration.
Trade registration and the GISA entry, SVS, the WiEReG beneficial-owner filing, and a Kommunalsteuer account once wages are paid. A supervised activity needs an authorisation instead: crypto license austria cost.
Which founding route is open to you
The notarial route. The articles are executed as a Notariatsakt, which may be signed by electronic means under § 69b Notariatsordnung (§ 4 Abs. 3 GmbHG). Signing by proxy needs a special notarially certified power of attorney for that one transaction.
The § 9a electronic route. Open to one shareholder who is a natural person and at the same time sole managing director, with exactly EUR 10,000 of capital and EUR 5,000 in cash, at one of 11 participating banks. No notarial deed.
A FlexCo instead. Same EUR 10,000 minimum capital, but contributions start at EUR 1 and a share transfer needs only a private deed, against the notarial deed a GmbH transfer requires (§ 76 Abs. 2 GmbHG): the FlexCo guide.
Most structures with a corporate shareholder, or with a second founder, fall outside § 9a and take the notarial route.
How the process works
Choose the route.
Notarial deed, or the simplified electronic founding under § 9a GmbHG. The choice decides the documents, the way they are signed, and whether an Austrian bank appointment is needed.
Pay in the capital and obtain the confirmation.
At least EUR 5,000 in cash goes to a credit institution or the notary's Anderkonto (§ 10 Abs. 2 GmbHG), proved by a written confirmation from the bank or from the notary as trustee (§ 10 Abs. 3).
File with the Firmenbuch.
The application is signed by all managing directors and filed with the articles in notarial issue, the specimen signatures and the deposit confirmation (§ 9 GmbHG). The entry is constitutive: the GmbH exists from it.
Claim NeuFöG at the right moment.
The NeuFö 2 declaration is produced before or with the claim. The fee is still waived if the form reaches the court within 14 days of the application (GGG Tarifpost 10 Anm. 8).
Register for tax.
Notify Finanzamt Österreich within one month of starting the activity, request the Steuernummer, and apply for the austria vat code at the same time if EU trade is planned.
Register the trade.
The licence is held in the company's own name. The GISA entry follows within three months of a legally effective notification, or at once through GISA-Express. A regulated trade needs a certificate of competence.
Notify the SVS.
Within one month of starting the trade. Cover for sickness, pension and accident runs from the day of the trade registration.
File the beneficial owners.
Within four weeks of the first Firmenbuch entry, electronically through the business service portal. A Kommunalsteuer account follows only once wages are paid at an Austrian establishment.
On timing: no statutory Firmenbuch processing deadline exists and no official average is published, so we quote no registration date. A defective file draws an order to remedy it: the court sets a time limit and, where the filing was subject to a statutory deadline and the defect is cured inside that limit, the filing counts as made on the day it first arrived (FBG § 17).
Austria · GmbH formation · eight steps
- 01Choose the routeNotarial deed, or the simplified electronic founding under § 9a GmbHGNo statutory deadline
- 02Pay in the capital and obtain the confirmationGmbHG § 10 Abs. 2 and Abs. 3No statutory deadline
- 03File with the FirmenbuchGmbHG § 9. The entry is constitutiveNo statutory processing deadline
- 04Claim NeuFöG at the right momentThe NeuFö 2 declaration, GGG Tarifpost 10 Anm. 814 days
- 05Register for taxFinanzamt Österreich, the Steuernummer and the UID1 month
- 06Register the tradeThe GISA entry, or at once through GISA-Express3 months
- 07Notify the SVSCover runs from the day of the trade registration1 month
- 08File the beneficial ownersElectronically through the business service portal4 weeks
Not sure which founding route applies to you?
Send the shareholding structure and the intended activity. We will say which route the file takes and what the state will charge.
What you will need to supply
- Official photo identification for every shareholder and every managing director.
- Confirmation that no director is disqualified under § 15 Abs. 1a or 1b GmbHG, foreign convictions included.
- A special notarially certified power of attorney wherever anyone signs by proxy.
- A specimen signature, the Musterzeichnung, for each managing director.
- Current register extract and articles of any corporate shareholder, certified and translated.
- Translation into German or English, and legalisation where the authority requires it.
- The proposed company name, and the chamber's opinion on it where that is worth having.
- The object of the business, drafted to match the trade licence actually applied for.
- The seat (§ 5 Abs. 2 GmbHG) and the address recorded for service (§ 3 Abs. 1 Z 4 FBG).
- The shareholding structure, including any trust or nominee arrangement behind it.
- A photo identification copy for every beneficial owner without an Austrian domicile.
What the Austrian state charges, and when it is zero
These are court fees fixed by statute, not our fees. The application fee is payable once per filing and is owed whatever the outcome.
| Item | From 1 August 2026 | Previous, from 1 April 2025 | Tariff reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eingabengebühr, application fee, GmbH first registration | EUR 47 | EUR 44 | TP 10 Z I lit. a Z 5, Anm. 2 |
| Eintragungsgebühr, registration fee, GmbH | EUR 475 | EUR 449 | TP 10 Z I lit. b Z 5, Anm. 9 |
| GmbH first registration, total | EUR 522 | EUR 493 | the two rows above |
| Paper filing instead of electronic legal communication | EUR 24 | EUR 23 | TP 10 Anm. 1 |
| Later amendment of the articles | EUR 70 | EUR 66 | TP 10 Z I lit. c Z 10, Anm. 15 |
| AG or SE, for comparison | EUR 130 + EUR 780 = EUR 910 | EUR 123 + EUR 738 | TP 10 Z I lit. a Z 4, lit. b Z 4, Anm. 3 and 8 |
| OG or KG, for comparison | EUR 47 + EUR 169 = EUR 216 | EUR 44 + EUR 160 | TP 10 Z I lit. a, lit. b Z 2 and Z 3, Anm. 7 |
| Sole trader, for comparison | EUR 78 | EUR 74 | TP 10 Z I lit. b Z 1, Anm. 6 |
| Qualifying new business under NeuFöG | EUR 0 | EUR 0 | § 1 Z 3 NeuFöG |
| NeuFöG, the relief that takes EUR 522 to zero | What the statute provides |
|---|---|
| What is waived | Every Firmenbuch court fee under Tarifpost 10 Z I, so EUR 522 becomes EUR 0 (§ 1 Z 3 NeuFöG) |
| The form | NeuFö 2, produced before or with the claim, with a chamber consultation confirmation |
| The tolerance | Still waived if the form reaches the court within 14 days of the application (TP 10 Anm. 8) |
| What is not a new business | A change of legal form, a change of owner of an existing business, or a founder who already controlled a comparable business (§ 2 Z 1 to 5 NeuFöG) |
Firmenbuch court fees, Gerichtsgebührengesetz Tarifpost 10 Z I, in the amounts raised by BGBl. II Nr. 227/2026 with effect from 1 August 2026. The EUR 130 application fee in Anm. 3 covers an AG, an SE a branch of an Annex I company wherever seated, and a branch of any entity seated outside the EU. Source: RIS, GGG Art. 1 § 32 with the Tarif, in the version in force from 1 October 2026.
The waiver itself is NeuFöG § 1 Z 3, which names Tarifpost 10 Z I of the Gerichtsgebührengesetz in terms. What does not count as a new business is § 2 Z 1 to 5 of the same act.
Three separate buckets · no total across them
EUR 522
- From 1 August 2026, GGG Tarifpost 10 Z I, Anm. 2 and Anm. 9
- EUR 0 for a qualifying new business under NeuFöG § 1 Z 3
Fixed by law, and it carries a date
From EUR 100 to EUR 150
- The chamber's indicative figures for minimum content
- The tariff is the notary's own, and we do not set it
Not a total
On request
- Quoted against the file, once the route is settled
- Never folded into either figure beside it
Separating the three is what makes two quotations comparable
Deadlines and taxes from day one
Every deadline below is statutory, and every rate is the rate in law with the year it took effect.
| Obligation | Figure or deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Notify Finanzamt Österreich | within 1 month of starting the activity | USP startup portal |
| SVS notification | within 1 month, cover from the day of the trade registration | USP startup portal |
| GISA entry | within 3 months of a legally effective notification, or at once via GISA-Express | USP, Gewerbeanmeldung |
| WiEReG beneficial owners | within 4 weeks of the first Firmenbuch entry | § 5 WiEReG |
| NeuFö 2 to the court | before or with the claim, 14-day tolerance | GGG TP 10 Anm. 8 |
| Firmenbuch registration | no statutory processing deadline exists | USP startup portal |
| corporate tax rate in austria | 23 percent from 2024, 24 percent for 2023, 25 percent to 2022 | § 22 Abs. 1 KStG |
| Corporate income tax from 1 January 2028 | 23 percent stays, income above EUR 1,000,000 taxed at 24 percent | § 22 Abs. 1 KStG, BGBl. I Nr. 62/2026 |
| Minimum corporate income tax | EUR 125 per full quarter, EUR 500 a year from the first year, 5 percent of EUR 2,500 | § 24 Abs. 4 Z 1 KStG, reduced amount repealed by BGBl. I Nr. 200/2023 |
| vat austria | 20 percent standard, 13 and 10 percent reduced, 4.9 percent for goods listed in Annex 3, tested before the 10 and 13 percent rates | § 10 UStG 1994 |
| Capital yields tax on dividends to individuals | 27.5 percent, final taxation | § 27a EStG |
| Books | Book III applies to every corporation, no turnover threshold | § 189 Abs. 1 Z 1 UGB |
| Annual accounts | prepared within the first 5 months, disclosed at the latest 9 months after the balance sheet date | § 222 Abs. 1 and § 277 UGB |
| Late disclosure | EUR 700 the day after the deadline, EUR 350 for a micro company, repeated every 2 months | § 283 UGB |
| Kommunalsteuer | 3 percent of wages per establishment, due by the 15th of the following month | USP, Kommunalsteuer |
Statutory deadlines and the standing tax figures for an Austrian GmbH, each with the paragraph it comes from, as in force on 17 September 2026. Sources: KStG § 22 for the rate, KStG § 24 for the minimum corporate tax, WiEReG § 5 for the four-week beneficial-owner deadline, and USP, Trade registration for the three-month GISA window. The Finanzamt and SVS deadlines carry their paragraphs in the body.
Problems founders hit, and how each is handled
The bank will not open an account until the company exists.
The court will not register it until the money is confirmed. § 10 Abs. 2 GmbHG lets the deposit sit on the notary's Anderkonto instead, which breaks the circle. We promise no account: austria corporate bank account.
The register sends the filing back.
Practitioners name two recurring triggers for a Verbesserungsauftrag: foreign extracts that have gone stale, and an object of the business that does not match the trade licence. We file the chamber's name opinion with the application.
The package price that was not the price.
Headline packages leave out the notary, the state fee and the address. We separate three buckets: the state fee, which is law and carries a date; the notarial tariff, for which the chamber publishes indicative figures; and our fee, on request.
The trade-law managing director is a payroll line, not a fee line.
A legal person must always appoint one. In a regulated trade that person sits on the representing body, or is employed at half of normal weekly hours with full social insurance (§ 39 Abs. 2 Z 2 GewO 1994), and holds a domestic residence under § 39 Abs. 2a.
A nominee will not keep your name out of the register.
Since 1 October 2025, § 2a WiEReG covers nominators, nominees and nominee directors, formal and informal. Such an arrangement removes the reporting exemption in § 6 Abs. 2, and non-disclosure is a fiscal offence of up to EUR 200,000.
Want the document pack checked before it goes to the notary?
Send the shareholder documents and the draft object of the business. We will say what the register court is likely to question.
How this page is kept accurate
Last updated 17 September 2026. Every figure here is cited to the Austrian statute or to the official portal named beside it, and every state fee carries the date it took effect. Our own fee is not published on this site: it is quoted on request.
Frequently asked questions
Can I form an Austrian GmbH without living in Austria, and without flying to Vienna?
Yes. Company law requires no Austrian residence of shareholders or managing directors, and the notarial deed may be signed by electronic means under § 69b Notariatsordnung (§ 4 Abs. 3 GmbHG). Where no managing director is habitually resident in Austria, the court may appoint one in urgent cases (§ 15a Abs. 2 GmbHG). Trade law, not company law, can force an Austrian presence.
The bank will not open an account until the company exists, and the court will not register the company until the bank confirms the money. How is that solved?
The deposit may be credited to a company account or to the notary's Anderkonto (§ 10 Abs. 2 GmbHG), proved by a written confirmation from a credit institution or from the notary as trustee, who is liable for it (§ 10 Abs. 3). Practitioners put a normal business account at one to four weeks. We promise no account.
Can I use Wise, Revolut or another e-money provider for the share capital deposit?
§ 10 Abs. 2 GmbHG requires the amount to be credited at a credit institution, or to the notary's Anderkonto. Practitioners report that notaries refuse confirmations from e-money providers, which is a market observation rather than a rule. Whether an e-money institution satisfies § 10 is unsettled in the official sources.
Do I really have to lock up EUR 10,000, and when can the company use it?
Share capital is EUR 10,000, at least EUR 70 per shareholder (§ 6 Abs. 1 GmbHG), half of it raised in fully paid-up cash (§ 6a Abs. 1). EUR 5,000 in cash is paid in before the filing, a quarter and at least EUR 70 on each contribution (§ 10 Abs. 1). The Anderkonto releases after registration.
The package price I was quoted excluded the notary and the state fee. What are the three cost buckets?
Three. The state fee is EUR 522 from 1 August 2026, or zero under NeuFöG. The notarial tariff is the notary's own: the chamber's indicative figures begin at EUR 100 to EUR 150 for minimum content, and practitioners report EUR 800 to EUR 2,500 in the market. Our fee is quoted on request.
What does the Austrian state actually charge to register a GmbH, and can that fee be waived?
EUR 47 for the application and EUR 475 for the entry, EUR 522 in total, under Gerichtsgebührengesetz Tarifpost 10 Z I in the amounts in force from 1 August 2026 (BGBl. II Nr. 227/2026). NeuFöG waives court fees for a qualifying new business entirely (§ 1 Z 3), and the NeuFö 2 form must reach the court within 14 days.
What happens if the register court sends the filing back, and how long does registration really take?
A defective file draws a Verbesserungsauftrag, an order to remedy, or a rejection. Filing the chamber's opinion on the company name with the application is the official mitigation. On timing, no statutory processing deadline exists and no official average is published, so we state none. Any figure you are shown elsewhere is an estimate.
Is the notarial deed avoidable? What is the simplified electronic founding under § 9a, and who qualifies?
In one case. § 9a GmbHG lets a single shareholder who is a natural person and sole managing director found without a notarial deed, with exactly EUR 10,000 of capital and EUR 5,000 in cash, through one of 11 participating banks. Formation costs may be reimbursed up to EUR 500, and the bank still checks photo identification in person.
My business is consulting. Do I need a trade-law managing director, and what does that person really cost?
A legal person must always appoint one, and consulting may itself be a regulated trade. In a regulated trade that person sits on the representing body or is employed at half of normal weekly hours with full social insurance (§ 39 Abs. 2 Z 2 GewO), and must hold a domestic residence subject to the exceptions in § 39 Abs. 2a. It is a salary, and no official figure exists.
Who receives official post if none of the shareholders or directors lives in Austria?
There is no general requirement to appoint a recipient for service. The register records the business address relevant for service, and also the fact that such an address is unknown (§ 3 Abs. 1 Z 4 and Z 4a FBG). The seat itself must be a place of operation, management or administration (§ 5 Abs. 2 GmbHG).
Do I pay corporate tax if the company makes no profit in its first year?
Yes. Minimum corporate income tax is 5 percent of one quarter of the statutory minimum capital per full calendar quarter, so EUR 125 a quarter and EUR 500 a year for a GmbH (§ 24 Abs. 4 Z 1 KStG). The reduced first-years amount was repealed by BGBl. I Nr. 200/2023. It is credited against later tax without a time limit.
Can I appoint a nominee shareholder or nominee director to keep my name out of the register?
Not in the sense of staying unreported. § 2a WiEReG covers nominators, nominees and nominee directors, formal and informal alike, and such an arrangement removes the reporting exemption in § 6 Abs. 2. Non-disclosure is a fiscal offence punishable up to EUR 200,000 for intent and EUR 100,000 for gross negligence.
What does GmbH stand for, and is the Austrian GmbH the same as the German one?
GmbH stands for Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, a company with limited liability. The Austrian GmbH is a different company under different law from the German one: the Austrian GmbHG governs it, it is registered in the Firmenbuch rather than the Handelsregister, and its minimum share capital has been EUR 10,000 since 1 January 2024.
Is a GmbH the same as an LLC or a UK Ltd, and should I choose a GmbH, a FlexCo or an AG?
Only the company is liable, as with an LLC or a UK Ltd. A FlexCo has the same EUR 10,000 capital, contributions from EUR 1 and share transfer by private deed; a GmbH share transfer needs a notarial deed (§ 76 Abs. 2 GmbHG); an AG needs EUR 70,000 of capital and EUR 910 in court fees. Read when an AG is the right form for an Austrian company.
Should I buy a ready-made GmbH instead of forming one, and what does a shelf company not come with?
A ready-made company is already registered, but it arrives without a UID and without a trade licence, and NeuFöG relief is unavailable, because a change of owner of an existing business is not a new business (§ 2 Z 4 NeuFöG). Mantelkauf exposure belongs to a used company, not a shelf one. See what a shelf company in Austria does and does not include.
Build note. Two answers end in an internal link: FAQ 14 links "when an AG is the right form for an Austrian company" to
/ag-austria/, and FAQ 15 links "what a shelf company in Austria does and does not include" to/ready-made-companies/. The link is markup, so the rendered text and theFAQPagetext stay identical.
Start your Austrian GmbH
Tell us who the shareholders are and what the company will do. You get the route, the documents and the state fees in writing.