Austria · Company formation
Ready-Made Shelf Companies
in Austria
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Austrian GmbH and FlexCo entities, registered, never traded, transferred by deed. No VAT number, no trade licence, no bank account.
Austrian shelf companies available now
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| Ref | Form | Year | Region | Share capital | Paid in | Price | Status | Request |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT-001 | GmbH | 2019 | Vienna | EUR 10,000 | EUR 10,000 | EUR 12,100 | available | Request AT-001 |
| AT-002 | GmbH | 2020 | Lower Austria | EUR 10,000 | EUR 5,000 | EUR 10,900 | available | Request AT-002 |
| AT-003 | GmbH | 2021 | Vienna | EUR 10,000 | EUR 10,000 | EUR 11,000 | available | Request AT-003 |
| AT-004 | GmbH | 2021 | Styria | EUR 10,000 | EUR 5,000 | EUR 10,400 | reserved | Request AT-004 |
| AT-005 | GmbH | 2022 | Upper Austria | EUR 10,000 | EUR 10,000 | EUR 10,400 | available | Request AT-005 |
| AT-006 | GmbH | 2022 | Salzburg | EUR 10,000 | EUR 5,000 | EUR 9,800 | available | Request AT-006 |
| AT-007 | GmbH | 2023 | Vienna | EUR 10,000 | EUR 10,000 | EUR 9,900 | available | Request AT-007 |
| AT-008 | GmbH | 2023 | Tyrol | EUR 10,000 | EUR 5,000 | EUR 9,300 | available | Request AT-008 |
| AT-009 | FlexCo (FlexKapG) | 2024 | Vienna | EUR 10,000 | EUR 10,000 | EUR 9,300 | available | Request AT-009 |
| AT-010 | FlexCo (FlexKapG) | 2024 | Lower Austria | EUR 10,000 | EUR 5,000 | EUR 8,700 | reserved | Request AT-010 |
| AT-011 | FlexCo (FlexKapG) | 2025 | Vienna | EUR 10,000 | EUR 10,000 | EUR 8,800 | available | Request AT-011 |
| AT-012 | FlexCo (FlexKapG) | 2025 | Upper Austria | EUR 10,000 | EUR 5,000 | EUR 8,200 | available | Request AT-012 |
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What the price covers, and what it does not. The price is for the shares. It does not include the share capital, which stays inside the company and belongs to it, and it does not include the notary, who invoices separately, or the court fees on the filings that follow. No entry holds a VAT number or a usable trade licence. The Paid in column is the unpaid-capital position, and it is the first thing to read. We run no live availability counter: the list is refreshed twice a week, and reserved means reserved.
What you are not getting
Every entry above is a registered Austrian company that has never traded. Here is what buying one does not give you, before anything else on this page. To register a new company instead, start at Company Registration Austria: Company Registration in Austria.
No UID, the Austrian VAT number.
A UID is not issued on incorporation, and it is refused where the applicant is not yet carrying on an enterprise. A company that has never traded is not. The Steuernummer and the UID are two registrations with two separate tests: uid number austria.
No trade licence you can use.
A Gewerbeberechtigung is held in the company's own name and depends on a qualified trade-law managing director. A change of shareholder does not supply that person, so the normal path is a fresh Gewerbeanmeldung in the company's name: gewerbeschein austria.
The capital may be only part paid.
EUR 10,000 is subscribed and at least EUR 5,000 is paid in cash before registration, a quarter of each contribution and at least EUR 70 per shareholder (§ 6 Abs. 1 and § 10 Abs. 1 GmbHG). Where Paid in reads EUR 5,000, the other EUR 5,000 stays callable and an insolvency administrator can enforce it.
No bank account.
The account is opened after the takeover, never before, and nothing about the banking relationship is sold with the shares. The bank verifies identity by personal presentation of an official photo identification under § 6 FM-GwG, even where you are already its customer, and it queries the beneficial-owner register: non resident bank account austria.
Mantelkauf, and it belongs to a used company.
§ 8 Abs. 4 Z 2 lit. c KStG cancels the loss carry-forward where the organisational structure, the economic structure and the shareholder structure all change materially, for consideration. The three conditions are cumulative. A company that never traded has no loss carry-forward to lose.
Real-estate transfer tax, if the entity holds Austrian land.
From 1 July 2025 the share-deal threshold is 75 percent of the interests passing within seven years (GrEStG § 1 Abs. 3 and § 18), taxed at 3.5 percent of the fair market value where the land belongs to a real-estate company and otherwise at 0.5 percent of the property value (GrEStG § 4 Abs. 4 and § 7). A true shelf company holds no property, so this is a question to put to anyone offering you an aged trading entity.
No NeuFöG relief.
Buying a dormant shell is not a Neugründung: the relief is excluded on a mere change in the person of the owner of an existing business (§ 2 Z 4 NeuFöG). The court-fee waiver a new incorporation can claim belongs on the new-incorporation side of any comparison, never on this one.
What a Vorratsgesellschaft is in Austria, and how it differs from a Mantelgesellschaft
A Vorratsgesellschaft, literally a company held in stock, was incorporated, entered in the Firmenbuch and then parked without trading. Austrian company law does not prohibit this. A GmbH may be founded by one or more persons for any legally permissible purpose (§ 1 Abs. 1 GmbHG), and FlexKapGG § 1 Abs. 1 uses the same words for a FlexCo. The register applies its ordinary rules to such an entity.
What the law does police is a front. Where a court finds that a registered entity is a Scheinunternehmen, a bogus business under § 8 SBBG, that finding is entered on the company's own register page for anyone to read (§ 3 Abs. 1 Z 15a FBG). A Mantelgesellschaft is the other thing entirely: it traded, stopped, and carries a history. Every entry on our list is dormant since registration.
Moving the shares: a notarial deed for a GmbH, a private deed for a FlexCo
The form the transfer takes is fixed by the company's legal form, and it is the difference that decides what every later share movement will cost you. Read the column for the form you are buying.
| What moves | GmbH | FlexCo (FlexKapG) |
|---|---|---|
| A share, transferred between living persons | A Notariatsakt, a full notarial deed, is mandatory (§ 76 Abs. 2 GmbHG) | A Privaturkunde, a private deed drawn by a notary or a lawyer, is enough (FlexKapGG) |
| An agreement obliging a shareholder to transfer in future | The same notarial form (§ 76 Abs. 2, second sentence). OGH case law RS0059900 extends it to every transaction directed at a future assignment, and to persons who are not yet shareholders | The same private deed, with the professional checking admissibility, verifying identity and instructing both parties |
| Consent of the company written into the articles (Vinkulierung) | Permitted; the articles may make a transfer conditional (§ 76 Abs. 2, third sentence) | Permitted |
| Pledging a share rather than selling it | No notarial deed is needed (§ 76 Abs. 3 GmbHG) | Not covered by the sources read for this page, so nothing is asserted |
| Enterprise-value shares (Unternehmenswert-Anteile) | Do not exist in a GmbH | Written form only (§ 9 Abs. 6 FlexKapGG) |
| What it means if more share movement is expected | Every later transfer needs a notary to take a full deed | Every later transfer needs a private deed only |
FlexKapGG (BGBl. I Nr. 179/2023). Nothing here is said about an Austrian AG, whose transfer formality is not in the sources this page was written from.
Stated once and not repeated: a FlexCo shell is structurally cheaper to move than a GmbH shell, so if you expect incoming investors or an employee participation scheme, the form is worth choosing before the reference number is. Compare gmbh formation austria against flexco austria.
How the purchase works, and what is filed afterwards
Pick a reference and send the Request.
Each row carries its own reference number. The Request link takes it with you, so the enquiry arrives against one specific entry rather than against the list.
Do the due diligence before you sign, not after.
Pull the register documents yourself or have us pull them. What to read, item by item, is the checklist further down this page. It is cheap, and it is the only thing that turns a seller's word into evidence.
Sign the transfer deed in the form the company demands.
A GmbH share moves by notarial deed (§ 76 Abs. 2 GmbHG). A FlexCo share moves by private deed drawn by a notary or a lawyer. The deed is signed on a date you fix in advance.
Appoint your managing director.
By shareholders' resolution (§ 15 Abs. 1 GmbHG). The appointment is revocable at any time, and the register records the name, the date of birth, the start date and the type of representation power.
Amend the articles where the firm, the seat or the object changes.
Each is a separate registrable event at EUR 70, the Eintragungsgebühr for any later amendment of the articles. The EUR 47 application fee is charged once per filing however many applications it contains, and a filing on paper rather than electronically costs EUR 24 more (GGG Tarifpost 10, Anm. 1, from 1 August 2026): share transfer austria.
File with the Firmenbuch and wait for the court.
The application is signed by all managing directors with certified signatures. The court reviews it and then either registers it or issues a Verbesserungsauftrag, an order to remedy the file.
File the beneficial owners within four weeks.
A change of owner is a beneficial-ownership event, and changes go in within four weeks of your learning of them (§ 5 WiEReG). Failing to file, or filing falsely to conceal an owner, is a fiscal offence of up to EUR 200,000 for intent and EUR 100,000 for gross negligence: beneficial owner register austria.
Work the rest of the calendar.
Finanzamt Österreich within one month of starting the activity, requesting the Steuernummer and the UID. svs austria within one month of starting the trade. The GISA entry follows the trade registration within three months, or at once through GISA-Express. Where a trade-law managing director leaves, a legal person has six months to appoint a replacement.
On timing, we publish no number of days. No statutory processing deadline for a Firmenbuch filing exists in any source this page was written from, and no official average is published. What is fixed is the sequence: the deed is signed on a date you choose, the filing follows, the court reviews it, and registration or an order to remedy follows that. Any date promised to you elsewhere is somebody's estimate.
Austria · buying a registered company
- 01Pick a reference and send the RequestThe enquiry arrives against one entry, not against the listNo statutory deadline
- 02Do the due diligence before you signThe register documents, read item by itemNo statutory deadline
- 03Sign the transfer deed in the form the company demandsNotarial deed for a GmbH, § 76 Abs. 2 GmbHG. Private deed for a FlexCoNo statutory deadline
- 04Appoint your managing directorBy shareholders' resolution, § 15 Abs. 1 GmbHGNo statutory deadline
- 05Amend the articles where the firm, the seat or the object changesEach is a separate registrable eventNo statutory deadline
- 06File with the Firmenbuch and wait for the courtRegistration, or a Verbesserungsauftrag to remedy the fileNo statutory processing deadline
Steps 07 and 08 · after the takeover, the deadlines begin
- 4 weeksBeneficial ownersWiEReG § 5
- 1 monthFinanzamt ÖsterreichSteuernummer and UID
- 1 monthSVSFrom the start of the trade
- 3 monthsGISA entryOr at once through GISA-Express
- 6 monthsA departing trade-law managing directorTo appoint a replacement
Found a company that fits?
Send the reference number and what the company will actually do. We will tell you what the transfer takes and what the state charges.
What to check in the Firmenbuch before you sign
Nine checks, none of them expensive, all of them done before signature rather than after. The register is public and the documents behind it are public: austrian commercial register.
- The current extract with historical data, EUR 8.20, listing every past shareholder and director.
- The amount actually paid in against each shareholder's contribution (§ 11 GmbHG).
- Any Scheinunternehmen note under § 8 SBBG on the register page (§ 3 Abs. 1 Z 15a FBG).
- The articles as they were filed, from the Urkundensammlung, EUR 1.52 for each document.
- Every annual account filed since incorporation, or evidence that none was owed.
- The specimen signatures and the current list of managing directors.
- The director history, read against the disqualification grounds in § 15 Abs. 1a and 1b GmbHG.
- The registered seat and the business address the register carries for service.
- Whether the company holds any Austrian property, which decides the transfer-tax question above.
A plain current extract online costs EUR 4.89, all three amounts in force from 1 August 2026 (Gerichtsgebührengesetz § 32, Tarifpost 10 Z I). A seller who will not wait for you to read them is telling you something.
Questions buyers ask before they buy
What am I not getting when I buy an Austrian shelf company?
No VAT number, no trade licence you can use, and no bank account. Where the Paid in column reads EUR 5,000, half the share capital is still owed and stays callable. NeuFöG relief is unavailable, because a change in the person of the owner of an existing business is not a new business (§ 2 Z 4 NeuFöG).
Is it legal to buy a company that has never traded?
Austrian law nowhere requires a registered company to trade. A GmbH may be founded for any legally permissible purpose (§ 1 Abs. 1 GmbHG), and FlexKapGG § 1 Abs. 1 repeats it. What the law polices is a front: a Scheinunternehmen finding under § 8 SBBG is entered in the Firmenbuch itself (§ 3 Abs. 1 Z 15a FBG).
Does a shelf company come with a VAT number (UID), and if not, how do I get one?
No, and nobody can sell you one with the shares. A UID is not issued automatically on incorporation and is refused where the applicant is not yet carrying on an enterprise, which is exactly the position of a dormant company. You apply for it when you notify Finanzamt Österreich of the start of activity, alongside the Steuernummer.
Does the company's trade licence transfer with the shares?
No entry on this list holds one. A trade licence sits in the company's name and depends on a qualified trade-law managing director, and a change of shareholder does not supply that person. The normal path is a fresh Gewerbeanmeldung in the company's own name, with the GISA entry following within three months or at once through GISA-Express.
Has the share capital actually been paid in, and what happens if it has not?
Read the Paid in column before anything else. The law requires EUR 10,000 of subscribed capital and at least EUR 5,000 paid in cash before registration (§ 6 Abs. 1 and § 10 Abs. 1 GmbHG). Where EUR 5,000 is shown, EUR 5,000 remains callable, and an insolvency administrator can enforce the outstanding part.
What is the difference between a Vorratsgesellschaft and a Mantelgesellschaft, and which one am I being offered?
A Vorratsgesellschaft was incorporated, parked, and has never traded. A Mantelgesellschaft traded, stopped, and is an empty shell with a history behind it: filed accounts, possible tax arrears, possible coercive fines, possible loss carry-forwards. Every entry on this list is the first kind, dormant since the day it was registered. The risks are not comparable.
If I buy an older company with tax losses, can I use them?
That question belongs to a used company, not to these. § 8 Abs. 4 Z 2 lit. c KStG cancels the loss carry-forward where the organisational structure, the economic structure and the shareholder structure all change materially, for consideration, judged on the overall picture. The three conditions are cumulative, and changing the object of the business counts (VwGH 2013/15/0279).
Can a dormant company still owe money: unpaid capital, minimum corporate income tax, coercive fines for late accounts?
Yes, on all three counts. Unpaid capital stays callable. Minimum corporate income tax is EUR 125 per full quarter, EUR 500 a year, for 2026 and 2027 (§ 24 Abs. 4 KStG). Coercive fines under § 283 UGB fall on the company as well as its directors, and survive the late filing that cures them.
What do I check in the Firmenbuch and the Urkundensammlung before I sign?
The current extract with historical data, EUR 8.20, which lists every past shareholder and director. Each document from the Urkundensammlung costs EUR 1.52 and a plain current extract EUR 4.89, all from 1 August 2026. Read the paid-in amounts, any Scheinunternehmen note, the filed accounts and the director history.
Does the share transfer have to be a notarial deed, and can I sign it from outside Austria?
For a GmbH, yes. § 76 Abs. 2 GmbHG requires a Notariatsakt for any transfer between living persons, and for any agreement obliging a shareholder to transfer in future. A FlexCo needs only a private deed drawn by a notary or a lawyer. Where offer and acceptance are separate instruments, the assignment takes effect when the acceptance reaches the offeror.
How long does it take before the new owner is actually on the register?
We publish no number of days: no source sets one and no official average exists. The sequence is fixed, and it is what you can plan around. The deed is signed on a date you choose, the filing goes in signed by all managing directors with certified signatures, the court reviews it, then registers or returns it.
What must be filed after the takeover, and by when: beneficial ownership, tax office, SVS, trade registration?
Beneficial ownership within four weeks of your learning of the change (§ 5 WiEReG). Finanzamt Österreich within one month of starting the activity, which is also when the Steuernummer and the UID are requested. SVS within one month of starting the trade. The GISA entry follows the trade registration within three months, or at once through GISA-Express.
How much does a shelf GmbH cost, and what is not in the price?
The price of each entry is in the table above, and it is the only price published on this site. It excludes the share capital, which stays inside the company and belongs to it. It excludes the notary, who invoices separately on his own tariff, and the court fees on the filings that follow.
Is buying a shelf company faster or cheaper than forming a new GmbH?
Not cheaper on the state's side of the ledger. Registering a new GmbH costs EUR 47 plus EUR 475, so EUR 522 from 1 August 2026, and NeuFöG can reduce that to zero for a qualifying new business. A shelf takeover gets no NeuFöG relief. What you are buying is an entity that already exists.
What is a GmbH in Austria, and could a FlexCo shell suit me better?
A GmbH is the Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, the standard Austrian limited company, with EUR 10,000 of minimum share capital. A FlexCo has the same minimum capital, but its ordinary shares move on a private deed instead of a full notarial deed. That matters if you expect investors or an employee participation scheme later.
Ask about a company on this list
Send the reference number and what the company will do. We will confirm the position on the list and what the transfer takes.
Ask about this company · Start your onboarding
Planning the exit as well: company liquidation austria.
The data file: notes for the build
data/shelf-companies.json, 14 invented entries, 12 rendered and 2 held back as sold. Every entry is written by the studio and describes no real Austrian company: no name, no Firmenbuch number, no address, and no combination of fields that could identify one. uid_registered, trade_licence and bank_account are false on every entry and dormant is true on every entry, so the three claims this page refuses to make are refused in machine-readable form as well as in prose. Reference identifiers run AT-001 upward and are deliberately nothing like a Firmenbuch number, which is digits plus a check letter. Prices follow the deterministic ladder in the structure: EUR 8,200 for a 2025 entry, rising by register year to EUR 11,500 for 2019, plus EUR 600 where the capital is fully paid. FlexCo entries exist only for 2024 and 2025, because FlexKapGG (BGBl. I Nr. 179/2023) applies from 1 January 2024 and an earlier FlexCo is an impossible entry.