Procedures

Where to start?

Wondering where to start a business in the European Union? In Hungary, company registration is available to all nationalities, and it takes only 4-5 work days. You can start taking advantage of the benefits of having a company right away. The 9% corporate tax is the lowest in the EU, and you are immediately issued an EU VAT number too. The company may be set up with a power of attorney, so you must come to Hungary only once, to open your company bank account. Other than that, you may operate your company even remotely.

The main benefits of company formation in Hungary include the following:

incorporation in just 4-5 business days
9% corporate tax, the lowest in the EU
share capital does not need to be deposited
immediate EU VAT number
central location in Europe
excellent infrastructure at low maintenance costs

When setting up a company in Hungary, you should be aware of some of the procedures involved in order to find the best and most cost-effective providers on the market, and decide on how to proceed with starting operation. Naturally, we provide all of the below services as part of our various packages.

Company formation

Your company can be registered by a lawyer, who will hand in your documents to the company registry. This can be done either in person on by a power of attorney.

Local and an EU VAT number

You will be required to indicate your VAT number on all the invoices you issue. If you are planning to do business in the EU, make sure to request an EU VAT number right at the start, and it will be issued together with your local VAT number, without any difficulty.

Keep the documents

The documents you receive during the company formation procedure should be kept safe for future reference. They can be requested in English as well. Of course, your company data will also be publicly available at the online company registry for anyone to check. You may also want to have a company extract, which you can verify that your company in Hungary is operational.

Chamber of commerce

All Hungarian companies must have an active registration with the Hungarian chamber of commerce. This involves paying a yearly fee – the fee for the first year is included in all our service packages.

Registered seat for your company

The registered seat is an official address where your Hungarian company is expected to be reachable. Letters sent here are considered delivered and received. As a result, it is essential that you have competent personnel at this address to handle your mail.

Physical office with contract

Whether you actually need an actual physical office right from the start depends greatly on your business. A cost-effective solution might be renting a desk at a coworking office, where you can also meet clients and partners.

Paying the company registration tax

Company registration involves some fixed fees, set by the government. These fees are involved in all of our packages.

Corporate bank account

The company setup procedure is completed by opening a bank account for your company in Hungary, which should be done within 8 days after the company is registered. Having a HUF account is compulsory for paying taxes and contributions in Hungary, but we advise that you set up further accounts for the various currencies you plan to trade in, e.g. EUR or USD.

Tax number

The director of the Hungarian company should have a Hungarian personal tax number as well. If you are a foreign national, we get this sorted out for you.

Registration at the gateway to electronic government

You as a natural person need to register for e-government first in order to register your company as well. Both procedures are obligatory.

Registered seat service and mail forwarding

Instead of registering your company seat at your own office or shop (which you might not even have when registering your company), it is worth using the services of a registered seat provider in the long run. This way you will not have to change your seat when moving the company, and you can rest assured that all company mail will be forwarded to you

You can ask for advanced mail forwarding, where the incoming mail is also sorted for you, letters from the tax authority are forwarded directly to your accountant, and you receive a short summary of the messages whenever necessary, complete with instructions on what action to take.

Some aspects of company formation in Hungary you should be aware of, which are not part of our services, but still essential for running your company

Accountancy*

In Hungary, every company is obliged to have an accountant that lets them take care of paying taxes, contributions, salaries, and dividends on time, and submits reports to the tax authority. While accountancy is not part of our services, we are happy to point you in the right direction in selecting a provider.

Depositing the share capital*

The share capital of a Hungarian LLC should be at least HUF 3,000,000 (a bit less than EUR 10,000). This is usually deposited in the corporate bank account, but it can also be spent on company-related expenses like accounting services or a registered seat. Make sure to discuss with your accountant how and when are you planning to make the deposit or spend the capital on essential assets and services.