Company Registration in Estonia
We register Estonian companies for owners abroad: online with e-Residency, or without it, with a power of attorney signed by video. Nobody needs to travel to Estonia.
Ways to Register a Company
The route depends on whether everyone can sign with e-Residency. After registration the company keeps an annual plan or an accounting plan, which includes the legal address and the contact person.
With e-Residency
Formation is included in the Standard plan.
- Formation included in Standard or Premium
- Or included in an accounting plan
- Signed with e-Residency or Estonian ID
- €265 state fee, paid online
- Usually within some days
Billed annually, plus VAT
Without e-Residency
All fees and the first year of Standard included.
- Video signing with apostille included
- Estonian notary and state fee included
- First year of legal address and contact person
- With an accounting plan instead: €1,380
- Usually a few weeks
Plus VAT. Each extra person: €700
Launch Package
e-Residency first, then the company.
- Guidance through the e-Residency application
- Company formed once the card is active
- First year of legal address and contact person
- €150 and €265 state fees separate
- The card takes about two months
Paid once, plus VAT
Structures
Assessed first, then quoted.
- A company as shareholder or a foreign parent
- Several owners in different countries
- A non-profit without e-Residency
- A branch of a foreign company
- Quoted before any work starts
Quoted individually
How Registration Works
Sign up and verify
Open an account, verify your identity, and add the company details. We review them before anything is filed.
We prepare the documents
The articles of association and the founding documents, and for the notary route the power of attorney in English and Estonian.
Sign
With e-Residency, online. Without it, you sign the power of attorney by video and we sign for you at a notary in Tallinn.
The company is registered
The Business Register enters the company. We send the registry code and banking guidance.
The Estonian OÜ
Osaühing (OÜ)
The Estonian private limited company. Shareholders are not personally liable, one shareholder is enough, and a shareholder can be a person or a company.
The share capital can be as little as one cent, and it is paid in full before the application is filed.
This is the form behind nearly every company we register, including subsidiaries and joint ventures.
Other Legal Forms
Most companies are an OÜ. Anything else is assessed before it is quoted.
More legal forms
How the Company Is Used
Subsidiary
A company where another company holds the majority of votes or otherwise has dominant influence. Formed as an OÜ in almost every case.
SPV
An OÜ formed for one defined purpose, such as a single asset, project, or financing.
Joint venture
Two or more parties forming a company together, with the terms set in a shareholders agreement rather than in the legal form.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to register a company in Estonia?
With e-Residency, formation is included in the Standard plan at €320 a year, and the state fee is €265. Without e-Residency, one person pays €1,700, which includes the video signing, the notary, the state fee, and the first year of Standard. Two people pay €2,400 and three €3,300, all fees included. VAT is added to our fee, not to the state fee.
Can I register a company in Estonia online?
Yes. With e-Residency everything is signed online. Without it, you sign a power of attorney by video call with a notary, and we sign the founding documents for you at a notary in Tallinn. Nobody needs to travel to Estonia.
How long does registration take?
With e-Residency, usually within some days. Without e-Residency, usually a few weeks, most of it spent on the power of attorney. With the Launch Package, the e-Residency card itself takes about two months.
What documents are needed?
A passport, a proof of your home address from the last three months and our questionnaire about the company and its owners. For the notary route, the notary certifies a copy of your passport in the same video session. A company as shareholder also needs an extract from its own register and proof of who may sign for it.
Is an apostille or a translation needed?
Not on the video route. The apostille is issued in the same session and the power of attorney is in English and Estonian. The sessions are in English. If you cannot sign in English or by video, you can sign at a notary in your own country instead and send us the original.
How is the share capital paid?
You choose the amount; it can be as little as one cent. It is paid in full before the application is filed, and the board member confirms the payment in the application. Above €50,000, a notice from the bank is also needed.
When can the company open a bank account?
After registration. Most companies open a business account online with Wise or a similar provider. Estonian banks usually expect business activity in Estonia, and a legal address is not an operating address for a bank.
Who can register a company with you?
Estonian law sets no limit on nationality or residence, and one person can be both the shareholder and the board member. We check every owner and board member before we start. Crypto, payments, and other licensed activities need extra checks, and some cases we cannot take on. If you are not sure, ask us before you pay and we tell you. A company as shareholder is quoted separately.
Can the company be run later without e-Residency?
Yes, but each later change in the Business Register, such as a new board member or address, needs a new power of attorney through a notary. Board members who sign often usually apply for e-Residency.
Why Estonia
Tax only when profit is paid out
Profit is taxed when it is distributed, at 22%. While it stays in the company, nothing is due, however long it stays. Estonia adds no withholding tax on dividends, but a company run from one country may be taxed there, so the structure is settled before registration.
A company in the EU
An OÜ is an EU company, formed under Estonian law and operating in the EU single market. Its owners, whether people or other companies, can be in any country, and every shareholder deals with it on the same terms.
Run from anywhere
An OÜ can be owned and directed from anywhere. Board members do not have to live in Estonia or be paid a salary, and with e-Residency everything is signed online. A small company needs no auditor until it passes thresholds starting around €2 million in revenue.
Register Your Company in Estonia
With e-Residency it starts with an account. Without e-Residency, or for a structure, tell us below who the owners are and we send the price.
Contact Us
Tell us who the owners are and where they live, and we send the price and the next steps.
We reply within 2 business days.
info@capture.ee