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ShelfCompanies24 has been forming Lithuanian companies for international founders since 1995. Our Vilnius team handles every step of company formation in Lithuania on a single fixed-price contract — from picking the right legal form through Registrų centras registration, VMI tax registration, JADIS UBO filing and your first Eurozone bank account. Most clients are trading inside 1–3 weeks, or in 3–7 working days if they choose a ready-made atsarginė UAB.
Single payment covers Registrų centras filing, JADIS UBO, virtual buveinė and our service fee.
Company + buveinė + Lithuanian banking + buhalterinė įmonė under one roof.
Standard formation 1–3 weeks. Lithuanian-speaking case manager.
eIDAS-qualified e-signature, Lithuanian consulate, or delegate to our Vilnius attorney via įgaliojimas.
We draft the įstatai, file Registrų centras, register PVM, file JADIS UBO.
The UAB is the workhorse of Lithuanian commerce. Governed by the Akcinių bendrovių įstatymas (Companies Act).
For listed entities and capital-raising structures. Min capital €40,000, registered shares, dual-tier governance.
| Form | Min. capital | Formation time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| UAB | €2,500 | 1–3 weeks | Default — SMEs, holdings |
| AB | €40,000 | 4–8 weeks | Listed groups |
| MB | No minimum | 1–3 weeks | Family/SME partnerships |
| Filialas | Parent-dependent | 3–6 weeks | Multinational presence |
| Atsarginė UAB | €2,500 (paid) | 3–7 days | Need immediate trading |
Confirm legal form, shareholder structure, business activity (with EVRK codes), buveinė location, banking preferences.
The articles of association are drafted by our Vilnius attorney, bilingual Lithuanian-English. Provisions on share transfers, pre-emption, exit clauses.
Founders sign with notarised or attorney-certified signatures. Foreign founders can sign at any Lithuanian consulate, via eIDAS qualified electronic signature, or delegate to our Vilnius attorney via įgaliojimas.
Open a deposit account at a Lithuanian bank, deposit €2,500. Bank issues confirmation attached to the Registrų centras filing.
Files submitted electronically via the Registrų centras self-service portal. Processing: 1–3 working days for electronic filings. Registrų centras issues an įmonės kodas (company code) and the company appears in the public register at registrucentras.lt. Filing fees: ≈ €60–110.
The įmonės kodas doubles as the tax identification. Within 5 days of register entry the company files with VMI for:
Beneficial owners filed in JADIS within 10 days. Penalties up to €5,800.
Convert deposit account to operating account. Lithuanian banks: SEB Lithuania, Swedbank Lithuania, Luminor Bank, Šiaulių bankas, Citadele Lithuania, plus fintech-licensed options like Revolut Bank UAB.
| Scenario | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| UAB via electronic Registrų centras filing | 1–3 weeks |
| AB (joint-stock) | 4–8 weeks |
| MB (small partnership) | 1–2 weeks |
| Filialas of foreign company | 3–6 weeks |
| Atsarginė UAB — transfer rather than formation | 3–7 working days |
Standard UAB via electronic Registrų centras filing: 1–3 weeks total.
€2,500, fully paid in cash at formation.
No. Neither shareholders nor direktorius need Lithuanian or EU residency.
Eligibility: annual revenue ≤ €300,000 AND ≤ 10 employees. The 6% rate applies to taxable profits of qualifying companies — a 10-percentage-point saving versus the 16% standard. Switching back to standard 16% CIT happens automatically once you exceed either threshold.
6% if eligible for small-company regime; 16% otherwise. VAT 21% standard. Effective burden for a typical small UAB: 6%.
Yes. Substance considerations apply per double-tax-treaty rules. Most foreign clients use a Vilnius virtual buveinė with regular direktorius visits.
VMI tax registration (PVM, VAT-EU), small-company regime election if eligible, JADIS UBO filing, bank-account activation, accounting engagement. Most clients are operational within 2 weeks.
Ready to register your Lithuanian company? Contact our Lithuanian desk.
Lithuania is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick Lithuania for your UAB specifically? EU fintech hub, EMI/PI licensing friendly is the headline reason — but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you’re pricing a structure decision against the actual operating profile of your business.
Cross-border corporate structuring in 2026 is governed by a tighter web of rules than in any previous decade. Three forces shape every decision:
For Lithuania specifically: 16% standard / 6% small-company (revenue up to EUR 300k & up to 10 employees). Eurozone since 2015.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in Lithuania:
Yes. A name change is filed with the Registrų centras via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing — typically clears in 48 hours. We include up to one name change in the standard fee for both shelf-company purchase and new formation. Subsequent changes are billed at cost.
Yes. As a Lithuania-tax-resident UAB, your company has automatic access to the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, the EU Interest and Royalties Directive, and the network of Lithuania’s bilateral double-tax treaties (typically 70-90 partner countries). Treaty access is conditional on meeting the principal-purpose test (PPT) under the Multilateral Instrument and the relevant treaty’s anti-abuse provisions.
Client information is held under contractual non-disclosure plus the professional-secrecy obligations applicable to corporate-service providers in our home jurisdiction. We do not share client identity or transaction details with third parties beyond what is statutorily required (KYC reporting, beneficial-owner-register filings, AML/CTF reporting where triggered). Our internal access to client files is logged and access-restricted by need-to-know.
Material tax changes (rate moves, new minimum-tax regimes, treaty amendments) get communicated to active clients with our analysis of impact. Where the change is structural — for example the OECD Pillar Two implementation in Lithuania or a domestic tax-base reform — we proactively flag clients whose structures may need restructuring and offer a pricing-defined remedial path. The client is not left to discover material regulatory change from their accountant or from media reports.
A UAB is a separate legal entity Lithuanian-tax-resident with its own corporate tax filings and beneficial-owner record. A branch is an extension of a foreign parent — the foreign parent is the legal entity, the Lithuania branch books local-source income but the parent’s overall tax liability cascades. Most foreign owners pick a UAB for liability ring-fencing and clean tax accounting; branches are sometimes preferred where the parent has specific group-relief or treaty considerations that depend on common legal personality.
Engaging us for your Lithuanian new UAB formation covers the following deliverables under one fixed-fee proposal:
The deliverable scope is identical regardless of whether you are based in the EU, the US, the UK, the Middle East, or APAC — we operate the same fixed-fee model globally for Lithuanian corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are quoted line-item separately so there is no scope creep on the headline incorporation or transfer fee.
Different jurisdictions are stronger for different commercial activities. Lithuania consistently performs well for international operators in:
None of these are exclusive — a Lithuanian UAB can engage in any lawful commercial activity — but choosing a jurisdiction where the activity has a deep operating ecosystem (talent pool, regulatory familiarity, banking and supplier networks) materially shortens the time from incorporation to first revenue. Tell us your activity profile and we will confirm whether Lithuania is the right fit before we begin.
A Lithuanian UAB sits within the EU treaty framework — automatic access to the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive (zero withholding on intra-EU dividends meeting the holding test), the Interest and Royalties Directive, and Lithuania’s bilateral double-tax treaties with non-EU partners. The treaty network is shaped by the OECD Multilateral Instrument since 2017, which embedded a Principal Purpose Test (PPT) into existing treaties to deny benefits where a structure was set up primarily for tax advantage rather than genuine commercial purpose.
Common Lithuanian UAB patterns we see: EU-wide trading hub with VAT one-stop-shop, IP holding with treaty-protected royalty flows, regional headquarters serving CEE/Western EU subsidiaries, and licensing-and-distribution structures using EU passport rights. Each pattern has its own substance and transfer-pricing implications which your consultant will map before structuring.
The 2026 corporate-law and tax landscape in Lithuania: 16% headline corporate tax. 16% standard / 6% small-company (revenue up to EUR 300k & up to 10 employees). Eurozone since 2015.
Beyond the headline number, three regulatory currents shape every Lithuanian structuring decision in 2026: OECD Pillar Two and the local Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) for groups above EUR 750M consolidated revenue; the EU’s progressive AML/CTF tightening (AMLD6 and AMLR transitioning into the Anti-Money-Laundering Authority’s direct supervision); and the Registrų centras’s ongoing migration toward digital-only filing and real-time beneficial-owner reconciliation. Smaller entities below the Pillar Two threshold continue under the regular Lithuanian tax regime, but reporting obligations to the Registrų centras apply to every entity regardless of size.
We track these regulatory currents continuously and flag anything material to active clients within working days of the change being announced. You do not need to monitor Lithuania regulatory news yourself — that is part of what we provide for the annual retainer.
Three deadline buckets: Registrų centras confirmation/return (typically annual, on the company’s accounting reference date), corporate tax return (filed via the Lithuania tax authority following the financial year-end, usually 6-12 months after period close), and VAT/sales-tax returns (monthly or quarterly cadence depending on turnover, where applicable). Beneficial-owner-register updates are event-triggered (filing required when ownership changes) rather than calendar-based.
Penalty consequences vary by jurisdiction but typically follow a pattern: small late-filing fee for short delays, larger automatic penalty for sustained non-filing, and ultimately strike-off from the Registrų centras for prolonged non-compliance. Strike-off voids the company and may require court application to restore. Our retainer service handles the full filing calendar so this never happens to a client on our books.
Three layers determine the after-tax dividend: Lithuania corporate tax already paid at the UAB level on profits (16%); Lithuania withholding tax on outbound dividends, which is the variable that depends on where the recipient sits — zero under the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive for qualifying EU/EEA corporate holders meeting the minimum holding test, reduced rates under bilateral treaties for non-EU recipients, default Lithuanian statutory rate where no treaty applies; and recipient-country tax on the dividend in the parent’s hands (often subject to participation exemption at the recipient level). Your consultant maps this end-to-end in the initial scoping so the after-tax economics are clear before incorporation.