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ShelfCompanies24 has been forming Slovak companies for international founders since 1995. Our Bratislava team handles every step of company formation in Slovakia on a single agreed service contract, from picking the right legal form through notarisation, Obchodný register entry, Finančná správa registration and your first Eurozone bank account. Most clients are trading inside 4 to 8 weeks, or on day one if they choose a ready-made hotová s.r.o..
Our service covers notár, Obchodný register, RPVS (where applicable), virtual sídlo.
Company + sídlo + banking + účtovná kancelária under one roof.
Standard formation 4 to 8 weeks; fast track via our notár network 3 to 5 weeks. Slovak-speaking case manager.
eIDAS-qualified e-signature, Slovak consulate notarisation, or delegate to our Bratislava attorney via splnomocnenie.
We draft the zakladateľská listina, file Obchodný register, register DPH/IČ DPH and update RPVS / KUV.
The s.r.o. is the workhorse of Slovak commerce, covering more than 90% of new corporate registrations. Governed by §§ 105 to 153 Obchodného zákonníka.
Required for listed entities and certain regulated sectors. Min capital €25,000, dual-tier or monistic governance, registered or bearer shares (registered only since 2014).
| Form | Min. capital | Formation time | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| s.r.o. | €5,000 | 4 to 8 weeks | Default, SMEs, holdings |
| a.s. | €25,000 | 6 to 12 weeks | Listed groups, regulated finance |
| k.s. | No minimum | 4 to 8 weeks | Tax-optimised partnerships |
| Branch | Parent-dependent | 4 to 6 weeks | Multinational presence |
| Hotová s.r.o. | €5,000 (paid) | 3 to 7 days | Need immediate trading |
Slovakia runs two separate beneficial-owner regimes, and foreign founders regularly confuse them. The first applies to every company: the Register konečných užívateľov výhod (KUV), which records each natural person who ultimately owns or controls more than 25% of the shares, the voting rights or the economic benefit of a Slovak entity. The filing is electronic through the Ministry of Justice portal, and it has to be refreshed whenever ownership or control changes.
The second applies only to companies that deal with the state. The Register partnerov verejného sektora (RPVS) covers any company receiving public-sector contracts or subsidies above the €100,000 threshold in a single year, and its entries cannot be filed by the company itself. They must be submitted and verified by an oprávnená osoba, an authorised lawyer, notár or auditor, who carries personal liability for the accuracy of the ownership chain.
Both registers look through nominee and layered structures to a natural person. Where ownership runs through a foreign holding company, expect to produce the parent’s own corporate documents and, for RPVS, a verification document tracing the chain to the end. We file the KUV record as part of every formation and transfer, and coordinate RPVS through an authorised person where the business model calls for it.
Company registration in Slovakia ends at the Obchodný register, kept by the district courts and published at orsr.sk. Before the entry can be made, four things have to exist: the founding deed (zakladateľská listina for a single founder, spoločenská zmluva for several), the trade licence for the intended activity, confirmation that the €5,000 of základné imanie has been paid in as share capital, and a registered office in Slovakia.
The court then works to its own pace, typically 2 to 10 working days once the file is complete, which is why the realistic end-to-end figure is 4 to 8 weeks, or 3 to 5 weeks through our notár network. The DIČ follows registration automatically, IČ DPH is applied for at the Finančná správa, and the beneficial owners are filed in the KUV register.
Founders in the United States, Ukraine, Turkey, Romania and Spain make up most of the Slovak registrations we file, and none of them has to be in Bratislava. Signatures are certified at a Slovak consulate, given with an eIDAS qualified electronic signature, or delegated to our Bratislava attorney under a notarised splnomocnenie. Documents issued outside the EU need an apostille and a sworn translation, which we arrange on the same file.
Confirm legal form, shareholder structure, predmet podnikania, Slovak živnosti (trade-licence categories), sídlo location and banking preferences.
Most Slovak business activities require a trade licence issued by the Okresný úrad, Odbor živnostenského podnikania. Categories: voľné (free, notification only), remeselné (craft, certified qualification), viazané (restricted, licence), koncesované (licensed). Free trades typically take 5 working days.
Single-shareholder s.r.o. uses a zakladateľská listina; multi-shareholder, a spoločenská zmluva. Drafted bilingual Slovak-English with provisions on share transfers, pre-emption, exit clauses and deadlock.
The founder(s) appear before a Slovak notár, in person in Bratislava, Košice, Žilina or another regional centre, or remotely via Slovak consulate, eIDAS qualified electronic signature, or notarised splnomocnenie delegating to our Bratislava attorney. Notár fees are set by tariff and scale with the základné imanie.
The founder opens a vkladový účet with a Slovak bank and deposits the full €5,000. The bank issues a potvrdenie o splatení vkladu attached to the Obchodný register filing.
The notár or attorney electronically files the registration package with the competent Okresný súd via the Ministry of Justice Obchodný register portal. A court filing fee applies, set by the Ministry of Justice, and is lower for electronic filings than for paper. Processing time: 2 to 10 working days, depending on the court.
Within 30 days of Obchodný register entry the company files for tax registration with the Finančná správa SR:
For companies receiving public-sector contracts above €100,000, registration in Register partnerov verejného sektora is required. Beneficial owners must also be filed in the Register konečných užívateľov výhod.
Convert vkladový účet to operating account; introduce additional banking partners as appropriate. Slovenská sporiteľňa, Tatra banka, VÚB banka, ČSOB Slovensko, Poštová banka, 365.bank all serve corporate clients.
| Scenario | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| s.r.o. via standard formation | 4 to 8 weeks |
| s.r.o. via fast-track notar network | 3 to 5 weeks |
| a.s. (joint-stock) | 6 to 12 weeks |
| Branch of foreign company | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Ready-made hotová s.r.o. | 3 to 7 working days |
Slovakia records beneficial owners, but not publicly. Every s.r.o. files its konečný užívateľ výhod into a non-public part of the commercial register, and the Statistical Office closed public consultation of the register of beneficial owners on 10 July 2025. The threshold under the anti money laundering act is a direct or indirect holding of at least 25 per cent of the share capital or votes. Only authorities and obliged entities may look.
KUV is the general beneficial-owner register and applies to every Slovak company. RPVS, the Register of Public Sector Partners, applies only to companies that receive public money above the €100,000 threshold in a year. KUV can be filed by the company; RPVS entries must be submitted and verified by an oprávnená osoba, an authorised lawyer, notár or auditor who is personally liable for the ownership chain.
Agree the form and the founding deed, obtain the trade licence for the activity, pay the share capital into a Slovak deposit account, then file the package electronically with the competent Okresný súd. The court entry itself typically takes 2 to 10 working days, and the realistic end-to-end timeline is 4 to 8 weeks, or 3 to 5 weeks through our notár network. Tax and beneficial-owner registrations follow.
It is the founding document that Slovak law calls a zakladateľská listina where there is one founder and a spoločenská zmluva where there are several. It fixes the company name, the registered office, the business purpose, the share capital and each founder’s contribution, the first konateľ and the rules for transferring ownership shares. We draft it bilingually in Slovak and English, including pre-emption, exit and deadlock provisions where the shareholders need them.
Standard route: 4 to 8 weeks from KYC to Obchodný register entry. Fast-track via our partner notár network: 3 to 5 weeks. If you need to trade immediately, a ready-made hotová s.r.o. transfers in 3 to 7 working days.
€5,000 total, €750 per spoločník, fully paid in cash at formation. This is stricter than Czech s.r.o. (CZK 1 nominal) but lower than Polish Sp. z o.o. (PLN 5,000 ≈ €1,170, actually similar in absolute terms).
Shareholders face no residency or nationality test at all, and a Slovak s.r.o. can be wholly owned from outside the EU. Directors are different. Under the commercial register act, a konateľ who is not a citizen of an EU, EEA or OECD member state must produce a Slovak residence permit before the court will enter the appointment. Citizens of those states need nothing extra, which is the usual route for foreign founders.
From 2024 Slovakia introduced a tiered minimum CIT: €340 for legal entities with income ≤ €50,000; €960 for €50,000-€250,000; €1,920 for €250,000-€500,000; €3,840 above €500,000. Even loss-making or dormant s.r.o. must pay this minimum.
10% CIT if total annual income is up to €100,000 (the “small taxpayer” bracket). 21% on income €100,000-€5,000,000. 24% above €5M. Plus the minimum CIT noted above. VAT 23% standard.
Yes, with a place-of-effective-management caveat. If all decisions and the konateľ operate from another country, double-tax-treaty residence rules may apply. We discuss substance requirements during onboarding.
The Register partnerov verejného sektora applies to companies receiving public-sector contracts/subsidies above €100,000 within a single year (or any single contract). If your business model targets public-sector clients, registration is mandatory and must be submitted by an oprávnená osoba (authorised lawyer/notár).
Tax registration with Finančná správa, IČ DPH application, KUV (UBO) filing, bank account activation, accounting engagement. Most clients are fully operational within 4 to 6 weeks of register entry.
Ready to register your Slovak company? Contact our Slovak desk for a service covering notár, Obchodný register, tax registration and banking.
Slovakia is one of several jurisdictions where ShelfCompanies24 maintains pre-formed entities and active formation services. Why pick Slovakia for your s.r.o. specifically? Eurozone, progressive CIT 10%/21%/24% from 2024 is the headline reason, but it pays to understand the trade-offs against the alternatives. Below are concrete differentiators that matter when you are weighing 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 Slovakia specifically: Progressive rates have applied since 1 January 2025: 10% on income up to €100,000, 21% between €100,000 and €5 million, and 24% above €5 million. A separate minimum corporate income tax also applies and was increased for the top band in 2026. Eurozone since 2009.
Issues we routinely see when prospects come to us after attempting the process directly with local providers in Slovakia:
Yes. A name change is filed with the OR SR via a directors’ resolution and a routine filing, typically clears in 48 hours. We include up to one name change as standard for both shelf-company purchase and new formation.
Yes. A Slovak s.r.o. that is tax resident in Slovakia comes within the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive and the Interest and Royalties Directive, and within Slovakia’s bilateral network, which the Ministry of Finance puts at about seventy five double taxation treaties in force. Most have been rewritten by the Multilateral Instrument, so a principal purpose test now sits over treaty benefits and genuine commercial substance matters.
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 Slovakia or a domestic tax-base reform, we proactively flag clients whose structures may need restructuring and set out the remedial steps. The client is not left to discover material regulatory change from their accountant or from media reports.
A s.r.o. is a separate legal entity Slovak-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 Slovakia branch books local-source income but the parent’s overall tax liability cascades. Most foreign owners pick a s.r.o. 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 Slovak new s.r.o. formation covers the following deliverables under one service:
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 service globally for Slovak corporate setup. Optional add-ons (virtual office, accounting retainer, payroll, sector licences, transfer-pricing documentation) are scoped separately, so the incorporation or transfer work stays exactly as agreed.
Different jurisdictions are stronger for different commercial activities. Slovakia consistently performs well for international operators in:
None of these are exclusive, a Slovak s.r.o. 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 Slovakia is the right fit before we begin.
A Slovak s.r.o. 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 Slovakia’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 Slovak s.r.o. 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 Slovakia: 10% (≤€100k) / 21% / 24% (>€5M) headline corporate tax. Progressive rates have applied since 1 January 2025: 10% on income up to €100,000, 21% between €100,000 and €5 million, and 24% above €5 million. A separate minimum corporate income tax also applies and was increased for the top band in 2026. Eurozone since 2009.
Beyond the headline number, three regulatory currents shape every Slovak structuring decision in 2026: OECD Pillar Two and the local Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax (QDMTT) for groups above €750 million consolidated revenue; the EU’s progressive AML/CTF tightening (AMLD6 and AMLR transitioning into the Anti-Money-Laundering Authority’s direct supervision); and the OR SR’s ongoing migration toward digital-only filing and real-time beneficial-owner reconciliation. Smaller entities below the Pillar Two threshold continue under the regular Slovak tax regime, but reporting obligations to the OR SR 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 Slovakia regulatory news yourself, that is part of what we provide for the annual retainer.
Three deadline buckets: OR SR confirmation/return (typically annual, on the company’s accounting reference date), corporate tax return (filed via the Slovakia 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 OR SR 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: Slovakia corporate tax already paid at the s.r.o. level on profits (10% (≤€100k) / 21% / 24% (>€5M)); Slovakia 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 Slovak 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.