Starting a Business · Austria
Starting a business in Austria: foreigner's guide (2026)
Austria shaded by its starting a business status
Austria permits 100% foreign ownership of companies with no local-shareholder or local-director residency requirement, and since 1 January 2024 the minimum share capital for a GmbH (and the new FlexCo) was cut to EUR 10,000, of which EUR 5,000 must be paid in cash at incorporation. Formation is structured and digitally supported but still involves a notarised deed of incorporation, Commercial Register (Firmenbuch) entry, and—for most activities—a separate trade licence (Gewerbeberechtigung), typically taking one to two weeks. Non-EU/EEA/Swiss investors may additionally face foreign-investment screening in sensitive sectors, adding several months.
Key points
Austrian law permits 100% foreign ownership of a GmbH or FlexCo with no requirement for a local shareholder; managing directors may be non-Austrian and non-resident.
Since 1 January 2024 the minimum share capital for a GmbH is EUR 10,000 (down from EUR 35,000), of which at least EUR 5,000 must be paid in as a cash deposit; the new FlexCo shares the same EUR 10,000 floor.
Core steps: choose a name and legal form, draft and notarise the articles/declaration of establishment (which also appoints management), open an Austrian bank account and deposit capital, register in the Firmenbuch via the court, then obtain a tax number and VAT ID (UID) from the tax office.
Most business activities require a trade licence (Gewerbeberechtigung) before operations begin; legal entities must appoint a trade-law manager (gewerberechtlicher Geschäftsführer) holding the requisite certificate of qualification for regulated trades.
Firmenbuch registration generally takes about one to two weeks once documents are complete; deficiency notices from the court can add further weeks. The notarised deed and bank-account/capital steps are the main scheduling constraints.
Under the Investment Control Act (InvKG, in force July 2020), investments by non-EU/EEA/Swiss persons into Austrian undertakings in sensitive sectors require approval from the Ministry of Labour and Economy; clearance can take roughly 2.5–5 months depending on phase.
Timeline - major decisions & events
The Corporate Law Amendment Act 2023 (GesRÄG 2023, BGBl I 179/2023) introduced a startup-friendly new corporate form, the Flexible Kapitalgesellschaft (FlexCo/FlexKapG), and permanently reduced the ordinary GmbH minimum share capital from €35,000 to €10,000, abolishing the old foundation-privilege regime. It is the most significant modernization of Austrian business-formation law in over a century.
RIS (Austrian Federal Law Gazette) ↗The Gesellschaftsrechts-Änderungsgesetz 2023, containing the new FlexKapGG and the GmbH amendments, was promulgated in the Bundesgesetzblatt, completing the legislative process after parliamentary passage. Publication fixed the framework that governs new company formation today.
Parlament Österreich ↗Directive (EU) 2019/1151 on digital tools and processes in company law required member states, including Austria, to enable fully online formation of limited liability companies without physical presence before an authority. It locked in cross-border, online-first incorporation as an EU-wide standard.
EUR-Lex (EU) ↗The Elektronische Notariatsform-Gründungsgesetz enabled founding a GmbH by electronic notarial deed via video conference, with founders signing using their qualified mobile electronic signatures. Austrian notaries began offering the fully digital GmbH formation from autumn 2019.
Schoenherr ↗From 1 January 2018, a one-person GmbH founded by a natural person who is the sole shareholder and managing director could be set up in a simplified electronic procedure via the Business Service Portal (USP), without a notarial deed or certification. It marked the first low-cost digital route into incorporation.
USP (Unternehmensserviceportal) ↗The Austria-wide Gewerbeinformationssystem Austria (GISA) replaced 14 decentralized provincial trade registers, creating a single national online register for registering trades, location changes and managers. It standardized and digitized trade-licence procedures nationwide.
BMWET (Federal Ministry) ↗The Abgabenänderungsgesetz 2014 reversed the 2013 capital cut: the standard GmbH minimum capital returned to €35,000, but a 'Gründungsprivileg' allowed founders to start with €10,000 (€5,000 paid in cash) for up to ten years before topping up. The change responded to revenue concerns from the lower minimum tax.
Mondaq ↗A first reform reduced the GmbH minimum share capital from €35,000 to €10,000 to lower barriers to company formation. The measure proved short-lived, being scaled back the following year, but it began the long debate over startup-friendly capital rules that culminated in the FlexCo.
TPA Steuerberatung ↗The Gewerbeordnung 1994 consolidated Austria's rules on which commercial activities require a trade licence and on the qualification and registration requirements to start a regulated business. It remains the core statute governing the practical right to operate a business.
RIS (Austrian Federal Law) ↗Austria - other topics
Last verified 5/23/2026 · Orientation, not legal advice - verify against the primary sources linked above. Explore the full world map →