A Limited Liability company In Croatia is known with the abbreviation D.O.O. The full acronym means Društvo s Ograničenom Odgovornošću and it is a capital company in which one or more legal or natural persons choose to participate in a business under a common name.
The first step when starting a business is deciding whether to run the company through single ownership or partnership. Forming a LLC in Croatia guarantees the Company’s obligation to be ensured with its share capital and other assets of the Company.
These are the necessary steps to form an LLC:
- Company Name – The Company name is used in all legal communication and transactions. A company cannot be founded under a name that already exists and it must be clearly distinguished from other companies with Registered Seat in Croatia. The name must be in Croatian language and the Latin script or in the official language of the member states of the European Union and the Latin script. Please note that a special permission must be demanded for a Company name that carries the name Croatia or of any country. The Company name does not have to be a Brand name. It is possible to check which names are previously taken and available on the Croatian Company Register database.
- Company Activities- The list of possible Company Activities can be found on the website of the National Classification of Activities (only in Croatian). When selecting and deciding on the activities, there is no limit, and the fee when establishing the company remains the same. However, adding new activities in the future are charged.
- Company Registered Seat- It is necessary to report the Company Registered Seat when registering the company, which will be inserted in the Croatian Company Register. The Company Register Seat is public, and it can be different than a Business Address. Virtual Office can be a solution for a Company Register Seat for companies that work remote, have multiple Business Addresses or do not have the management or administration present in Croatia.
- Registration with the Company Register and Notary Public – In the case of numerous founders, all the founders must sign an Article of Association of LLC. Once all founders sign the contract it is concluded in the form of a notary document. In case of only one founder, the Article of Association of LLC is replaced by the Statement of Incorporation of LLC at the Notary Public.
- Opening a Bank Account- The payment of share capital is a minimum of 2,654.46€ and it is deposited in the bank account. Additional fees include court fee for application, registration of the company in the Official Gazette, fee of the National Bureau of Statistics and the services of a public notary.
- Bureau of Statistics- Within 15 days of receiving the certificate of entry in the Company Register the company must submit an application to the National Bureau of Statistics in order to receive its registration number and activity code. The following action should be to register the company with the appropriate Tax Authority, whose jurisdiction is determined by the location of your Company’s Registered Seat. Once that is realized the company receives its own Croatian VAT Number called OIB which is then listed in the Croatian Company Register.
- Company Stamp- A company stamp should be made as soon as the certificate of registration in the Court Register is acquired. Most of the business communication do not request the Company Stamp, however some still do.
Apart from the possibility of starting a company in person, since 2019 it is also possible to do it online through a START Website. However, it is possible only to do it for natural person who have a Digital Certificate. Once all requirements are fulfilled, the process is complete.
