Czech Republic – Branch

Introduction to setting up a branch in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic encourages foreign investment into the country and treats foreign investors equally with Czech domicile businesses. Czech branches generally have the same requirements as a Czech legal person, but branches can benefit from greater tax arrangements and an abridged procedure for establishment and dissolution. The Commercial Code, the Trade Licensing Act and the Act on International Private and Procedural Law regulate the establishment of branches in the Czech Republic.

What are the accounting requirements for a branch in the Czech Republic?

The relevant Czech Tax Authorities should be notified by the branch for registration of all forms of tax.
The branch’s accounts must be kept in accordance with the Czech Accounting standards; VAT returns should fulfil monthly legal requirements and be submitted quarterly, and tax returns annually.

What are the formalities regarding branches in the Czech Republic?

– A copy of the parent company’s Certificate of Incorporation
– Memorandum and Articles of Association of the parent company
– A copy of the parent company’s Certificate of Good Standing if provided by the domicile country’s jurisdiction
– A Czech representative to act as Head of Branch – not required to be a Czech citizen
– A registered office
– Registration with the Trade Register to state the purpose of the branch’s business activity
– Resolution of the parent company of the establishment and appointment of the Head of Branch

The documents above are required by the Czech Commercial Register in order for branch registration and to obtain a Czech identification number.

All documentation must be notarised and translated into Czech by a certified translator, or prepared in the bilingual version.

What office facilities are available when registering a branch?

There are two main types of office available in the Czech Republic:

– Registered offices are a minimum requirement, providing an address for branch correspondence
– Virtual offices provide off-site telephone, fax and mail forwarding services, maintaining business professionalism without a physical office
– Serviced offices provide all the essential business facilities ready for immediate occupation

We will handle every aspect of the branch formation for you. Using our expert knowledge we can offer a branch formation package in which we take care of branch registration, issue of the certificates of registration, local directors, local representative and place of business in the Czech Republic, tax registration, VAT registration, and translation of documents (if required).

Our unique one stop solution for all European formation requirements also offers formation packages to set up multiple branches. The benefits for establishing multiple branches include further increased exposure and global presence, and we can organise everything for you.

A summary of Czech Republic Corporate Taxes is available here.