Register an Austrian GmbH, from Anywhere

On both routes the state charges the Firmenbuch court fee under Tarifpost 10 Z I GGG: EUR 522 for a GmbH's first registration from 1 August 2026. A qualifying new business is exempt under § 1 Z 3 NeuFöG. The § 9a route needs no notary. For the notarial deed, the Austrian Economic Chamber estimates about EUR 100–150 for a one-person GmbH with minimum content.

On the notarial route, yes: the deed can be executed electronically under § 69b Notariatsordnung (§ 4 Abs. 3 GmbHG), or signed by a proxy with a special, notarially certified power of attorney. The § 9a route requires an in-person identity check at the bank. The seat must be where the company has an operation, its management or its administration.

The capital comes first: § 10 Abs. 1 GmbHG requires at least EUR 5,000 in cash paid in before registration, and not every bank opens an account for an unregistered company held by a non-resident. § 10 Abs. 2 allows payment to an account of the company or its managing directors, or to a notary's escrow account (Anderkonto).

A first-year budget has separate items: the notary's deed, which the Austrian Economic Chamber estimates at about EUR 100–150 for a one-person GmbH with minimum content and at least EUR 2,000 with two or more shareholders; the court fee, unless the NeuFöG exemption applies; the registered address; and the service. Our formation plan lists each item.

The law sets the capital: at least EUR 10,000 (§ 6 Abs. 1 GmbHG), with EUR 5,000 in cash paid in before registration (§ 10 Abs. 1). A notarial deed with additional clauses costs about EUR 500–1,000, per the Austrian Economic Chamber. The court fee for the first registration, EUR 522, is waived for a qualifying new business under the NeuFöG. Our fee is quoted on request.

Four steps, in this order. The articles name the firm and seat, the object, the share capital and each contribution, as a notarial deed or, for one founder under § 9a GmbHG, an electronic declaration. At least EUR 5,000 in cash is paid in and confirmed. All managing directors then file with the Firmenbuch, and the court examines the documents.

The GmbH, or Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, is the Austrian company form governed by the GmbHG. Only the company is liable with its assets; shareholders owe only their subscribed contributions. It needs EUR 10,000 of share capital (§ 6 Abs. 1 GmbHG), at least one managing director (§ 15 Abs. 1) and an entry in the Firmenbuch.

GmbH stands for Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, German for company with limited liability. In Austria the form is governed by the GmbHG. Since 1 January 2024 its minimum share capital is EUR 10,000, where it was EUR 35,000 before, and the old founding privilege, the Gründungsprivilegierung, no longer exists for new companies.

US law has no GmbH. The form it is most often compared with is the limited liability company, but the two rest on different legal systems. On the Austrian side, a GmbH needs a minimum share capital of EUR 10,000 (§ 6 Abs. 1 GmbHG), articles executed as a notarial deed (§ 4 Abs. 3 GmbHG) and a Firmenbuch entry.

No. A GmbH is a company under Austrian law, the GmbHG; an LLC belongs to a different legal system, so any likeness is a comparison, not an identity. The GmbH is defined by Austrian rules: a minimum share capital of EUR 10,000, at least half raised by cash contributions (§ 6a Abs. 1 GmbHG), and an entry in the Firmenbuch.

This site covers one company form and publishes no ranking of Austrian companies by size. What holds for every GmbH, large or small, is the same starting point: a minimum share capital of EUR 10,000 (§ 6 Abs. 1 GmbHG), articles in the form of a notarial deed, and an entry in the Firmenbuch, kept by the commercial courts.