Croatia

Starting a Business in

Croatia

Below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles faced by entrepreneurs wishing to incorporate and register a new firm in Croatia. It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income.

This information was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 185 economies. The most recent round of data collection was completed in June 2012.

Compare Croatia to 184 other economies.

YearNew business densityNumber of new limited liability companies
2011 2.397,145

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Limited Liability Company
  • Paid in Minimum Capital Requirement: HRK 10,000
  • City: Zagreb

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check availability of the company's name

The founder can check the availability of the company name online by searching through the database of the court registry. HITRO can not verify the availablity of the name for the company that is going to be established. The competent commercial court has to be contacted personally.
1 day 10 HRK
2 Notarize memorandum of association and register company with the Commercial Court electronically

Regulation of Performing Registrations in the Court Registry (Pravilnik o načinu upisa u sudski registar) Official Gazette (Narodne Novine) issue 134/07 introduced the possibility of filing the applications to the court registries together with their enclosures in an electronic form by the notary public or other persons authorized. This electronic communication became operational as of October 21, 2009.

Instead of filing the application for registration of the limited liability company with the court registries in hard copy, the public notary fills now the application electronically. The notary signs it with an advanced electronic signature specific to each notary public. All the other documents necessary for the incorporation process are scanned and send electronically with the application. The notary public is free to decide whether to send the electronic application to HITRO or directly to the court; in most cases though notary publics choose HITRO as HITRO immediately informs them if there are some documents missing, or any problems in transmission, legibility or similar.

The notary public is obliged to deliver the application and enclosures in hard copy to the court registry within 3 days as of the receipt of the electronic application at the court registry. The court processes the application received online, without waiting for the hard copies. If everything is in order with the application and the scanned documents enclosed, the court renders the decision the next day. The decision is rendered electronically. Such decision however is not signed/ stamped and may not be used as proof of incorporation. Still, it serves to the notary public to see that the decision has been made. Hard copy of the decision is prepared and dispatched also the same day (the day after filing the application), but it takes a day or two for the same to be delivered by the post office to the notary public. If the founder/ notary public would like to get the hard copy decision also the same day as the decision in electronic form, they can pick it up physically from the court.

The cost to notarize the memorandum of association depends on the number of founders and the founding capital. The notary public drafts the deed of incorporation and the articles of association of the prospective company, fills in the electronic application (the cost of the electronic application is the same as the cost of the hard copy application) and draft the director’s statement on acceptance of the appointment. However, if done by HITRO, the documents must be notarized by the notary public. For other documents, the notary public verifies the signatures. The drafting of the articles of association, the electronic application, and the director’s statement of acceptance of the appointment can also be done by HITRO. However, it is mandatory that the notary public notarize all the above documents.

Court and publication fees have to be paid by: bank transfer (at the bank), at FINA, post offices, or by Internet banking service. Notary public should send scanned confirmations of fees' payment to HITRO/ court along with the application.

The average time to register with HITRO is about 4 calendar days.
The average time to register at the Court is two weeks.
4 days 3150 HRK (notary) + 220 HRK (application fee) + 160 HRK (drafting the acceptance of appointment statement) + 46,60 HRK per signature + HRK 400 (court fees) + HRK 900 (publication fees)
3 Order official seal and apply for statistical registration number

Official seals are readily available throughout Croatia at special seal-making shops. A copy of the court decision on registration of incorporation should be presented in order to have the seal made. The seal should be used on all official documents (including invoices, receipts and so on) issued by the company. Seals can also be ordered through FINA offices (on 24 locations as well as where are HITRO.HR offices). If done through FINA, the entrepreneur can at the same time also apply for statistical registration. This is due to a reform introduced by the Governments Ordinance on formulation of operations done by Financial agency in the one-stop- shop implementation (Official gazette98/05).
The Company has to obtain a Statistical File Number with the State Office for Statistics (Drzavni zavod za statistiku), in a form of "Information on classification of the business entity pursuant to the National Classification of Activities". If given the appropriate Special Power of Attorney, FINA registers the company with the State Office for Statistics (Drzavni zavod za statistiku) and obtains the Statistical File Number in a form of "Information on classification of the business entity pursuant to the National Classification of Activities".
1 day HRK 150 + HRK 55
4 Open a bank account


1 day HRK 175
* 5 Register with tax authority (porezna uprava) for VAT and employee income tax withdrawals

Upon registering with the Commercial Court Register and fulfilling its obligations with the State Bureau of Statistics, the company must register with the competent tax authority. Once a company is registered at the State Bureau of Statistics, company data is sent electronically to the tax authority, which levies the annual company tax. The company must register for VAT at the Tax Office, however, only after its first invoice (within 15 days of issuance). Once the company is registered for VAT, all tax payments can be processed through an electronic system, e-VAT. If the company’s total taxable annual income exceeds HRK 85,000, it must register itself as an entity in the VAT system with the competent tax authority, based on the company's registered seat.

Starting from January 01, 2009 a revision of the existing Croatian Law on Companies came into force (published in the Official Gazette no. 146/2008). The change involves inducing "OIB" (personal identification number), that replaces tax number for legal entities. Personal identification number is defined as identification mark of personal identification number that users of that number use in their official evidences and with change of datas.
1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) no charge
* 6 Register with Croatian Pension Insurance Fund (Hrvatski zavod za mirovinsko osiguranjem, HZMO) or FINA

The company must register with the Croation Pension Insurance Fund within 8 days of incorporation. Companies must also their employees within 15 days from the date of entering into an employment agreement. The procedure may be completed before the competent HZMO office or at the HITRO centers. As of May 2006, electronic filing of the application for registration with the Pension Insurance Fund (HZMO) is also available.

The company must register with the Croatia Institute for Health Insurance (HZZO) as a contributions payer. The company also must register its employees within 15 days of the date of executing an employment agreement. No fees are required. Registration can be completed within one day if all the required documents are submitted. The procedure may be completed before the competent HZZO office or with HITRO. The following documents should be submitted:
• Decision about the registration into the Court Registry.
• Notice of classification from the National Institute for Statistics Application (to the Croatian Health Insurance Fund).
• Proof of place of residence and the work contract.

All persons employed for the first time and age 40 are obliged to register in the second pillar of retirement insurance. A person has to choose the obligatory pension fund within 3 months of the date of employment. If the fund is not chosen after that period, REGOS (the Central Register of Insurees) itself chooses the obligatory pension fund that the person will register in. All persons employed for the first time and between ages 40 and 50 can, if they desire, register with the second pillar of retirement insurance. A person has to choose the obligatory pension fund within 6 months of the date of employment. If the fund is not chosen after that period, a person permanently loses the right to register in the second pillar of retirement insurance.
1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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