Comparing low tax European countries in 2024

Tax Resident Companies Georgia Hungary Poland Estonia Bulgaria Lithuania
Summary at a glance
Part of the EU common currency? No No No Yes No Yes
Can benefit from EU directives? No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Repatriation or currency controls? No No No No No No
Double tax treaties with USA? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Double tax treaties with Russia? No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Double tax treaties with China? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Corporation tax 15% 9% 19% 20% 10% 15%
VAT rates 18% 27% 23% 20% 20% 21%
Type of company recommended? LLC LLC LLC LLC LLC LLC
How soon can you have a certificate of incorporation? 1 week 3 weeks 3 weeks 3 weeks 2 weeks 2 weeks
How soon can you have corporate bank account numbers? 6 weeks 5 weeks 6 weeks 6 weeks 4 weeks 6 weeks
Corporate bank account location Bank of Georgia Raiffeisen Bank PKO Bank BigBank UniCredit Swedbank
Do you need to travel for Europe company setup? No No No No No No
Total company engagement set up costs €11,650 €10,990 €12,160 €10,400 €10,460 €10,925
Subsequent annual costs (incl audit and tax) €4,550 €3,420 €3,500 €5,350 €4,730 €3,400
Legal & accounting and tax considerations
Resident shareholder or director required? No No No No No No
Minimum number of directors for Europe company 1 1 1 1 1 1
Minimum number of shareholders for Europe company 1 1 1 1 1 1
Corporate director(s) allowed No No No No No No
Public register of shareholders and directors Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Paid-up share capital required? €1 €1 €1 €2,500 €1 €2,500
Standard Corporate Tax Payable % 15% 9% 9-19% 20% 10% 15%
Lower corporate Tax payable for SMEs (turnover under €2m) No No Yes, 9% No No No
Must prepare annual financial statements? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Independent statutory audit required? Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Annual tax return to be submitted Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Access to how many double tax treaties 56 70 86 58 68 55
Tax exempt free zones available Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Withholding tax on dividends 5% 0% 19% 0% 5% 15%
How long to get Europe employment permit? 6 weeks 5 weeks 12 weeks 8 weeks 4 weeks 8 weeks
Logistics considerations
Allowed to sign sales contract with local clients Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Allowed to invoice local clients Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Lease agreement required before company incorporation? No No No No No No
Average monthly salary of skilled labour €680 €800 €950 €935 €650 €840
Average monthly salary of low-skilled labour €290 €395 €450 €550 €300 €550
English spoken by what % of the population 10% 20% 30% 61% 25% 50%
Literacy rate % 99.8% 99.1% 99.8% 99.8% 98.4% 99.8%
Country rating (out of 100) 45 58 71 83 60 73
Broadband mean download speed in MBPS (2019) 7.14 31.10 24.38 31.55 16.95 30.66
GDP per capita (US$) US$ 4,717 US$ 16,162 US$ 15,420 US$ 23,266 US$ 9,272 US$ 19,153
Population % of tertiary enrolment 64% 49% 68% 70% 71% 72%
Global Competitiveness Index Ranking 74 47 37 31 49 39
Ease of Doing Business Global Ranking 7 52 40 18 61 11
Population 3.7 million 9.8 million 38 million 1.3 million 7 million 2.8 million
Unemployment rate 12.7% 3.7% 5.4% 4.1% 6.7% 11.2%
Inflation rate (2019) 6.9% 2.4% 3.4% -0.8% 3% 1%
GDP 2019 US$ billion 17.5 157.8 585.6 30.7 65.1 53.4
Average annual growth rate (2018) 4.8% 5.1% 5.1% 4.8% 3.1% 3.6%
OECD member country? No Yes Yes Yes No Yes
CRS reporting obligations (click link)? No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
FATF blacklisted country? No No No No No No
EU or USA Sanctioned country? No No No No No No
HSBC multi-currency corporate bank accounts available? No No Yes No No No
Country credit rating? Ba2 Baa3 A2 A1 Baa2 A3
Estimate of engagement costs
Company formation fees? €4,300 €3,630 €4,850 €3,250 €3,400 €4,275
Legal registered office fees? €1,200 €1,100 €1,200 €1,200 €1,200 €1,200
Estimate Government fees? €450 €560 €310 €250 €60 €100
Corporate bank account opening fees? €4,950 €4,950 €4,950 €4,950 €4,950 €4,950
Tax and VAT registration fees? €750 €750 €850 €750 €850 €500
Estimate of total outgoings in Year 1? €11,650 €10,990 €12,160 €10,400 €10,460 €11,025
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