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Cost to register a company in Estonia

Estonia is mid-priced to start and cheap to maintain — as long as you reinvest. The headline numbers are friendly: a €0.01 minimum capital, no notary for the standard online OÜ, and no government annual-return fee. But two costs are specific to being a non-resident and unavoidable. First, the €150 e-Residency state fee to get the digital ID that makes the whole remote setup possible. Second, the licensed Estonian contact person and legal address — required because your board is abroad — at roughly €200–€400/yr. The €265 OÜ state fee is higher than the UK or Ireland to incorporate, and accounting (to keep books and file the mandatory annual report) is the other recurring line most founders can't skip from abroad.

Estonia overview How we research
Country
Estonia
Topic
Cost breakdown
Reviewed
June 2026

By the Lanzamo Editorial Team · Reviewed June 2026 · How we research

Item One-time Recurring Notes
e-Residency digital ID (state fee) $165 — €150 application fee to the Police and Border Guard Board; a partner pickup hub may add a small local service charge. The card is valid 5 years.
Government incorporation fee (OÜ) $285 — €265 online state fee for an OÜ in the e-Business Register. The reduced €20 fee is only for sole traders/partnerships, not an OÜ.
Notary / apostille — — Not required for the standard online OÜ founded with the digital ID — only relevant if you incorporate by proxy through a notary instead.
Share capital contribution $0–$2,700 — Minimum €0.01; many set €2,500 to avoid the shareholder-liability shortfall. It is your money in the company, not a fee — but must be paid in, no longer deferrable.
Contact person + legal address — $220–$440 €200–€400/yr from a licensed provider; mandatory because the management board is abroad. The contact person receives official documents only.
Nominee / resident director — — Not required — a single non-resident can be the sole board member, so there is no nominee-director cost (the contact person is not a director).
Accounting + annual report — $650–$2,400 Roughly €50–€150/month for a service handling bookkeeping and the mandatory annual report; a near-dormant OÜ can pay just an annual-report fee instead.
VAT registration & returns — $0–$700 Registration with EMTA is free; ongoing cost is the accountant's fee for monthly KMD VAT returns, only once registered (mandatory above €40,000 turnover).

Realistic all-in first year

$700 – $3,500

After year one the one-off costs fall away — the €150 e-Residency fee (good for 5 years) and the €265 incorporation fee don't recur. Ongoing cost settles into the contact person/legal address (~$220–$440/yr) and accounting plus the annual report (~$650–$2,400/yr), so budget roughly $900–$2,800 a year to keep a non-resident OÜ in good standing — call it $2,500–$8,000 over three years all-in. There is no franchise tax, no government annual-return fee, and (if you reinvest) no corporate tax, so a lean reinvesting company is genuinely cheap to carry; the contact-person requirement is the one cost you cannot escape while your board is abroad.

Frequently asked questions

What's the absolute minimum it costs to start an Estonian company?

Roughly €150 for the e-Residency card, €265 for the OÜ state fee, and €200+ for the mandatory contact person/legal address — about €615 / ~$680 before accounting. Share capital can be as little as €0.01 (though €2,500 avoids the shareholder-liability shortfall), and there is no notary fee for the standard online founding.

Why is there a recurring cost even if the company does nothing?

Two reasons. The contact person and legal address are legally required while your board is abroad and renew annually (~€200–€400). And every OÜ — even a dormant one — must file an annual report each year, which usually means paying an accountant or service. There is no government annual-return fee, but those two items are unavoidable for a non-resident.

Do I have to deposit real share capital?

The legal minimum is €0.01 per shareholder, and since 1 February 2023 the contribution can no longer be deferred — you confirm it's paid at registration. Many founders set €2,500 anyway, because if capital is below €2,500 the shortfall remains a personal liability of the shareholders until topped up. The capital is your company's money, not a fee.

Is Estonia cheaper than a UK Ltd or Irish company?

To incorporate, no — the €265 OÜ fee plus the €150 e-Residency card make the upfront cost higher than the UK or Ireland. But ongoing it can be cheaper if you reinvest, because there's no corporate tax on retained profit and no annual government return fee. The contact-person requirement is the cost Estonia adds that a UK Ltd (which needs no resident agent equivalent) does not.

Sources

More on Estonia

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