Registering a new company in Lithuania is pretty simple and will cost you from 750 euros, and it doesn't include the address, states and notary plus any bank account opening fees. You do not need to make a capital outlay, and you will only be required to carry out a three-page process, although this will depend on the kind of company you wish to have registered.

You will have your new registered company in three or four days, and it can even be done online. In addition, the company taxes are paid once each year, which makes it easy for accounting.

Lithuania takes the third position in attractive corporate tax of all the OECD countries, with the lowest average salary of all the Baltic countries and many other benefits that are attractive to corporates.

This country is therefore ideally located and considered a tax haven for most investors. Furthermore, it has a good reputation and being in the Euro Zone is a definite plus. Therefore, you will not find Lithuania on the blacklist.

Considered a picturesque country, there are plenty of attractions that accumulated due to its historical circumstances.

It doesn’t attract immigrants like other countries such as Australia and the United States because the residents of many nations will come to Lithuania to seek great business opportunities.

Of all the Baltic countries, Lithuania is the best for people who wish to enter a new stage in their business growth, and obtaining a residence permit or business visa or citizenship is not that hard.

-It is one of the most stable and friendliest environments in the EU. Some of the great benefits for foreign investors include;

-It has an active policy on business sustenance that was implemented by the country’s authorities.

-It has quickly shifted to become a stable market economy.

-There is a preferential administration policy for all foreign investments when it comes to setting up the business.

Business Immigration is an integral part of foreign investors, and the regulations for business immigration are dynamic.

They pay special attention to the actual trade performance and the regulation of fictitious firms. For this reason, in the ranking for the world’s most unrestricted economies, Lithuania is ranked position 15.

It is ranked 11th regarding ease of launching a business, and 2nd in all of Europe in terms of its investment appeal.

For business immigration, all you need are the company’s capital, budget, the number of funds the company has invested as a non-national, the working house, the total incomes, and the arrangement of staff and the execution of its actions.

How to Acquire a Resident Permit for Starting a Business in Lithuania

Compared to other countries in the European Union, Lithuania has got a different living standard, but it still attracts migrants, students, and entrepreneurs.

If you plan to move to the EU to start your own business, this is an excellent place for you to start.

A resident permit will allow you to use all the advantages within the European residency, including moving freely in the Schengen area, studying, and buying real estate.

Here are the different ways you can use to apply for a permanent residence in Lithuania

You Could Launch a Business Project.

In this case, you could either set up your own business or have some shares in a local business. To do this, you will have to spend more than 3,000 euros.

Employment Opportunity

This is the most common method people use to gain residence status, but it is also one of the most difficult.

The Lithuanian labor exchange issues are limited to many different quotas for foreigners. Therefore, most of them prefer employing the local citizens.

Study

Studying in Lithuania requires you to have a business visa, and in the future, if you wish to continue training, you are allowed to obtain a resident permit.

Real Estate

If you are investing in the local economy through real estate purchase, you will get a permanent residence but in the future.

Finally, if you are a foreigner residing in Lithuania permanently and have some relatives in the country, you will get permanent residence.

Launching a Company in Lithuania

One of Lithuania’s top priorities has become attracting foreign capital. However, the government is also focusing on creating new jobs that involve specialists in the country.

Benefits of opening a company in Lithuania

-Low maintenance of personnel cost

-A highly-developed infrastructure

-Income tax charged at 15% for companies with up to 10 employees

-The ability to enter the EU market

-The possibility of VAT refunds

-A multi-lingual market – they speak four languages; Russian, Lithuanian, Polish, and English.

-A minimal number of tax audits.

-High-speed internet and highly-developed IT infrastructure

-A minimal number of Tax audits

-In the use of Public online services, Lithuania ranks first in the whole of Europe. 99% of entrepreneurs use this service for their different activities.

Rules of Registering a Business

The state is open to foreign investments and because of this, as we have mentioned above, registering your own business is pretty straightforward.

They do not have lists of countries whose citizens cannot conduct business in Lithuania, which is an extremely attractive feature.

Their list of requirements is pretty standard, although Lithuanians tend to be a little strict when it comes to the correctness of filling in and processing all the documents.

1.Articles of association – these need to be prepared along with the founding agreement/act. You will need to have a Lithuanian business address required for the company's registration documents to appoint the general manager.

2.Temporarily reserve a company name – this is optional. You will need to submit a form JAR-5 application to register the legal entities. The name will be reserved for at least six months.

3.Open a bank account. This should be an accumulative bank account whose primary use is to deposit the share capital. Later on, you can choose any other bank for your operations. The minimum share capital required is 2500 EUR.

4.Transfer the share capital to the account. Please take note that if your share capital exceeds 2500 EUR, you should transfer 25% of it to the accumulative account and then transfer the rest within 12 months.

5.Notarize the documents – the founding documents should be notarized by a registered notary. If your country joined the Hague Convention of 1961, the documents must also be certified by Apostille.

If your country is not listed and foreign institutions issued your documents, they must be legalized.

Legalization in Lithuania or certification by Apostille is not been required if your documents were either issued in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Belarus, Latvia, or Estonia.

6.Register the company with the Register of Legal Entities – you can submit the documents for registration with the register after they are notarized.

7. Convert the bank account into a settlement account.

Types of Business Taxes in Lithuania

You cannot hide from taxes, and running a business in Lithuania implies the following tax obligations;

-Income tax at 15% for all legal entities.

-A preferential income tax of 5% is charged if your company employs more than ten people.

-If your business belongs to the Agriculture sector, then you can be exempt from income tax.

-VAT is charged at 21% for companies with a turnover of more than 29,000 euros each year.

Types of Companies You Can Register in Lithuania

You can register the following types of companies as per the Company Law in Lithuania;

Private Limited Liability Company – Known as UAB or Public Limited Liability – AB

If you have approx. 2,900 Euro, you can open a Private Limited Liability Company. – UAB. This can be formed by a single shareholder with limited liability either on profits and debts.

This is the most common type of company in Lithuania, thanks to its less stringent shareholding requisites and low share capital requirements.

At least 25% share capital needs to be deposited on the formation of the Limited Liability Company.

If the share capital is higher, you can open a Public Limited Liability Company. The minimum needed for the AB is around 45,000 euros. From this, 25% must first be deposited at incorporation.

The primary liability of the members is to increase their contribution, and all important decisions are usually taken at the General Meeting called by the Shareholders. They must appoint a Board of Management.

Sole Proprietorships

A single unlimited liability individual creates sole proprietorships. They do not require any minimum share capital. However, to open one, you should reserve the company name at the Public Institution Register Centre and then notarize your Articles of Incorporation.

Partnerships that are either limited or general – KUB

The general partnership requires a signed agreement between the partners who have equal contribution and limited liability. The added advantage of this is that they are not based on the minimum share capital.

-The partner’s agreement, however, must contain the following;

-The partnership name

-Any information about the members.

-Headquarters information

-Type of business

-The procedure laid out for covering the incorporation costs.

-The total contribution for each member.

-The time of expiration for the temporary company

-The signing date for the agreement

-Information about the procedures and transfer of shares

-Information on accepting new members and opening subsidiaries.

Limited partnerships are usually formed by more than two members who have different roles in the company as per their financial contribution.

The partnership will have general partners who do not have limited liability and limited liability partners.

They must all sign an agreement. The general partner’s name and the limited partner’s name but be underlined on the document.

These partnerships do not have a minimum share capital request.

Foreign companies are allowed to operate in the Lithuanian market as subsidiaries and are generally registered as Limited Liability Companies, Liaisons, or Representative offices.

The branch office, unlike the subsidiary, is usually linked to the parent company. This is in terms of control and activities.

One of the requirements for setting up a branch office in Lithuania is that it must be related to a local representative who is the manager.

This acts as a contact point for customers, business partners in Lithuania, and the Parent company for the liaison office.

On the other hand, the representative office engages in commercial activities, although it is not required to have an office space within Lithuania.

Points to Note;

-Lithuania requires the foreign company to have a director, but they don’t have to be locals.

-A certified compliance person or a third party is required to provide the transaction monitoring and KYC. Being a resident is not mandatory.

-Unless you need to acquire a VAT number, a local office is unnecessary unless a financial institution requires it.

-Any authorized company in Lithuania holds public status, and it is a link based in the company registry. For example, Estonia has a public link, but it is directly from the regulator and has a separate certificate.

-The license in Lithuania is issued by the Registry and legislated by the Bank of Lithuania. Therefore, any forms relating to this authorization must be addressed to the Bank of Lithuania and its Financial Crime Investigation Services division – FCIS. Estonia, on the other hand, has a separate Financial Intelligence Unit.

-Both Lithuania and Estonia can apostille the proof o authorization, but Lithuania will have it in one company extract, while Estonia will have it separate.

-There is no minimum capital requirement in Lithuania, while Estonia has a minimum capital of EUR 12,000.

-The state fee in Lithuania is approx. EUR 280 only requires up to 4 weeks to consider the license application, while Estonia’s crypto exchange state fee is EUR 3300 and requires up to 12 weeks to consider the license application.

-Lithuania does not need a criminal record unless the directors and owners are listed publicly with negative information, and therefore this makes it easy to form the company.

-The cost of employment in Lithuania is 15% lower than in Latvia and Estonia as per the latest social tax contributions and the average salary in the financial sector.

-Lithuania's accounting costs are dependent on the company's transactions, and the accountant’s gross salary in Estonia is EUR 1870, while in Lithuania is 1570 EUR. This is as per the salary explorer.