Incorporation

⚡tl; dr ideally, incorporate as an ag/sa from the start have the seat of your company in the location where you actually do business incorporate when you start doing business incorporating a company requires the opening of a blocked bank account , which can take some time book a free call with us where should i incorporate? switzerland is the place to start your company, not only because there are beautiful mountains and great cheese, but because the country is stable, its economy enables startups, and there are smart people to constitute your team while it's true that each canton has its own tax regulations, which can create relatively large differences in how much tax you have to pay, you shouldn't worry too much about this when incorporating your company, as taxes won't play a big role in the beginning, and it's always possible to relocate later our advice is to incorporate where you really need to be for example, zug and zurich are great cantons for incorporation have the seat of your company in the location where you actually do business! having the seat of the company in one canton because of a lower tax rate while having the effective management and business in another canton means that the company risks double taxation , meaning that you first pay taxes in the canton of the seat and then risk paying taxes again in the place of the effective management (without possibility to request the already paid taxes back)! when should i incorporate? the timing depends on your individual case but you ideally should incorporate " as early as you have to, but as late as you can " typically, we recommend incorporating after the "idea stage" when you start operations what type of company should i incorporate? the two main types of company are ag (sa) and gmbh (sàrl) ag capital minimum chf 100'000, but can be partially liberated at a minimum of chf 50'000 publicity shareholders are anonymous and known only to the company only board members are publicly visible in the commercial register complexity the organizational structure is more complex than the gmbh and a shareholders' agreement (sha) docid\ klevxtla0hb4w mlgdyag is a must for tech startups , and if you have available funds, our standard is always to recommend the ag as it is more suitable for growth and for the involvement of investors , who generally require an ag before making large investments while you can always make a conversion from gmbh/sàrl to ag/sa docid\ x3lbljyds4cavimngxs4t at a later stage, it is much easier to incorporate an ag from the beginning gmbh capital minimum chf 20'000 publicity both shareholders and board members are publicly visible in the commercial register complexity without additional decisions, each shareholder acts as a director, meaning the structure is simpler a shareholders' agreement (sha) docid\ klevxtla0hb4w mlgdyag is still recommended best practices timing of incorporation once operations start and liability risks arise, the founders have incorporated a legal entity to limit personal liability risks form if the company is looking to attract outside investment, it will be incorporated as an ag/sa (a conversion from a gmbh to an ag is possible, but takes time and money) location the company is incorporated at the place where business is actually conducted to limit tax risks articles of association up to date and market standard articles of association (aoa) are implemented vat & tax implications upon incorporation, the company is registered for vat, and the tax impact of the business model is assessed what do i need to keep in mind? you'll need to open a blocked bank account with a swiss bank to pay in the initial share capital of your company (chf 20'000 for gmbh/sàrl / chf 50'000 chf 100'000 for ag/sa) be aware that this process can take some time, as the banks will run checks on the founders and the company itself a blocked bank account is a capital deposit bank account for the purpose of incorporation which remains blocked until the incorporation is finalized at least one person with sole signatory power (or two with joint signatory power) must be a resident of switzerland this requirement can be met by either board members, managing officers, or other signatories registered as such in the commercial register you'll need an address for your company in switzerland it can be your personal address, in which case the company will have a "c/o" address after the incorporation, you need to register your company for vat purposes you can find more information here as you will start operations shortly after incorporation, it is important to assess the tax impact of your business model get in touch with us and book a free call with us via this link to discuss how we can best support you how do i get this done? incorporate your company with us using the following step by step process book a free call with us accept our incorporation flat fee package (or, even better, choose our flat fee package including a shareholders' agreement (sha) docid\ klevxtla0hb4w mlgdyag and the incorporation) fill out our incorporation questionnaire get the legal documents (articles of association, founders report, board resolution, etc ) send us the signed documents and the confirmation of the blocked account by post we schedule the notary appointment and send the notarized documents to the commercial register