Ready made company: What are costs for purchasing a shelf company?

Feb 24

Here are the 3 basic costs you have to consider before purchasing a ready-made company: purchase price, costs for the changes in the trade registry and basic operating costs

Purchase price

Depending on company profile, share capital, activity and legal form, the cost for a shelf company can vary significantly: For example, if the company holds a business license of some form, the price can be higher than the company without a business license.

Cost for changes in commercial registry

To officially own a company, apart from having a purchase agreement, in the case of a GmbH, you also need to register at the commercial registry as a shareholder of the company. The registration at the commercial registry also needs to be done for both AG and GmbH if you want to change the company name, seat, director and purpose. For an AG the share register must be updated and signed.

Basic operating costs

It is obligatory for a Swiss company to have a local director, to have a registered address in Switzerland and to file yearly tax returns. Usually when you purchase a shelf company, you only purchase the company itself, not the board of directors and company address. You are also responsible for future tax filings. If you are residing in Switzerland, you can be the local director yourself and use your address as a company address. But if this is not an option, you can look for a service provider such as F Trust.

F Trust provides a full service from providing list of shelf companies for sale, assisting with documentation of the company purchase, registering for changes on trade registry, providing domicile and director services as well as accounting and filing tax return. Feel free to contact us by email mail@ftrust.ch or call us on + 41 44 266 10 60 to book an appointment.

Anya Brunander