{"id":2060,"date":"2026-09-23T17:46:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T14:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linden.lt\/?post_type=irasas&p=2060"},"modified":"2026-09-25T03:51:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:51:26","slug":"uab-incorporation-time-and-travel-to-lithuania","status":"publish","type":"irasas","link":"https:\/\/linden.lt\/en\/blog\/uab-incorporation-time-and-travel-to-lithuania\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting up a UAB in Lithuania: how long it takes and whether the founder needs to travel"},"template":"","kategorija":[],"class_list":["post-2060","irasas","type-irasas","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"visi_puslapiai_cta_statusas":false,"visi_puslapiai_cta_antraste":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_formos_id":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_papildomas_tekstas":"","visi_puslapiai_cta_nuotrauka":null,"tinklarastis_1_autorius":null,"tinklarastis_1_iraso_tipas":false,"dinamiski_blokai":[{"acf_fc_layout":"tekstas","tekstas":"

The whole process takes a little over a week. There is no need to come to Lithuania \u2014 neither for the shareholders nor for the future CEO. The documents are signed by an advocate under a power of attorney. It is more convenient for the CEO to come after<\/strong> incorporation, when the bank account has to be dealt with and contracts signed. The registration itself is the quickest part: Article 2.64(3) of the Civil Code (CK) provides that a legal entity must be registered within three working days of all documents being filed and the registration fee being paid. The time goes not on the register, but on what happens before and after it.<\/p>\r\n

From which day the company exists<\/h2>\r\n

Article 2.63(1) CK: a legal entity is deemed to be established from the date of its registration in the Register of Legal Entities. Until that day there is no company, however many documents have been signed.<\/p>\r\n

This has one important practical consequence. Article 8(4) of the Law on Companies (AB\u012e) provides that initial contributions for subscribed shares are paid into the accumulation account of the company being established, and the funds held in the accumulation account may be used only after the company has been registered<\/strong>. The money already belongs to the company, but it cannot yet be reached.<\/p>\r\n

For this reason, the memorandum of association settles in advance what will happen to that money if registration does not take place: Article 7(2)(14) AB\u012e requires the memorandum of association to set out the procedure for returning the initial contributions if the company is not registered. This is not a formality \u2014 it is the only document under which the money comes back.<\/p>\r\n

Where the process really stalls: the bank account<\/h2>\r\n

This question has come up in our letters to foreign founders, and the answer is not a legal one.<\/p>\r\n

After incorporation, the documents are scanned and uploaded to the register's system within a few days. Until that has happened, the bank may not yet find the new company<\/strong>. The founder holds the registration certificate and the company exists in law, but it may not yet be in the bank's system. At that point it can look as if something has failed.<\/p>\r\n

Nothing has gone wrong. It is simply a gap in the transfer of data.<\/p>\r\n

A practical route we have suggested to a client: an account with an electronic money institution is opened online on the same day. The usual order there is that a personal account is opened first, and then the company's. This is not advice to bypass banks. Most companies need a bank account, and it is worth opening one. But for the first days, when you need to pay for accounting or a domain, an electronic money institution account covers the gap.<\/p>\r\n

The first employee<\/h2>\r\n

The time limit for taxpayer registration is set by Article 46(1) of the Law on Tax Administration (MA\u012e): a person who is liable to pay a tax under the relevant tax law must submit its registration data to the data controller of the Register of Taxpayers (Mokes\u010di\u0173 mok\u0117toj\u0173 registras) within 5 working days of the day of its legal registration or, if it starts its activities earlier, no later than on the day those activities begin.<\/p>\r\n

In practice, registration with the State Tax Inspectorate (VMI) and with the State Social Insurance Fund Board (Sodra) is done by accountants, and it is done together with formalising the first employment contract. The law does not say who does this; it is simply an established division of labour. That is why it is worth choosing an accountant before incorporation, not after \u2014 otherwise hiring the first employee has to wait until there is someone to press the buttons.<\/p>\r\n

VAT: nobody registers you automatically<\/h2>\r\n

A newly established company is not registered as a VAT payer automatically<\/strong>. The application is filed once the company has been registered. With all the documents in place, the process takes about 5 days.<\/p>\r\n

The VMI may ask for additional documents substantiating that the business is genuine and sends a questionnaire \u2014 about the employer, accounting services and premises. This is a standard part of the process, not a sign of suspicion. But it does mean that before applying you need to have the answers: who will keep the books, where the business will be carried on, who will work there.<\/p>\r\n

Whether registration is mandatory is decided under Article 71(2) of the Law on Value Added Tax (PVM\u012e). A newly established Lithuanian taxable person is not required to register if it does not expect to exceed the EUR 45,000 consideration threshold in the current calendar year. Once the threshold is exceeded, VAT starts to be charged from the month in which it was exceeded.<\/p>\r\n

There is also a rule that foreign founders should know in advance. Article 71(7) PVM\u012e provides that where the same person controls several legal entities, the consideration of all of them is added together: once the combined threshold is exceeded, all the controlled legal entities must register, even if the turnover of each one on its own is lower, unless they prove that their management bodies do not coincide, their activities are not of the same nature and they do not act for each other's benefit. When setting up a second or third company in Lithuania, this means the EUR 45,000 threshold is not counted for each company separately.<\/p>\r\n

A realistic one-week timeline<\/h2>\r\n