Are you looking to open your own company in Italy? That’s a great idea. Italy has been giving foreign investors opportunities to invest and generate income. That as a great favor, it still warns that the bureaucratic procedures are friendly to get you started.
Opening a new company in Italy is expensive and time-consuming, and it will need a lot of energy consumption to get it ready. The procedures too to undertake are hectic, and any impatient person will term that as overwhelming.
To avoid all that, there is a more straightforward way to start your own company without hassle. It is by buying a shelf company. To learn more about it from a financial perspective read this article about buying a shelf company in Italy, written by an Italian accountant.
But first, check the essential down below.
What is a Shelf Company?
In simple terms, a shelf company is an already made company that has been registered and established. A shelf company is also not operational though it has been registered and it needs one to set it up.
Buying and opening a shelf company in Italy comes with its fiscal advantages which include:
- It gives you the opportunity of setting your business right away without going through the hassle of the bureaucratic process of opening a new company. To give it more credit, the shelf company will have clean records, and it becomes easy to get credit and business partners.
- For foreign investors, they can use the shelf company as a minor company under Italian law. They are serving as a branch to a mother company abroad with the same name.
- On the cost comparison between buying a new company and a shelf company, it is expensive to purchase a shelf company which is already established than setting up a new company and going through the registration process. That looks like a liability, but it is an advantage of the company owner to avoid all hassle of registration.
- The process of setting up a shelf company is minimal. It takes all the company investors to present themselves before the notary and concluding all the legal procedures before him. You will also need to appoint the board of directors in the presence of the legal attorney.
- The other fiscal advantage of a shelf company is that the board of directors can appoint directors from any nationality, but non-residents need a personal tax code.
On the other hand, apart from the advantages of opening a shelf company in Italy, there is the Limited liability company involved. It is a small to medium company that is referred to as SrL in Italian. It is hard to manage its taxes at first for it is an already established company that has fixed taxes equivalent to the cost you will incur to register a new company.
The estimated share capital of a limited liability company is a minimum of €10000 to set the minor company. But that is not the minimum, as you can set up your SRL company with a paid-up capital of €1.
In summary, it is easier for one to buy a shelf company in Italy than to open a new company. All you need is knowledge of how the Italian law applies to opening companies and the bureaucratic process involved. It also takes having a good board of directors and a legal team to help you in the transfer of ownership before opening the shelf company.