Invest in Southeast Estonia’ is a platform that brings together expertise and county consultants to support entrepreneurship and investment in the Võru, Valga and Põlva regions.

You have an investment plan, but don´t know how to proceed?

Invest South-East Estonia offers comprehensive, one-stop investment consultancy services, free of charge, which are always tailored to meet potential and existing investors’ precise needs.

Our mission is to help foreign investors grow their businesses and improve their competitiveness. We also help create conditions needed for sustainable development in the Estonian economy.

The easiest way to start a company in Estonia is to become an e-resident.

E-Residency is a government-issued digital identity that offers the freedom to easily start and run a global location-independent business in a trusted EU environment. E-residents can establish a company online from anywhere in the world, manage the company remotely, access various e-services for businesses, such as online business banking, digital signing of documents and much more. Please find the detailed information about starting a company through e-Residency on their website.

NB! Keep in mind that E-Residency card is not a physical identification or a travel document, and does not display a photo.

If you are planning to relocate to Estonia, you can find helpful information from workinestonia.com.

Please find the detailed information on all forms of business in Estonia and all of the steps necessary to establish a company here.

Launching a Startup

Should you be interested in launching a startup in Estonia, you can get detailed information on how and why as well as on Startup Visa program for non-EU startup founders on Startup Estonia’s website.

Please find the detailed information about the costs for establishing a company here

Private limited company

To establish a private limited company you will have to pay a state fee of 145 euros (through notary) or 190 euros (electronically). The state fee can later be recognized as a business expense as the costs of establishing the private limited company.

If you are using a notary for the formation of a private limited company, the notary fees + VAT will be added.

The minimum share capital of a private limited company is 2500 euros and the contribution may be monetary or non-monetary.

However, a private limited company can also be established without contributing the share capital. Read more in the Commercial Code.

As Enterprise Estonia is an Estonian Government agency promoting business and entrepreneurship, we do not deal with immigration issues.

To visit Estonia, please visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’visa information page.

If you have questions about obtaining a residence permit, please visit the Police and Border Guard Board’s residence permits information page.

Note: E-Residency card is not a travel document or a residence permit. It is simply very helpful in starting a business. For detailed information, visit e-Residency’s website.

Visit the Work in Estonia latest offers page and browse for a job that is interesting for you (HINT: You can filter by areas or search by keywords).

Once you have found an interesting job(s), apply to them following the instructions in the job advert (HINT: Personalize the CV and, if needed, motivation letter, to the specific company you are applying on. Companies like it when you know about them!)

If you meet the company’s requirements, they will contact you and inform you what is the next stage of the process.

Our main Job Portals where you can post your ad to find employees are as follows:

CV Online
CV Keskus
Töötukassa

You can also have a look at the European Job Mobility Portal.

If you need assistance in the recruitment process, there is a list of HR companies and useful links here.

Main principles of Estonian tax policy are simple tax system, broad tax base and low rates.

Main tax rates

Corporate income tax:

• 0% (on retained and reinvested profits)
• 20% (on distributed profits)
• 14% (on regular dividend payments; only applies to payments made to legal persons)

Personal income tax: 20%
VAT: 20%

Social tax: 33% (20% for social security and 13% for health insurance)
Unemployment Insurance Fund: 2,4% on gross salary (1,6% paid by employee; 0,8% paid by employer)

Property tax: 0%
Land tax: 0.1-2.5%

For detailed information about our tax system, please visit the Estonian Tax and Customs Board’s website.

Taxation
The taxation of transactions with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Estonia is regulated the same way as any other corporate activity: as long as the profit is not distributed there is no corporate income tax applicable.

The corporate income tax on retained and reinvested profits = 0%
The corporate income tax on distributed profits = 20%

According to the ruling of the European Court of Justice Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are exempt from VAT.

Licenses
You need to apply for an activity licence for the provision of financial services if you wish to operate in the following fields of activity:

providing services of exchanging a virtual currency against a fiat currency
providing a virtual currency wallet service
The activity licence is granted by The Financial Intelligence Unit. The licence is valid indefinitely

Nothing has changed! Even at the new reality with the ongoing travel restrictions, you can still visit Estonia to discover the business opportunities and meet potential business partners – it’s just happening online.