Registration of a representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine

A representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine is not a legal entity, does not have its own legal personality, therefore, it does not have a separate name, trademark or its own property, and is not a legal successor of the parent company. A representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine acts on behalf, in the interests and at the expense of the main company. In the case of financial problems, the main company will be liable for the debts of its representative office in Ukraine.

The procedure for creating a representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine is complicated, so it depends on the company that opens it.

A representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine is usually created without the right to have an activity. However, if necessary, a representative office can be registered with the right to conduct economic activities.

Taxation of a representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine

In the case of registration of a representative office of a foreign company with the right to conduct business on the territory of Ukraine, such a representative office must register as a payer of income tax on the territory of Ukraine. Income wich will be received by a representative office in Ukraine, as a rule, is taxed on the territory of Ukraine. However, in some cases, depending on the place of the transaction, such an operation may be recognized as one that is not taxed on the territory of Ukraine. In the absence of business activities, there is no obligation to assess and pay taxes.

Founders should be aware that if there is a representation of employees in the state, at the time of paying them salaries, the representative office still pays income tax for employees (as a tax agent), as well as a unified social contribution and military fee, that is, the same scheme applies as for ordinary companies in Ukraine.

Also, the Representative Office, if necessary, has the right to register as a value added tax payer in Ukraine.

Time and cost of opening a representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine

The total registration period for a representative office of a foreign company in Ukraine starts from 30 working days.

The cost of registering a representative office without the right to conduct business is from 15,000 UAH.

Included in cost:

• providing oral advice on the procedure and conditions for registration;
• providing samples of documents for registration;
• preparation of a package of documents for registration;
• selection of activities of the representative office;
• registration of a representative office in the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine;
• registration of a representative office with statistics authorities;
• registration as a tax payer with the tax authorities (for representative offices with the right to conduct business);
• services for the manufacture and receipt of printing with automatic equipment;
• preparation and submission of an application for registration as a VAT payer (for representative offices with the right to conduct business).

Additionally paid:

• state duty for registration of a foreign representative office in Ukraine - 2500 US dollars;
• apostilization / legalization of documents;
• translation of documents into Ukrainian;
• notarization of documents, notarization of translation.

Documents required for registration of a foreign representative office in Ukraine

• Application form with a request to register a foreign representative office (we provide a draft);
• Extracting from the trade (bank) register of the country of location of the officially registered main governing authority of a foreign business entity. Articles of Association, Memorandum of Association - notarized copies;
• Certificate of the bank institution in which the account of the foreign company is officially opened;
• Power of attorney for the rights of representative functions in Ukraine, drawn up in accordance with the laws of the country in which the office of a foreign business entity is registered.

In case registering a Representative Office with the right to economic activity, it is necessary to additionally submit the Regulations on the Representative Office, a lease agreement for the premises of the Representative Office.

The documents must be notarized, apostilled / legalized and translated into Ukrainian.

You can leave a request for our services using feedback form (here) or by calling the numbers specified on our site.

Addition services:

• registration of a VAT payer
• provision of a legal address