OffshoreGuy

What's included

  • Estonian state registration fee for the OÜ: we file and pay it on your behalf
  • Articles of Association (OÜ, the osaühing private limited company)
  • Foundation Resolution establishing the OÜ and appointing the management board
  • Beneficial Owner Declaration (filed with the Estonian licensed agent under its AML program)
  • Management-board and contact-person details prepared for the Estonian Business Register filing
  • First-year contact-person and statutory-address service via a licensed Estonian corporate-services provider
  • Engagement Letter
  • Sanctions screen on the order (OFAC, EU, UN) + Tier 0 KYC

What's NOT included

  • e-Residency itself: a separate Estonian government process (around 150 euros, commonly about a month, sometimes longer); you must hold it before the OÜ files, and we surface the application step at checkout if you do not
  • Apostille (sold separately, see the apostille bundle)
  • Year-2+ contact-person and statutory-address renewal ($399/yr, settled in BTC or USDT via BitSettle)
  • Bank account opening: a separate post-formation flow, and the slow part for a non-EU founder banking remotely (budget weeks, not days)
  • Estonian corporate or VAT tax filing: an Estonian company has real filing obligations and we do not file them; engage an Estonian accountant or tax advisor
  • Mail forwarding (we don't sell this; see our blog for why)

We list what's not included on every product page so there are no checkout surprises.

When to choose this product

Operator-grade use case

The default EU entity for location-independent founders who want a genuine member-state company they can form and run entirely online. Estonia is REPUTABLE: the e-Residency rails were built for exactly this, and the OÜ is a real EU company, not an offshore wrapper that EU counterparties squint at. The structural draw is the tax model: Estonia does not tax retained or reinvested corporate profit, so an operator who keeps earnings inside the company to compound defers corporate income tax until profit is actually distributed as dividends.

Most appropriate for: bootstrapping operators who reinvest rather than pay themselves out, and service businesses selling into the EU single market that want one clean EU base with straightforward VAT registration instead of a per-country subsidiary. Banking pairs better than an offshore IBC, typically through an EU multi-currency rail or a Bitcoin-native bank for OÜs holding BTC.

Less ideal for: operators who plan to distribute profit regularly rather than reinvest (the headline no-corporate-tax line stops describing your situation once dividends flow, and Estonian corporate income tax applies at distribution), founders who need anonymity (your name sits in the public Estonian Business Register and the country maintains a beneficial-owner register, so this is a reputation-and-access trade, not a privacy one; use a Wyoming or New Mexico LLC for privacy), or anyone who wants a same-week launch without the e-Residency lead time. If you want a cheaper reputable formation with no e-Residency step, a UK Ltd is the straighter commercial entity.

KYC document checklist

What you'll need to hand us

Tier 0
Required
  • Email address
  • Country of residence
  • Intended use statement (free-text)
Tier 1
Not required
  • Government-issued photo ID (passport or national ID)
  • Proof of address (utility bill, bank statement, or government letter, dated within 90 days)
  • Source-of-funds attestation (drop-down + free text)
  • Optional: PEP and adverse-media screening consent
Tier 2
Not required
  • Everything in Tier 1
  • Beneficial owner declaration for every party with 25%+ ownership
  • Source-of-wealth documentation (tax return, employment letter, salary, asset proof)
  • Manual enhanced-due-diligence reviewer notes from our KYC partner
FAQ

Common questions

Does e-Residency let me live in Estonia or make me an Estonian tax resident?
No. e-Residency is a government-issued digital identity for forming and running an EU company online. It is not a visa, not a residence permit, and not personal tax residency. Your own country's tax rules still apply to you, and where the company is actually managed from can matter too. Treat the OÜ as an EU corporate tool, not a personal-tax answer, and confirm your position with a cross-border tax advisor. General information, not legal advice.
How is an Estonia OÜ actually taxed?
Estonia does not tax retained or reinvested corporate profit. Corporate income tax falls due only when the company distributes profit, for example as dividends. So an operator who keeps earnings inside the company to reinvest defers corporate tax, while an operator who distributes pays at distribution. The precise distribution rate is set by Estonian law and has been changing in recent years, so confirm the current rate for your distribution year before relying on a specific number.
How long does it take, and what does e-Residency cost?
The OÜ formation step is fast once your e-Residency is active. The gating item is e-Residency itself: a separate Estonian government process costing around 150 euros and commonly taking roughly a month, sometimes longer, before your card is in hand. We surface the e-Residency application step at checkout if you do not already hold it, then file the OÜ once it is live. Bank-account opening is separate and adds more time on top.
Will my name be public, and is Tier 0 the same as anonymous?
Your ownership is on record. Estonia publishes company and board data in the public Business Register and maintains a beneficial-owner register, so your name as owner and board member is visible to the state and, in good part, publicly. Tier 0 refers to our platform intake (intended-use statement plus sanctions screening, not a full document KYC pack); it does not make the entity anonymous. The Estonian government already vetted you to issue e-Residency, and the licensed agent runs its own AML diligence.
Can I form the Estonia OÜ and pay in Bitcoin?
Yes. The all-in price is $749 for Year 1 and $399/yr to renew, and you settle the whole order in BTC (on-chain and Lightning) or USDT via BitSettle. Estonian state and agent fees are included in that price; we pay them from our operating account in euros, so you never touch the local fiat rails yourself.