You have been waiting for months, gathering documents, and planning to open your own company in Slovakia — for example, for transport or consulting. It's better not to wait until autumn: a new law on the Commercial Register comes into force on August 17, 2026, and founding a company will become significantly more complicated and expensive.
The main impact on your wallet is the mandatory services of a notary or lawyer, which could make the total costs for registering an s.r.o. (the Slovak equivalent of an LLC) exceed 500 euros. As HN writes, entrepreneurs are advised not to wait if they planned to open a business soon.
What Exactly Is Changing
The new zákon o obchodnom registri (law on the Commercial Register), along with amendments to the Commercial Code, will take effect on August 17, 2026. The most important changes for those founding or changing a company are:
- Mandatory qualified form of documents. The founding agreement, agreements on the transfer of shares, decisions on changing the share capital — all these must be drawn up as a notarial deed or a document authorized by a lawyer. Until now, an officially certified signature was sufficient for many actions.
- Representation limits. During registration, the applicant can only be represented by a lawyer, a notary, or an authorized employee of the applicant company itself. "A friend who helps with papers" is no longer an option.
- Name reservation. It will be possible to reserve an obchodné meno (the name of the future company) for 60 days. This service will cost money — approximately 50 euros, and the register of reserved names will be public.
How Much It Will Cost
The court fee for registration will not change — the increase will come from mandatory intermediaries. The fees of notaries and lawyers for preparing and authorizing documents vary, but according to expert estimates, the total costs for founding an s.r.o. after August 17 could exceed 500 euros.
For comparison: currently, you can open a company yourself by paying only the court fee and for signature certification. After the changes, this will not be economical — professional verification of documents will become a mandatory part of the procedure.
What Will Become Easier
The reform is not just about extra costs. The new law also brings several significant relaxations that many have been waiting for years:
- "Chain" restrictions are canceled. A company with one founder (jednoosobová s.r.o.) will no longer be prohibited from being the sole founder of another similar company.
- The limit of three s.r.o.s is removed. A natural person can be the sole founder of an unlimited number of companies — previously, a maximum of three was allowed.
- Automatic license for free živnosti. For certain free types of business activities (voľné živnosti), you will no longer need to obtain a separate permit before registration — it will be automatically granted upon entry into the Commercial Register. This option is available under certain conditions, for example, if the company has no more than five founders.
As Podnikajte.sk details, the goal of the reform is to improve the quality and reliability of data in the register and to limit unfair practices.
What to Expect in Practice
If you planned to open a company this summer, it makes sense to do it before August 17, while the old, simpler rules are still in effect. Registration documents are submitted through specialized consultants or lawyers, and processing takes time, so leaving everything to the last week is risky.
If you miss the deadline, budget an extra few hundred euros for a notary or lawyer and allow more time for document preparation.
For those who already have a company: the changes will affect any corporate actions after August 17 — selling shares, changing share capital, a founder leaving. All of these will also require a qualified form of documents, so plan such steps considering the new costs.
