A registered seat is the address under which a company officially exists and is entered in the commercial register; an establishment (a business premises) is the actual space in which you carry on your trade. They are not the same thing, each is registered differently, and the rules differ between Slovakia and the Czech Republic in ways worth knowing.
What is a registered seat and what is an establishment?
The registered seat is an administrative address. In Slovakia it is defined by Section 2(3) of the Commercial Code as the address entered as the seat in the commercial register; in the Czech Republic it follows from Section 429 of the Civil Code as the address recorded in the public register. In both countries the seat determines your official correspondence address and the locally competent tax office, and no real activity needs to take place there.
An establishment, by contrast, is about physical operation. Both the Slovak and the Czech Trade Licensing Act (Act No. 455/1991) define it, in Section 17, as the space in which the trade is carried on — a shop, workshop, client-facing office or restaurant. An establishment has no separate legal personality; it remains part of the same business.
The practical rule is the same on both sides of the border: a company must always have a seat, but need not have any establishment, and it may have several. The seat and the establishment may, but need not, share the same address.
How is the registered seat handled in Slovakia and Czechia?
In both countries the seat is entered in the commercial register and you must prove a legal right to use the premises. If you do not own the property, you need the owner’s written consent to the seat being registered at that address, and the owner’s signature must be officially certified.
The Czech rules add one detail worth noting: the owner’s declaration of consent must not be older than three months at the date the application is filed, and the legal ground for using the seat must last for the whole period of registration. In Slovakia the certified-signature requirement has applied since 1 October 2020. If you are relocating a Slovak company, our guide on changing the registered seat of a Slovak s.r.o. walks through the procedure step by step.
What does not count as an establishment?
Not every space you use for business is an establishment in the reporting sense. Slovak law explicitly lists spaces that are not establishments even though they relate to the trade — for example warehouses, order-taking points, market stalls, mobile shops and vending machines. Czech law focuses on whether the trade is actually carried on in the space, distinguishing genuine premises from purely auxiliary ones.
The distinction matters because a wrong assessment leads either to reporting something you do not have to, or to overlooking a real establishment. When in doubt, it is safer to confirm the classification before you open, especially for mobile or automated operations, which follow a special regime.
How do you report an establishment in Slovakia?
In Slovakia you notify the district office (trade licensing department) through the single point of contact. The setting up of an establishment must be reported at the latest on the day it is created, and its closure is generally reported within 15 days. On top of that, creating an establishment is a change of registered data that must be notified to the tax authority within 30 days. One new shop therefore means two separate notifications.
This two-track approach is a frequent source of penalties, because business owners remember the trade office but forget the tax office, or vice versa. Handling both notifications at once, right at the start, avoids the problem entirely.
How do you report an establishment in Czechia?
In the Czech Republic the logic is reversed in timing: under Section 17(3) of the Trade Licensing Act you must notify the trade office in advance, before you start operating in the establishment. The office then enters the establishment in the trade register and assigns it an establishment identification number (IČP) if it does not already have one.
The notification includes the business name, the company registration number, the address of the establishment, the subject of business carried on there and the start or end date. So the key contrast is one of timing — Slovakia allows reporting by the day of creation, whereas Czechia requires advance notice.
How must an establishment be marked?
In both countries an establishment must be permanently and visibly marked with the business name. Under the Czech Section 17(7) the marking must also include the company registration number. Where the establishment serves consumers, both jurisdictions additionally require the name of the person responsible for the establishment and the opening or business hours for dealing with consumers.
This looks like a formality, but incomplete marking is among the first things inspectors notice. If you change your opening hours, update the sign on the establishment as well.
Seat or establishment: what to remember?
For most small and medium-sized companies the takeaway is simple. The seat is a single administrative address entered in the commercial register, backed by the owner’s certified consent. The establishment is a physical space you report to the trade office — on the day of creation in Slovakia, in advance in Czechia — and mark correctly.
Sort out both layers at the very start, whether you are forming a company or opening a new branch. If you are only now setting one up, our overview of putting money into your s.r.o. covers the capital side of the same early decision. Retrofitting them later tends to bring needless stress and the risk of a fine, when these are steps you can complete upfront and together.
Unsure whether a registered seat is enough or whether you already need to report an establishment? Let us walk through your setup with you.
FAQ
Can a company’s registered seat be at a different address than its establishment?
Yes, this is entirely common. The seat is an administrative address in the commercial register, while an establishment is the physical space where you actually do business. A company can have its seat in one office and an establishment in a different shop, or several establishments at different addresses. Each establishment must be reported separately, however.
Do I need an establishment if I work from home or at clients’ premises?
Not necessarily. If you have no space where customers come to you and you provide services at clients’ sites or online, you may not need to report an establishment. A company must always have a registered seat, though. When working from home, consider whether the space meets the legal features of an establishment.
What is the main difference between Slovakia and Czechia here?
The clearest difference is timing. In Slovakia you report a new establishment to the trade office by the day it is created and separately notify the tax office within 30 days. In Czechia you must notify the trade office in advance, before you start operating. The Czech owner’s consent to the seat also must not be older than three months.