Good to know
Good to Know
- No local co-owner or sponsor is legally required — a single foreigner can be 100% shareholder and director of a Sarajevo d.o.o.
- Sarajevo uses the Federation of BiH's court-based registration system (Sarajevo Municipal Court), which is generally more paperwork-heavy than Republika Srpska's APIF one-stop-shop — factor in extra time and a local notary/lawyer if you're not fluent in the local language and court procedure.
- Any documents you sign outside Bosnia (passport copies, corporate resolutions, power of attorney) will typically need notarization and apostille in your home country plus certified translation, so start that paperwork before you plan to be physically present.
- Even if you incorporate remotely via power of attorney, plan for at least one in-person trip to open the corporate bank account, since most banks require the authorized signatory to appear in person.
- BAM is pegged to the euro under a currency board arrangement, so budgeting in BAM is more stable than budgeting in USD — the USD figures here will shift with the EUR/USD rate, not with BAM itself.
- This process covers the business entity only; if you personally intend to live and work in Sarajevo running the company, you'll separately need to sort out a residence/work permit, which is a distinct process from company registration.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina's flat 10% corporate tax rate is genuinely one of the lowest in Europe, and Sarajevo (in the Federation of BiH) applies this same 10% rate.
- VAT is 17% and charged uniformly BiH-wide by the state-level Indirect Taxation Authority — you generally only need to register once turnover passes roughly BAM 50,000/year.
- If you just want to invoice a few overseas clients without much risk, sole-proprietor (samostalni preduzetnik / obrt) registration is simpler than forming a d.o.o., but remember it comes with unlimited personal liability and usually requires you to already hold a residence or work permit as a foreigner.
- A d.o.o. only needs a small amount of starting capital (roughly BAM 1,000 / EUR 500) and can be 100% foreign-owned, but expect to need a local accountant for IFRS-aligned bookkeeping and annual filings.
- Bosnia's convertible mark (BAM/KM) is pegged to the euro, so BAM-to-USD costs will move whenever EUR/USD moves — treat USD figures here as a snapshot, not a fixed number.
- Get local accounting/legal advice before choosing a structure: BiH's split entity system (FBiH vs. Republika Srpska) means rules, forms, and even contribution rates can differ depending on exactly where you register.
Estimated Costs Bam USD
- Notary And Legal Fees
- Not officially published; varies by notary/law firm and document complexity. Budget separately for notarization, translation/apostille of foreign documents, and any lawyer facilitation fee if used.
- Minimum Share Capital Dob
- BAM 2,000
Statutory minimum for a d.o.o. in the Federation of BiH/Sarajevo Canton; this capital becomes company assets, it is not a fee.
- Court Registration Decision Fee
- BAM 35
- Official Gazette Bih Census Fee
- BAM 5.00
- Municipal Business Commencement Fee
- BAM 10
- Official Gazette Sarajevo Canton Publication Fee
- BAM 150
- Approximate Total Government Fees Excluding Capital And Notary
- BAM 240
Company Stamp
- Currency Local
- BAM
- Amount USD Range
- 17-29
- Amount Local Range
- 30-50
Step By Step Process Sarajevo Canton
- Step
- 1
- Action
- Reserve a company name and prepare/notarize the Founding Act (Establishment Contract) before a notary. If the founder is a foreign legal entity or the document is executed abroad, it generally needs notarization and apostille in the country of origin plus certified translation into a local language.
- Step
- 2
- Action
- Deposit the minimum founding capital into a temporary bank account. For a d.o.o. in the Federation of BiH (which includes Sarajevo Canton), the statutory minimum basic capital is BAM 2,000 (about $1,160).
- Step
- 3
- Action
- Submit the registration application and supporting documents (certified Founding Act, application form, capital payment receipt, decision appointing an authorized representative if not named in the Founding Act) to the competent Municipal Court in Sarajevo. Court fees: BAM 35 for the registration decision and BAM 5 for submitting census data for publication in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina, plus a further BAM 150 for publication in the Official Gazette of Sarajevo Canton.
- Step
- 4
- Action
- Receive the court's Decision on Registration, which is the legal proof of incorporation.
- Step
- 5
- Action
- Register with the Institute of Statistics for an identification number, and with the tax administration for a tax ID (and VAT registration if applicable); if the company will trade internationally, register for a customs number and it will automatically become a member of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Step
- 6
- Action
- Order a company stamp/seal using the court's Decision of Registration; this takes about one day and costs between BAM 30 and BAM 50.
- Step
- 7
- Action
- Open a permanent corporate bank account, submitting the court decision, statistics ID decision, and (if applicable) the tax/customs certificate; banks may request additional documents depending on the institution, and beneficial-ownership documentation if a corporate founder is involved.
- Step
- 8
- Action
- Notify the Sarajevo Canton municipality/inspection authority of the commencement of business activities. This requires an administrative fee of BAM 10 and a mandatory 10-day waiting period before operations formally begin; the company must be visited by Sarajevo Canton's inspection within 5 days of starting operations.
- Step
- 9
- Action
- If hiring staff, register each employee with the Tax Administration of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Unified System registration) before they start work; this step itself carries no additional government fee.
Business Tax And Structure Options
- Jurisdiction Note
- Sarajevo sits in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), one of BiH's two main administrative entities. Direct taxes (corporate income tax) are set at entity level, so FBiH rules — not Republika Srpska's — apply to a Sarajevo-registered business.
VAT
- Standard Rate Percent
- 17
- Status
- Fully legal and regulated
- Administration
- VAT is collected at the state (BiH-wide) level by the Indirect Taxation Authority, not by FBiH separately — it is the only tax applied uniformly across the whole country.
- Registration Threshold
- BAM 50,000
Mandatory VAT registration applies once annual turnover exceeds roughly this threshold; voluntary registration below it is possible in some cases.
Corporate Income Tax
- Rate Percent
- 10
- Rate Description
- Flat corporate income tax rate applying to companies (d.o.o.) resident in FBiH.
- Details
- The CIT rate in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is 10%.
- Tax Base
- Corporate taxable basis: profits are calculated by deducting real, documented expenses from revenues, following accounting regulations; the tax base includes profit from revenues and capital gains.
- Filing Obligations
- Companies must keep double-entry books under BiH-applicable accounting/audit rules aligned with IAS/IFRS, prepare annual financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, statement of changes in equity, cash flow statement), and file an annual corporate income tax return with the FBiH Tax Administration; if a return isn't filed, the Tax Administration can issue its own decision determining the tax due.
- Worldwide Vs Local
- Resident companies in FBiH are taxed on worldwide income; a non-resident (foreign) company is taxed only on income generated within FBiH/BiH territory, e.g. through a permanent establishment.
- Deductions Notes
- Depreciation, start-up costs, interest expense, bad debts, entertainment (up to 30%), and sponsorship (up to 3% of annual revenue in FBiH) are deductible under specific limits; fines and the corporate income tax itself are not deductible.
Dividend Withholding
- Reported Status
- Some tax-summary sites report a 0% withholding tax on dividends distributed to resident or non-resident shareholders once the 10% corporate tax has been paid, meaning profit can be extracted largely tax-free at the corporate level.
- Confidence Caveat
- This specific 0% dividend claim comes from a non-official tax-summary aggregator rather than an official BiH tax authority page — treat as indicative, not certain, and verify with a local accountant before relying on it.
Structure Options For Foreigners
- Practical Distinction
- The sole-proprietor route is faster and cheaper to set up and simpler to run, but exposes personal assets to unlimited liability and is taxed as personal income; the d.o.o. route needs modest starting capital and stricter bookkeeping/filing, but caps liability to the company and is the structure foreign investors and larger clients generally expect.
Company DOO
- Taxation
- Profits taxed at the flat 10% FBiH corporate income tax rate; owners then draw profit via salary (subject to FBiH personal income tax and high social-security contributions) or via dividends after corporate tax is paid.
- Liability
- Liability limited to the company's assets/capital contributed, protecting the owner's personal assets — a key practical difference from the sole-proprietor route.
- Local Name
- Društvo sa ograničenom odgovornošću (d.o.o.) — limited liability company, the standard vehicle for foreign-owned businesses.
- Minimum Capital
- BAM 1,000
Commonly cited as roughly EUR 500 (BAM is pegged to the euro); some sources describe this modest company-registration capital as the quickest formal route for a foreign entrepreneur toward a residence basis.
- Foreign Ownership
- BiH law allows business establishment by both domestic and foreign legal and natural persons, and registered companies with a foreign-investment element are reported by the registration courts to the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations for the official foreign-investment register.
- Filing Obligations
- Requires formal double-entry bookkeeping under IAS/IFRS-aligned standards, annual financial statements, and an annual corporate tax return filed with the FBiH Tax Administration; VAT registration/returns apply once turnover crosses the same ~BAM 50,000 threshold as sole proprietors.
Sole Proprietor
- Taxation
- Business/self-employment income is taxed at the same flat 10% rate as personal income in FBiH, calculated on net profit.
- Liability
- Full personal liability — the individual, not a separate legal entity, is the business, so business debts attach to personal assets.
- Local Names
- Called samostalni preduzetnik BiH-wide; in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Brčko District also called obrt or samostalna djelatnost — all describing one individual running an independent activity without forming a company.
- Setup Speed
- Registration can take from a few days up to a couple of weeks in FBiH depending on the municipality, once documentation (ID, tax-clearance certificate, any professional license proof) is in order.
- VAT Obligation
- Sole proprietors must register for VAT once annual turnover exceeds roughly BAM 50,000, and may voluntarily register earlier in some cases.
- Who Can Register
- Foreign nationals can register as sole proprietors, though in most cases they must present a valid residence or work permit, and requirements vary by which BiH entity they register in.
- Other Obligations
- Can hire employees (with registration for tax/social security withholding), should keep basic bookkeeping records, and must formally deregister and file final returns if the activity ends.
- Where To Register
- In FBiH, registration happens with the municipal court/registration office covering where the proprietor lives.
Common Entity Type
The d.o.o. (limited liability company, društvo s ograničenom odgovornošću) is the standard vehicle used by foreign entrepreneurs, requiring only one director and one shareholder.
Estimated Timeline
- Court Processing
- Court/registry processing of a straightforward application is commonly reported at around 10-15 business days once all documents are correctly filed.
- Historical Benchmark
- An older World Bank Doing Business dataset put Sarajevo's average at 13 procedures and 81 days to register a new business, reflecting a historically slow, multi-layered process; more recent practitioner sources suggest this has improved somewhat but Sarajevo/FBiH's court-based system remains slower than Republika Srpska's APIF one-stop-shop.
- Total Realistic Range
- In practice, foreign founders should budget roughly 4-8 weeks end-to-end for a Sarajevo/FBiH d.o.o. once notarization, capital deposit, court registration, stamp, tax/statistics registration, bank account opening, and the municipal commencement step are all completed — longer if founder documents must be apostilled and translated from abroad.
- Mandatory Waiting Period
- A further fixed 10-day wait applies after court registration before formally commencing business activity, per the Sarajevo Canton municipal notification step.
Jurisdiction Context
Sarajevo sits in Sarajevo Canton, within the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity. Company registration is handled through the competent Municipal Court in Sarajevo (court-registry system), not through the Republika Srpska's APIF one-stop-shop, which is a separate entity-level system that does not apply to Sarajevo.
Remote Incorporation
Incorporation can largely be done remotely via a notarized power of attorney to a local representative, but in practice the appointed director/authorized signatory is generally expected to appear in person at the bank to open the corporate account.
Local Partner Or Sponsor Requirement
- Status
- No mandatory local partner or sponsor is required. A foreign individual or foreign legal entity can be the sole shareholder and sole director of a Bosnian d.o.o., and 100% foreign ownership is permitted.
- Practical Caveat
- While no local partner is legally required, most foreign founders engage a local notary or lawyer to handle filings, and a corporate bank account typically requires at least one in-person visit by an authorized signatory.
- Residency Requirement
- The founder/shareholder does not need to be resident in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Foreign investors are generally granted treatment comparable to domestic investors, including rights to repatriate profits and acquire property, under the country's foreign investment policy framework.
Official And Government Adjacent Links
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this business permits & incorporation for foreigners research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Sarajevo
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.