Good to know
Good to Know
- A newly-formed LLC (DOO/DOOEL) director in North Macedonia can apply for a residence permit based on that company role, which is often the practical route foreigners use before later switching to a sole-proprietor structure if desired.
- You legally do not need to deposit the full EUR 5,000 share capital before your company exists — it can be paid in cash or in-kind within one year of registration, which is useful for cash-flow planning.
- If a founder is a foreigner, registering the beneficial owner (UBO) and registering in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) register are separate mandatory steps on top of the basic Trade Register filing — budget time for these even though they're usually bundled by a registration agent.
- Opening the corporate bank account can be the slowest part of the process in practice — the manager typically has to appear in person at the bank, and banks run their own AML/KYC checks on foreign founders that go beyond what the Central Registry requires.
- A DOOEL (single-owner LLC) or DOO (multi-owner LLC) is the practical entry point for most foreigners — it needs no local residency to set up, unlike the sole-proprietor (TP) status which legally requires you to already hold permanent residence in North Macedonia.
- The EUR 5,000 minimum capital for a DOO/DOOEL doesn't have to be paid up front — the law gives you up to a year to actually deposit it, and it can be in-kind (equipment, etc.) rather than cash.
- If EUR 5,000 feels like a lot to lock up early, the PDOO (simplified LLC) can be formed with as little as EUR 1 in capital, at the cost of having to reserve a quarter of profits each year until it builds up standard-level capital.
- Small companies earning under roughly MKD 3 million/year in revenue can end up paying no corporate income tax at all under the simplified regime, and those between MKD 3–6 million pay a flat 1% of revenue instead of profit-based 10% CIT — worth discussing with a local accountant if you're running a lean solo operation.
- There is no special reduced tax regime specifically for expats or foreign-owned companies — foreign-owned companies are taxed on exactly the same 10% CIT / 18% VAT rules as domestic ones.
Corporate Tax
- Foreign Owned Companies
- Foreign-owned companies are taxed on the same basis as domestic companies — same 10% standard CIT rate, same simplified-regime eligibility, and same VAT/withholding rules — with no special surtax or penalty regime for foreign ownership.
VAT
- Reduced Rate Percent
- 5
- Standard Rate Percent
- 18
- Mandatory Registration Threshold
- MKD 2,000,000
per month
- VAT Registration Threshold Note
- VAT registration becomes mandatory once annual turnover exceeds this threshold; VAT is payable within 30 days following the end of the relevant tax period.
Filing And Payment Mechanics
- Annual Return
- A CIT return is filed annually; any remaining tax due is payable no later than 30 days after the filing deadline, and overpayments can be refunded or carried forward.
- Municipal Taxes
- There are no separate municipal or local government taxes levied on corporate income in North Macedonia.
- Advance Payments
- Standard-regime taxpayers generally make monthly advance CIT payments, due within 15 days after the end of each calendar month.
- Simplified Regime Payment
- Companies under the 1%-of-revenue simplified regime pay their tax in a single installment, due no later than 30 days after the filing deadline.
Standard Corporate Income Tax
- Rate Percent
- 10
- Description
- The standard corporate income tax (CIT) rate is 10%, applied to the company's realised profit for the calendar year, as determined by applicable accounting standards and adjusted for non-deductible expenses.
Simplified Small Business Regime
- Description
- A simplified regime exists for resident small/micro companies (not banks, financial, insurance, gambling, or entertainment-game businesses), based on total annual revenue rather than profit.
- Lock In Note
- Companies that opt into or qualify for the simplified regime generally cannot request to leave it as long as revenue stays within the qualifying range for the following three years.
Tiers
Total annual revenue up to MKD 3,000,000
Withholding Tax On Outbound Payments
- Rate Percent
- 10
- Applies To
- Dividends, interest, royalties, and payments for management/consulting/financial services made to foreign (non-resident) recipients, unless reduced by a double tax treaty (DTT).
- Dtt Note
- North Macedonia has signed DTTs with numerous countries; a treaty-reduced rate requires prior approval from the Macedonian tax authorities before it can be applied.
Structure Options For A Foreigner
- Practical Diligence Note
- Formal registration (DOO/DOOEL/PDOO/TP) is coordinated through the Central Registry of the Republic of North Macedonia's electronic One-Stop-Shop system, which links company registration, tax-number issuance, and Public Revenue Office registration in a single process.
Pdoo Simplified LLC
- Tradeoff
- In exchange for the near-zero capital requirement, a PDOO must set aside one quarter of its annual profit into a mandatory reserve fund until that reserve reaches the level of a standard company's share capital.
- Minimum Capital
- MKD 62
equivalent of EUR 1
- Description
- A lighter-weight LLC variant available to up to three individual founders.
Unregistered Freelance Work
- Caveat
- This informal route sits in a legal gray area for anyone actually resident and earning locally-sourced or long-term income in North Macedonia — it is more commonly used by short-stay remote workers billing purely foreign clients. Anyone planning to stay long-term or take on local clients should register a proper structure (DOO/DOOEL or, once eligible, TP) rather than rely on this informal approach, and should get local accounting advice, since practical enforcement and thresholds are not consistently documented across sources.
- Description
- Some foreign remote workers invoice international clients directly without registering any local business form, since North Macedonia does not require freelancers to register a company to work legally with foreign clients.
Branch Vs Representative Office
- Branch Podruznica
- Not a separate legal entity from the foreign parent company, but it can legally conduct commercial/trading activity in North Macedonia.
- Representative Office Pretstavnistvo
- Also not a separate legal entity, but is limited strictly to market research, information-gathering, and promotional activity — it cannot trade or invoice locally.
Sole Proprietor Tp Trgovec Poedinec
- Tax Treatment
- Taxed under the same flat personal income tax rules as any Macedonian sole trader, with unlimited personal liability for business debts (this differs from the limited liability of a DOO/DOOEL).
- Key Restriction
- Requires permanent residence in North Macedonia to register — a foreign national must obtain permanent residency first, which most newly arrived nomads won't have. The common workaround is to first form a DOO/DOOEL and use that entity as the basis for a residence permit application, then convert to sole-proprietor status later if desired.
- Minimum Capital
- None required.
- Description
- North Macedonia's formal sole-proprietorship status (трговец поединец).
DOO Or DOOEL Limited Liability Company
- Liability
- Liability is limited to each member's capital contribution.
- Ownership
- Foreign individuals or companies can own and manage a DOO/DOOEL 100%, with no residency requirement to found or own it.
- Minimum Capital
- MKD 307,500
equivalent of EUR 5,000; can be paid in cash or contributed in kind (equipment, real estate, etc.), and the law allows this capital to be paid in within one year of registration rather than up front
- Residency Pathway
- A director/founder of a DOO or DOOEL may separately apply for a residence permit on the basis of that role — this is the workaround many foreigners use since sole-proprietor status requires residency first.
- Description
- The most commonly recommended structure for a foreigner setting up a real business presence. A DOOEL has a single founder; a DOO has between two and fifty founders (individuals or legal entities, domestic or foreign).
Available Entity Types
DOO (LLC, Multi-member)
- Min Capital
- €5,000
- Description
- Between 2 and 50 founders (individuals or legal entities, domestic or foreign); liability limited to capital contribution.
DOOEL (Single-member LLC)
- Min Capital
- €5,000
- Description
- Same as DOO but with exactly one founder; a common choice for a solo nomad-run business or wholly-owned subsidiary.
PDOO (Simplified LLC)
- Min Capital
- €1.00
- Description
- A simplified LLC that can be founded by up to three individuals with a token minimum capital, in exchange the company must set aside a quarter of annual profit into a mandatory reserve until it reaches standard share-capital level.
Branch (Podruzhnica) of a Foreign Company
- Description
- Not a separate legal entity but can conduct commercial activity in North Macedonia; can be 100% foreign owned.
Representative Office (Pretstavnishtvo)
- Description
- Limited to market research and promotion; cannot generate trading income and must be funded through inward foreign-currency remittances.
Joint Stock Company (JSC)
- Min Capital
- €25,000
- Description
- Used mainly by larger investors; shares can be listed on the stock exchange.
Local Partner Or Sponsor Requirements
- General Rule
- No local partner, sponsor, or resident director is required for the standard company forms.
- Exception Sole Proprietorship
- The trgovec poedinec (sole proprietor) form is the one exception: it legally requires the applicant to hold permanent residence in North Macedonia at the time of registration, so a newly-arrived foreigner cannot use this form directly and would typically need to first set up an LLC and obtain a residence permit through it before switching structures.
Details
- Foreign individuals and companies are generally allowed to establish and fully own businesses in North Macedonia, with no residency requirement for founders or directors.
North Macedonia allows foreigners to own and manage companies on the same terms as citizens, with registration centralized through the Central Registry (CRM) One-Stop-Shop electronic system based in Skopje.
Typical Cost
- Company Seal
- Small one-off cost paid to a commercial stamp-maker after the registration decision is issued.
- Minimum Share Capital DOO DOOEL
- €5,000
- Central Registry Registration Fee
- Set by the CRM tariff; described in available sourcing only as 'modest' — exact current fee schedule not confirmed at the time of research.
- Registration Agent Or Lawyer Fee If Used
- Not mandatory — a private individual with a digital certificate can self-file — but commonly used by foreigners; exact fee varies by firm and was not itemized in available public sourcing (quotes typically given case-by-case).
- Notarization Apostille Translation Foreign Docs
- Variable, paid per document; required whenever a foreign founder's home-country documents are used.
- Note
- The EUR 5,000 minimum capital is the founder's own working capital funding the business, not a government fee, and can legally be paid within one year of registration rather than upfront.
Typical Timeline
The Central Registry's One-Stop-Shop system is designed to process a complete, correctly-documented application within roughly four hours administratively, with straightforward cases commonly finalized in 24–48 hours to about 2–3 business days once submitted; total time including document preparation, notarization/apostille of foreign paperwork, and translation is more realistically about one to two weeks for a foreign founder, and separately opening the corporate bank account and depositing capital adds further time depending on the bank.
Step By Step Process
Step By Step Process
- Check and reserve the company name with the Central Registry (name format: descriptive activity + main name + DOO/DOOEL + city, e.g. a Skopje-based entity name ending in 'DOO Skopje').
- Obtain a digital certificate/electronic signature (from a provider such as KIBS) if self-filing, or grant power of attorney to a licensed registration agent/lawyer to file on your behalf — foreigners do not need to be physically present in the country to incorporate.
- Prepare and notarize the founding documents (Founding Statement for a DOOEL or Founding Agreement for a DOO / Articles & Memorandum of Association), listing owners, capital contributions, manager(s), and registered address.
- For foreign corporate founders: an extract from the company's home-country commercial register, apostilled (unless a bilateral treaty waives this) and translated into Macedonian by a certified court translator, not older than 30 days (some sources cite a 3-month window) from submission.
- Submit the application electronically through the Central Registry's One-Stop-Shop e-registration system (crm.com.mk / e-submit.crm.com.mk), which simultaneously handles Trade Register entry and tax ID (EMBS) assignment.
- Register the beneficial owner (UBO) in the Registry of Beneficial Owners, and — separately — register the entity in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) register, which applies whenever a founder is a foreigner.
- Once the registration decision is issued, order a company seal/stamp from a commercial stamp-maker based on the decision.
- Open a corporate bank account (a mandatory denar account, plus an optional foreign-currency account) to deposit the share capital; the company manager typically must appear in person at the bank to finalize this, and banks separately run their own AML/KYC checks on foreign founders (passport copies, proof of address, source-of-funds declarations).
Official Registry Links
Typical Documents Required
Typical Documents Required
- Passport and ID copies of all owners/founders and the manager/director
- For a corporate founder: an apostilled, translated extract from its home commercial register
- Founding Agreement (DOO) or Founding Declaration (DOOEL)
- Proof of registered business address in North Macedonia
- Proof of share-capital payment, or a signed commitment to pay within one year
- Completed application form and payment of the registration fee
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.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.