Glossary of Estonian company terms
Every term on this site is defined once, here, and used the same way everywhere. Each definition links to the guides and tools where the term matters.
General information only, not tax or legal advice. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by the Republic of Estonia or the e-Residency programme.
- Annual report
- The yearly financial statements every Estonian company files with the e-Business Register, even in a year without activity.
- Board member
- A member of an OÜ's management board: the person who runs the company day to day and can represent it legally.
- Board member fee
- Payment an OÜ makes to a board member for managing the company, taxed in Estonia wherever the board member does the work.
- Contact person
- A person in Estonia who receives official documents for a company. A company whose address is abroad must have one.
- Controlled foreign company
- Rules in a shareholder's home country that can tax the shareholder on profit kept in a controlled, low-taxed foreign company.
- Corporate income tax on distributions
- Estonia's company income tax, charged when profit is paid out, for example as dividends, rather than when it is earned.
- Digital ID card
- The smart card an e-resident uses with a card reader and PIN codes to log in to Estonian e-services and sign documents digitally.
- e-Business Register
- Estonia's official online register of companies, holding each company's registry code, address, board members and annual reports.
- e-Residency
- A digital identity issued by the Republic of Estonia that lets non-residents sign documents and run an Estonian company online.
- Legal address
- A company's official address, recorded publicly in the e-Business Register, where official notices and documents are delivered.
- OÜ
- Osaühing: Estonia's private limited company, owned by shareholders with limited liability, which e-residents can register and run online.
- Permanent establishment
- A fixed place of business, or a dependent agent, through which a company does business in another country, creating a taxable presence there.
- Place of effective management
- The place where the key management and commercial decisions for a company's business as a whole are, in substance, made.
- Service provider
- A business that provides services an Estonian company needs, such as a legal address, a contact person, accounting and tax filing.
- Tax residency
- The country that treats a person or company as resident for tax purposes, usually with the right to tax its worldwide income.
- VAT
- Value added tax: a tax on sales that VAT-registered businesses charge their customers and pay to the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.