How much does it cost to start a business in the EU? Contributions, not registration, in 2026

How much does it cost to start a business in the EU? Registration itself is meant to cost little. The real expense of the first year usually comes from somewhere else: social contributions and health insurance, set by each member state and recurring throughout the year rather than paid once. A second group of costs — VAT registration, a bank account, a cash register — depends on your country and on what you sell, and to whom.

There is no single EU-wide figure for any of this, because the EU does not set contribution rates, health-insurance premiums or VAT thresholds directly. It sets ceilings and targets, and each member state fills in the number. That is the shape of this article: the mechanism that applies everywhere, with an explicit note wherever the amount depends on your own country.

How much does it cost to start a business? Registration isn't the answer

Your Europe, the EU's official portal for citizens and businesses, puts it plainly: "The requirements vary depending on the country." There is no EU-wide registration form or fee. What the EU does have is a set of targets it "encourages all countries to meet": setting up in no more than 3 working days, costing less than €100, completing all procedures through a single administrative body, and completing all registration formalities online. Those are targets, not guarantees. The registry, timeline and fee that apply to you are your own country's.

Social contributions and health insurance: the cost that actually dominates year one

Registration is not where the money goes. Social-security contributions for the self-employed, and health insurance alongside them, recur for as long as the business runs — and they are set entirely at national level: the rate, the base it is calculated on, any minimum amount, and any relief for new businesses. The EU does not publish a contribution rate, a reduced starter rate or a health-insurance premium that applies across member states; whatever figure we put here would be true for one country and wrong for the other twenty-six. Details depend on the member state. Check the social-security and health-insurance rules of the country you are registering in before you budget anything else, because this is usually the largest recurring line, not the smallest.

VAT: the EU sets a ceiling, your country sets the threshold

VAT is where EU law gets more specific, without naming a single figure. Under the SME scheme introduced by Directive (EU) 2020/285 and applied from 1 January 2025, member states may exempt small businesses from charging VAT. A country that offers the exemption sets its own turnover threshold, which "shall be no higher than EUR 85 000" (Art. 284(1) of the VAT Directive). Using the exemption in other member states as well is possible under a separate condition: your annual turnover across the whole Union must not exceed €100,000, and you notify your own country in advance.

Below your country's threshold, and where the scheme exists, you can sell without charging VAT; you can also choose the normal VAT arrangements instead — whether that makes sense depends on the structure of your costs and customers, not on an EU rule. A business using the small-enterprise exemption may issue simplified invoices under Art. 220a(1)(c) of the VAT Directive, whatever the invoice amount (the separate €100 limit in Art. 220a(1)(a) applies to everyone else). What a full or simplified EU invoice has to contain, and how e-invoicing mandates work country by country, is covered in invoicing software.

Bank accounts and cash registers: two more national decisions

Two smaller questions resolve the same way: nationally, not at EU level. Whether you need a dedicated business bank account, and whether you need a fiscal cash register for sales to consumers, are both set by your own country's rules — we found no EU-wide threshold or exemption for either. Check your national tax authority's guidance before assuming either one is or is not required.

How to build your own number

With no EU-wide figure to quote, building your own forecast means doing four lookups before you register, not after:

1. Your country's self-employed social-security rate, the base it is calculated on, any minimum amount, and whether there is a reduced rate or an exemption for the first months — usually the largest recurring line.
2. Your country's health-insurance system for the self-employed: whether it is part of the social-security contribution or a separate premium, and how it is calculated.
3. Your country's VAT exemption threshold, if it offers one (no higher than €85,000), and whether opting into VAT from the start makes sense for your costs and customers.
4. Whether your country requires a dedicated business bank account or a fiscal cash register for the kind of sales you are planning.

None of these four lookups takes long on its own. Budgeting from a number you found online for a different country, instead of doing them, is the version that actually costs money.

Technology: the smallest and most controllable line

Compared with contributions, VAT and the national rules above, the cost of the technology a new business buys in its first weeks — a domain, a mailbox, a website — is small, and it is the part you actually control. We walk through what to buy in week zero and what can wait in technology for a new business.