Conditions guide
VAT, banking and trade licence after acquisition
These three questions produce more disappointed buyers than anything else in the category, because they are routinely presented as features of a company when they are in fact positions granted by third parties.
Do VAT registration, a bank account and a trade licence transfer with the company?
Not automatically, and not as a matter of course. Each is a position granted or maintained by an independent third party — the tax authority, a bank, or the competent trade authority — and each of those parties applies its own rules after a change of ownership, management or intended activity.
A company may hold a tax number, a VAT identification number, a bank account or a licence at the point of sale. What a buyer needs to know is the current position, the date it was verified, what the third party is likely to require after the change of control, and who is responsible for handling it.
Banking, VAT and trade-licence outcomes are decided by third parties, and none of them is promised on this website. Company-specific statuses are stated with their evidence and cut-off date on the individual company record, and remain subject to the relevant third party's own review.Publication and review provenance
Tax number and VAT identification
A tax number and a VAT identification number are administered by the tax authority and reflect the company's registered position and activity. A dormant company's position is not the same as an operating company's, and a change of intended activity, ownership or management can prompt the authority to review the position.
The practical question for a buyer is therefore not simply whether a number exists, but whether the company's position matches the business the buyer intends to run, and what has to be filed or applied for so that it does.
Banking after a change of control
Banks apply their own customer due diligence. A change of shareholder, beneficial owner or managing director is precisely the kind of event that triggers renewed review, and a bank may require new documentation, new signatory mandates, or a fresh onboarding decision regardless of how long the account has existed.
An existing account can shorten a process. It cannot bind a bank, and no provider can guarantee a banking outcome on a bank's behalf. Where introductions are made, the role should be labelled as an introduction, not as a provided service.
- Expect the bank to re-run its own KYC on the new owners and management.
- Expect signatory mandates to be re-established rather than inherited in practice.
- Plan the bank step to follow the register update, not the signing date.
- Treat any banking timeline as an estimate outside the provider's control.
Trade licence and regulated activities
Many business activities in Austria are freely exercisable, and some are regulated and require a licence together with a qualified trade-law manager. Which category the intended activity falls into is an activity-specific question, and it is the buyer's intended activity that matters, not the company's historic registration.
This is one of the clearest cases where the right advice may be that a different company — or a new formation — is a better fit. Establishing the licence question early prevents a buyer from acquiring an entity that cannot lawfully carry on the intended business without further steps.
How these statuses are published on this website
Each status appears on the company record as a state, a verification date, a source or reviewer reference and any conditions attached to it. Where a position is unknown or unverified, the record says so rather than leaving a reassuring blank.
Colour is never the carrier of meaning: every status is stated in words, with its date, so that it remains legible to screen-reader users, in print, and to any system reading the page.
Direct access
Speak to a consultant before you commit.
A first conversation is about business fit: what the company has to do, when it has to start, who will own and manage it, and whether acquiring an existing GmbH is genuinely the better route for you.
What the first conversation covers
- Intended business activity and start window
- Ownership, management and residence context
- Whether an existing company beats a new formation
- Which company attributes are genuinely required
- How the cost would be composed for your case
What it never asks for
- Passports or identity documents
- Source-of-funds evidence
- Any document upload on this public website