EU Inc.: Set Up a Company in 48 Hours for €100 — Fact or Hype?

“EU Inc.: set up a company in just 2 days for a maximum of €100” — the line is doing the rounds. In short: the claim is essentially correct — but it describes a legislative proposal, not current law. And on the topic finance leaders care about most, tax, the proposal contains practically nothing.

Key figures from the European Commission's draft regulation of 18 March 2026; timeline estimated.

What is EU Inc.?

On 18 March 2026 the European Commission presented its proposal for a new European legal form called “EU Inc.”. As the so-called “28th regime” it would sit alongside the existing legal forms of the 27 member states — one company type that can be incorporated under the same rules in any member state. It originates from the start-up campaign eu-inc.org, which has been petitioning for it since October 2024; Commission President von der Leyen announced at the World Economic Forum on 21 January 2026 that the Commission would call the 28th regime “EU Inc.”.

The 48-hours-€100 claim

It really does come from the proposal: a standard EU Inc. is meant to be incorporated within 48 hours at a cost of €100 — via a harmonised application form plus European model articles. However, the regulation requires a preventive legality check at incorporation, and each member state decides whether that is carried out administratively, by a court or by a notary. For Germany that means: whether the notary stays out is open — and so is whether the €100 hold in practice.

Key features of the proposal

• Limited liability without minimum capital: capital is required, a minimum amount is not.
• Incorporated in one member state, national law applies subsidiarily: for everything the regulation does not cover, the law of the assigned “relevant national legal form” applies — in Germany presumably GmbH law. That is exactly the campaign's criticism: interpretation by national courts and registration in national registers would undermine the intended standardisation.
• Directors: must be natural persons, at least one resident in the EU.
• Digital-only: incorporation, funding rounds and share transfers fully digital without mandatory intermediaries; simplified digital liquidation and insolvency.
• Employment and social security law: national rules continue to apply in full.

Tax — the decisive point

Here comes the sobering part: the draft regulation contains practically no tax law. That is not an oversight but EU mechanics — a regulation alone cannot introduce fiscal measures; those would have to come via a directive, which requires unanimity of all member states. The Commission merely signals that the 28th regime could later be complemented by further proposals, including on tax.

An EU Inc. domiciled in Germany would, as things stand, be subject to corporate and trade tax just like a GmbH — with all HGB, GoBD and VAT obligations.

What exists so far is a position of the European Parliament: on 9 July 2026 the EP adopted, by 366 votes to 192, a resolution on the feasibility of a 28th tax regime — an own-initiative report, not binding. A possible “tax module” could include a consolidated corporate tax base, standardised tax returns, simplified VAT procedures and streamlined withholding tax rules, plus cross-border loss relief and clearly specified transfer pricing rules for companies that opt in. A concrete Commission proposal on this: none.

Antipodes: Amazon FBA and EU tax law

How far apart corporate law and tax law are in the EU is illustrated by an everyday example from e-commerce: Amazon FBA. The EU has no common tax regime — it has rules that distribute taxes between 27 states. For VAT, since 2021 that means: distance sales to consumers are taxed in the country of destination (above €10,000 EU-wide) and reported via the One-Stop Shop; goods stored in another member state trigger a VAT registration obligation there. Tax follows the goods.

Amazon FBA Pan-EU makes exactly this allocation hard: Amazon decides in which warehouse the goods sit and from where they ship — Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain and more. The seller finds out afterwards, from the transaction reports. Depending on the warehouse, the same order can have three different tax consequences:

Every relocation by Amazon is a taxable event, every warehouse country a separate registration with its own return. The marketplace optimises logistics, not tax — and tax law distributes by the route of the goods. That is exactly the gap a “tax module” for EU Inc. would have to close: simplified VAT procedures, standardised returns, one registration instead of six. The draft regulation says nothing about it.

The EU harmonises incorporation and keeps distributing tax by the route of the goods. Amazon distributes the goods.

The timeline

The proposal is now negotiated by Parliament and Council; the Commission aims for agreement by the end of 2026, followed by the regulation and an application period.

The proposal has already drawn criticism from business — from the start-up scene, for which it does not go far enough, to notaries and chambers, for which it goes too far. It is safe to assume the final regulation will differ from the draft in several points.

Frequently asked

Does EU Inc. exist yet?

No. Since 18 March 2026 there is a draft regulation from the European Commission, now being negotiated by Parliament and Council. An EU Inc. can be incorporated in 2027 or 2028 at the earliest — after adoption and an application period.

Does incorporation really cost only €100?

That is the proposal's target: €100, 48 hours, a digital standard procedure. What is open is how the mandatory legality check will be implemented in Germany — administratively, by a court or by a notary. If the notary stays involved, it will likely cost more.

Which law applies to an EU Inc. in Germany?

The regulation governs incorporation, capital, bodies and shares; for everything else the law of the assigned national legal form applies subsidiarily — in Germany presumably GmbH law. Employment and social security law apply nationally in any case.

Does an EU Inc. save tax?

No. The proposal contains no tax law. An EU Inc. domiciled in Germany is subject to corporate and trade tax like a GmbH, with HGB accounting, GoBD and the VAT Act. A “tax module” was merely suggested, non-bindingly, by the European Parliament in July 2026; it would require a directive adopted unanimously.

What changes for groups with several EU entities?

Nothing for now: every entity remains a national case for tax and accounting, with its own obligations. EU Inc. may one day standardise incorporation — compliance per country stays until there is a dedicated tax regime.

What does Amazon FBA Pan-EU mean for VAT?

Amazon stores and ships goods from warehouses in several member states without the seller controlling it. Every warehouse country requires its own VAT registration; relocations between countries are intra-Community transfers with reporting obligations; sales to consumers in other countries are taxed in the country of destination and reported via the One-Stop Shop. The tax treatment of every order therefore depends on the country of dispatch and destination — EU Inc. changes nothing about that.

Sources

• Europäische Kommission via ERA: EC presents proposal for EU Inc. as starting point for 28th regime
• Eubelius: The EU Inc. — the European Commission's proposal for a 28th corporate regime
• Sifted: Leaked plans not good enough, says EU Inc campaign
• Accountancy Europe: Tax policy update, April 2026
• Europäisches Parlament: Feasibility of a 28th tax regime (summary)
• IFC Review: MEPs back tax simplification ideas
• Wolters Kluwer International Tax Law Blog: 28th regime needs a dual-instrument architecture
• SwissCore: 28th Regime? Let's call it EU Inc.

Entity, ERP and tax from one source?

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