"In Spain it is possible establish a company through telematic means in 24 hours in a Notary office". "The Notary has the technological tools to provide this service, without sacrificing any of the legal security ", said Antonio Ojeda, President of the General Council of Notaries, at the closing of the seminar "Building companies” that took place in Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Santander.
Ojeda pointed out that establishment and setting to operation of the company are two different concepts:
1 .- Constitution ( establishment) means creating the necessary legal entity
2 .- Setting to operation comprises a number of administrative, local and regional licenses in the vast majority - without which it is not possible the start of economic activity.
Establishment:
Regarding the first phase (establishment), it is possible to electronically obtain from a Notary office in Spain:
1. - The reservation of the company name - almost 10,000 names were reserved last year.
2. - The provisional Tax Identification Number (around 35,000 provisional Tax Numbers were obtained in 2008)
3.-To draft the deeds and the statutes, sending them electronically to the provincial trade register.
4.-In certain communities, to pay the corresponding tax on the same day.
All this can be done in just twenty-four hours or at most in two days, including the time it takes for the Central Commercial Registry to issue the reservation of the name.
For Antonio Ojeda, "The delay in the establishment of companies in Spain is due to instances such as Registration and winding up of taxes, currently decentralized in Spain in relation to tax corporate operations. The registrar still has an inordinate time-fifteen working days - for the approval of a business which has been previously screened by a public official, such as the Notary. Also, the Provincial Registrar needs to inform the Central Trade Register, within the three days immediately after the registration of the act or transaction, all the data business registered for publication in the BORME. (Official Gazette).
In other countries of Europe there is no duplication of controls, so, just one on legality at the time that the partners give their consent to form a society. In these countries, the document which has been electronically pre-controlled is deposited in a single central business register. The transfer of this model to Spain would turn the system into a much simpler and cheaper one as the public official who can perform all these steps by telematic means already exists and is called “Notario”.
A solicitor or any person trained in Administrative burocracy will be needed for the rest of the requirements. It is advisable though to use a lawyer with Administrative Law formation who will be able to overcome possible pitfalls or administative errors.
Menorca ( Islas Baleares) sunshade by peamasher at Flickr.com