Expansion to Germany and choice of legal form
You consider an expansion to Germany but you are not sure how to proceed in doing so?
Germany is one of the major European economic centres and an expansion can really pay off. However, it should be well-considered and carefully prepared.
One of the most important questions is the appropriate legal form for your business. It plays a role not only for the formalities and legal requirements to be complied with but also, for example, for the company’s taxation.
In this article you learn more about the different options and the procedures to be followed.
We set up your enterprise. You focus on business
Expansion to Germany
Andre Kraus, lawyer and founder of the KRAUS GHENDLER RUVINSKIJ law firm, is your contact in matters of company formation, trade mark law, reputation protection and corporate law.
Online formation or in-person appointment
You can found directly online, book a free initial consultation online or send us a message
Free initial consultation
We offer a comprehensive initial consultation free of charge. Here we can discuss questions you may have about expanding Germany and advise you on the most important basic issues in formation, such as the right legal form or the costs and procedure involved.
Setting up your business
We start setting up your Permanent Establishment, Branch Office or Subsidiary. We will support you, from providing legal advice on forming a company, drafting tailored articles of association, arranging notary appointments and entering your company in the commercial register, to drawing up your application for tax and business registration.
Permanent Establishment
If you want to get started quickly and easily or if you only plan temporary business activities in Germany a Permanent Establishment is a good choice.
A Permanent Establishment is nothing more than a dependent branch of an already existing company. It acts on behalf of the head office, does not have its own company name and it does not need its own share capital. It is not subject to German law but to that of the country in which the head office is located.
How can you set up a Permanent Establishment?
To set up a Permanent Establishment, sometimes also referred to as a representative office, a business registration with the Trade Licensing Office is necessary. However, an entry in the commercial register is not mandatory. A Permanent Establishment can be set up with little red tape and at low costs.
What is a Permanent Establishment not suitable for?
If you want to run your business independently, flexibly and with your own company name, a Permanent Establishment is not the optimal form of enterprise. You always have to adhere to the business decisions of the main company and you therefore have no opportunity to develop the market for yourself.
Foundation by a lawyer
✔ CHEAP✔ FAST✔ LEGALLY SECURE
Open questions? – Just call us:
(Mo. – So. from 9am to 22pm / NATIONWIDE – German landline)
Establishing a German subsidiary company is the most elaborate and costly way of company expansion. In some cases, however, it can be worthwhile.
A German subsidiary is a company owned or controlled by another company abroad, the parent company. It is legally independent, has got its own legal personality and can trade and conclude contracts under its own company name. Formation and business registration are governed by German law, the subsidiary has got a German legal form.
How can you set up a subsidiary?
The formation process depends on the legal form you choose for your subsidiary. Under German company law you can choose in particular between partnerships and corporations/ capital companies. To set up a capital company you have to pay in a minimum share capital, in case of a GmbH 25.000 Euros as a rule. Furthermore a commercial register entry and a business registration are obligatory.
The subsidiary’s German legal form makes it easier for you to do business in Germany and to establish your company on the German market. It also makes the company seem more trustworthy.
What is a subsidiary not suitable for?
The bureaucratic effort and the high costs (esp. share capital) for opening a subsidiary often don’t pay off, especially for a business activity in Germany that is only temporary or rather marginal.
We advise foreign founders on expansion. Our law firm has many years of experience and comprehensive expertise in organizing company formations and our lawyers are familiar with the entire procedure.
Costs
| DESCRIPTION | COSTS (NET AMOUNTS) | |
|---|---|---|
| Formation costs | Advice on legal form, advice on forming a company and advice on financial statements, drawing up of the articles of association and forming documents, organisation of the formation, representation during the entire formation process, company audit by the IHK, managing director contract, opening balance sheet and preparation of the trade and tax registration, VAT ID application and contract documents. | Fixed price: 209,– € (“formation package START-UP”), 629,– € (“Rechtssicher”) or 859,– € (“Rechtssicher PLUS”) |
| Notarisation costs | Notarisation of the articles of association and other forming documents. By providing prior advice on formation and drawing up the articles of association and the formation documents for a fixed price, we may save you the significantly higher costs of a contract drawn up by the lawyer notary on the basis of the RVG (German Law on Lawyer’s Fees), or when invoicing on an hourly basis. | Between 280,- (Standard Record) and 835,- € (individual Statutes) on average |
| Check of company name with IHK | If the responsible IHK / HWK conducts a preliminary statement procedure, we will conduct an examination procedure at your IHK /HWK for your company. This is to show whether there are any objections to your company name. In some cities or municipalities (e.g. in Berlin) the preliminary statement procedure is subject to a fee. | In some cities or municipalities about 45,- € |
| Entry into the commercial register | Often 170,- € | |
| Commercial registration | Depending on the city or municipality, €10.00 to €60.00 | |
| Tax registration | Free of charge | |
| IHK contribution | From 115,- € |
Formation of an UG at a fixed price
Our legal fee is a one-time fixed amount: you will not incur any further costs. In particular you will have to pay
- no higher lawyer’s/notary’s fee according to RVG for the formation consultation as well as the final consultation
- no higher lawyer’s/notary’s fee according to RVG for the preparation of your individual articles of association
- no higher lawyer’s/notary’s fee according to RVG for the organization of your incorporation/your representation during the incorporation process
- no higher notarial fee according to GNotKG for the preparation of the formation documents (shareholders‘ resolutions, etc.)
These costs are usually not fixed from the beginning and can get very out of hand. With us it remains with a fixed price, which is independent of the complexity or lengthiness of your case (price transparency).
Discount for serial founders or Holdings
Often several companies are founded. This happens especially in the case of serial founders or when several companies are established within the framework of a holding model. In this case, we grant a discount of 20% on our respective fixed price from the second company onwards.
Your formation team
Andre Kraus
Specialist lawyer for insolvency law
Ahaliya Kapilan
Lawyer
Oksana Enns
Business law graduate
Sara Garcia Corraliza
Lawyer
and a team
of legal advisors, business law graduates and other lawyers
Over
Mandates
Over
free document reviews
Over
free initial consultations
Over
answered forum questions
Do you have a general question about „formation in Germany“? We answer them here for free! Enter your question here
Initial question
Hi, I am writing in English as my German is not good. I have the following queries: * Is it possible to have your service in English? * I like to register a UG company aiming to provide Staff Augmentation, and Bespoke Software Solutions. I live in Berlin and hold a PR (Niederlassungserlaubnis). Is it […]
Verhältnisse zwischen Gesellschaftern festlegen
Hallo, Unter “jetzt direkt ihr Unternehmen gründen lassen!” habe ich kein Feld für weitere Gesellschafter gefunden, noch um festzulegen welcher davon wie viel Prozent des Unternehmens besitzen oder wie es mit dem Verkauf von Aktienanteilen aussieht. Meine Frage ist, wie man die Unternehmensanteile festlegt und welche Regeln standartmäßig für den Verkauf von Anteilen bestehen. Mit […]
Firmenname
Kann man sicherstellen, dass es den gewünschten Firmennamen “Zoo Champion UG” noch nicht gibt? Beste Grüße, Philipp Ossa
Inquiry about Establishing a UG from Abroad
Dear Sir/Madam, I hope this email finds you well. My name is Ayman Syam, and I am interested in establishing an Unternehmergesellschaft (UG) in Germany. Due to my current circumstances and residence abroad, I cannot be physically present in Germany. I am seeking a knowledgeable lawyer or firm to assist me in this process, particularly […]
Unsere Mandanten vertrauen uns auch in folgenden Fachgebieten
FIRMA
GRÜNDEN
MARKE
SCHÜTZEN
BEWERTUNG
LÖSCHEN
AGB
ERSTELLEN
FIRMA
FINANZIEREN
RECHTSTEXT
ERSTELLEN
DATENSCHUTZ
EINHALTEN
MITARBEITER
EINSTELLEN
BUCHHALTUNG
AUSLAGERN
Mitgliedschaften
