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You are starting a sole proprietorship, a GmbH or a UG

Setting up and registering a business

Work out whether your activity is a liberal profession or a trade, compare the sole proprietorship with the GmbH, compute share capital and register fees, check the small-business scheme, and register the business with the tax office through the tax registration questionnaire: 10 steps.

Start here: Liberal profession or trade business in Germany

Understand: liberal profession or trade, GmbH or UG, registering with the tax office

  1. Step 1 of 10
    CoursePaid individually41 min

    Liberal profession or trade business in Germany

    Four features make an activity a trade business, and three routes lead into a liberal profession: type of activity, listed profession, similar profession. Plus the rule on qualified employees and other self-employed work. The second module covers contagion in partnerships, commercial stamping and the consequences of the classification: trade tax with an allowance of 24,500 € and a base rate of 3.5 %, a reduction of four times the base amount, bookkeeping, notification and the chamber of commerce. Two modules, each with a fully worked case study.
  2. Step 2 of 10
    CoursePaid individually36 min

    Choosing between a German GmbH and a UG

    What § 13 (2) GmbHG actually limits, why § 7 (2) contains TWO payment thresholds rather than one, and which four departures § 5a prescribes for the UG — payment in full, no contributions in kind, a compulsory name addition and a reserve of one quarter. Then the crisis: half the share capital, imminent illiquidity, and the two deadlines of § 15a InsO.
  3. Step 3 of 10
    CoursePaid individually44 min

    Registering a new business with the German tax office

    Notifying the trade office does not replace tax registration: within one month the tax office expects the tax registration questionnaire, filed electronically in the version for sole traders, partnerships or corporations. The second module covers what the questionnaire decides: tax number and identification numbers, the first income tax and trade tax advance payments, the VAT switches, plus reporting an electronic till under § 146a AO. Two modules with case studies worked on the statute itself.

Compute: legal-form comparison, share capital, commercial register fees, small-business threshold

  1. Step 4 of 10
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    German choice of legal form — sole trader or GmbH? Tax on the same profit

    A sole trader's profit bears trade tax after a EUR 24,500 allowance and income tax at the scale rates; the trade tax is credited against income tax up to four times the base amount. In a GmbH the profit bears trade tax, corporation tax and solidarity surcharge, and the dividend then bears flat-rate withholding tax. Without retaining profits, a GmbH that pays everything out is rarely cheaper.
  2. Step 5 of 10
    CalculatorFree result

    German GmbH and UG share capital: minimum payment in

    Two requirements apply SIDE BY SIDE: the quarter per share and half the minimum share capital. At EUR 25,000 the second decides (EUR 12,500), from EUR 50,000 the first — knowing only one gets it wrong half the time.
  3. Step 6 of 10
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    German commercial register fees — HRegGebV fee schedule

    The register court charges fixed amounts from the HRegGebV fee schedule, not a percentage of the company's value. Registering a new GmbH costs EUR 225, or EUR 360 with a contribution in kind. Every registration fee carries an extra third for making the data available for retrieval.
  4. Step 7 of 10
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    German small business VAT exemption — check the turnover limits

    The small business exemption applies only if BOTH limits are met: total turnover of at most EUR 25,000 in the previous year and at most EUR 100,000 in the current calendar year. In the year the business is started, only the EUR 25,000 limit applies.

Register: tax registration questionnaire, version for corporations, commercial register extract

  1. Step 8 of 10
    FormFree45 min

    German tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung)

    Due electronically within one month of starting the activity: who files it, why registering the trade with the municipality does not replace it, which tax office is competent and how the Steuernummer is issued — guide, deadlines and worked example.
  2. Step 9 of 10
    FormFree45 min

    German tax registration questionnaire for a corporation

    The one-month period runs from FORMATION, not from registration — § 137(1) AO names the two events separately. Who else has to be told besides the tax office, which events restart the period, and where the VAT filing period comes from. Guide and worked example.
  3. Step 10 of 10
    FormFree10 min

    Getting a German commercial register extract — current, chronological, historical

    Anyone may inspect the German commercial register for information purposes (§ 9 HGB). How to retrieve the right extract from the Registerportal, check a partner's representation and Prokura — and why a registered fact binds you (§ 15 HGB). Step-by-step guide and worked example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in German