Founding a GmbH in Germany
If you are a foreign investor and you want to open a German company for bigger business, a full German limited liability company or with its German acronym “GmbH” will be your best choice. A “Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung” offers a simple structure typically designed for private companies.
Requirements
There are not many requirements for opening a GmbH:
- minimum share capital for a GmbH is € 25,000,
- minimum number of shareholders is one,
- minimum number of directors is one,
- physical address is required,
which can be realized with a virtual office, - legal description of the line of business,
- the notarization of the articles of association,
- the application of registering the company with the commercial registry via the notary,
- shareholder (or his special representative, based on a notarized power of attorney) has to sign a deed on the incorporation, and the appointment of one or several director(s) before a German notary, (in the event of their absence, you need a remote founding),
- then the new director(s) has/have to open a bank account
- afterwards the company has to fund this bank account with at least € 12,500 (= half of the company stock capital),
- upon proof of capitalizing your company, the notary will apply to register your company with the commercial registry.
After the incorporation, the company has to be registered with
- Register Company in Transparency Registry
- tax office (incl. VAT ID),
and - as a rule the trade office.
as a minimum. Depending on your company's line of business, you might need a permit. In seldom cases, you need the permission first before you may have the company registered.
Basic Offer
Our standardized offer for setting up your company instantly:
- testing legitimacy of your selected company name,
- fine-tuning and testing legitimacy of the line of business for the articles of association,
- drafting the bilingual company formation documents, which you will be requested to approve prior to the notary,
- organizing the notary appointment in your vicinity, exception: remote founding,
- introducing you to relevant banks.
- Registration with Transparency Registry.
Are you in a hurry?
If you are in a hurry, you should consider to buy a ready-made company. What is the difference? With the founding process it takes about 2.5 months until you receive your VAT-ID. With a ready-made company you can start with German and non-European sales or services right after visiting the notary! We can arrange a notary appointment within approx. one week.
Fees (ex VAT)
| Individual GmbH |
Standard GmbH |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Fee Instant Company Formation – as above | 950 € | 750 € | |
| Surcharge for Optional Services | |||
| Considering more than three Persons – per Person | 20 € | ||
| Corporate Founder from EU – per company | 50 € | ||
| Corporate Founder from certain Commonwealth countries – per company | 150 € | ||
| Corporate Founder – rest of the world – per company | 250 € | ||
| Trade Registration – standard service | 150 € | ||
| Trade Registration – budget service | 50 € | ||
| Trade Registration – urgent service | 300 € | ||
| Registration with Tax Office | 700 € | ||
| Payroll Set-up | 300 € | ||
| Applying for a VAT-ID | 50 € | ||
| Remote Founding | 1180 € | 670 € | |
| Interpreting @ Notary | 300 € | ||
| Installing Alexander as your company's proxy director | 50 € | ||
| Registration at IHK | 30 € | ||
| Applying for EORI Number – normal processing | 40 € | ||
| Applying for EORI Number – urgent application | 60 € | ||
By filling out and submitting the form, you are accepting the standard terms and conditions, and assure that you are acting as a business!
If you still have questions, please visit our FAQs on incorporation by clicking this sentence.
Click here to start founding your company !
