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)

By filling out and submitting the form, you are accepting the standard terms and conditions, and assure that you are acting as a business!

Fill out the form now!

If you still have questions, please visit our FAQs on incorporation by clicking this sentence.

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