Germany
How to register a company in Germany: tax, fees and annual filings, from official sources.
- Company type
- Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH); low-capital variant: Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt), UG
- Headline corporate tax
- 15%
- Registration fee
- Commercial register (Handelsregister) fee for the first registration of a GmbH or UG: €225, or €360 if at least one contribution is in kind (HRegGebV items 2100/2101, raised from €150 on 1 June 2025). Notary fees are charged separately.
- Region
- European Union
A German GmbH needs €25,000 of share capital (at least €12,500 paid in before filing), notarised articles that can be signed by video, and a registered seat in Germany. Corporate tax is 15% plus solidarity surcharge and municipal trade tax.
The figures below come from the registry, tax authority and statutes linked under Sources, as they stood on 30 September 2026. Fees and thresholds change, so check the linked official page before you file. This is general information, not tax or legal advice for your situation.
Questions
How much does it cost to register a company in Germany?
Commercial register (Handelsregister) fee for the first registration of a GmbH or UG: €225, or €360 if at least one contribution is in kind (HRegGebV items 2100/2101, raised from €150 on 1 June 2025). Notary fees are charged separately.
What is the corporate tax rate in Germany?
Corporate income tax (Körperschaftsteuer) is 15% for assessment periods up to 2027, plus 5.5% solidarity surcharge on the tax; trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) is added at 3.5% of trade income times the municipal multiplier. Enacted reduction: 14% (2028), 13% (2029), 12% (2030), 11% (2031), 10% from 2032.
Can a non-resident set up a company in Germany?
The articles must be notarised, but notarisation (including the formation itself) may be done by video communication under §§ 16a–16e of the Notarisation Act, signing with qualified electronic signatures.
Annual deadlines for this and other jurisdictions are in the company filing deadlines calendar. Compare VAT registration limits across Europe in the VAT registration thresholds table.
- Corporate tax
- Corporate income tax (Körperschaftsteuer) is 15% for assessment periods up to 2027, plus 5.5% solidarity surcharge on the tax; trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) is added at 3.5% of trade income times the municipal multiplier. Enacted reduction: 14% (2028), 13% (2029), 12% (2030), 11% (2031), 10% from 2032.
- Minimum capital
- GmbH: minimum share capital €25,000; before filing, at least a quarter of each cash share and in total at least €12,500 must be paid in. UG (haftungsbeschränkt): capital below €25,000, paid in full in cash before filing, with 25% of annual net profit going into a legal reserve.
- Forming it from abroad
- The articles must be notarised, but notarisation (including the formation itself) may be done by video communication under §§ 16a–16e of the Notarisation Act, signing with qualified electronic signatures.
- Local requirements
- Registered seat (Sitz) must be a place in Germany; the registration application must state a domestic business address (inländische Geschäftsanschrift). Notarial form is mandatory.
- VAT, GST or sales tax
- Small-business (Kleinunternehmer) VAT exemption if total turnover did not exceed €25,000 in the previous calendar year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year (optional waiver, binding 5 years). Standard VAT rate 19% (reduced 7%).
- Annual filings
- Annual financial statements (and, where required, management report and audit opinion) must be transmitted to the Unternehmensregister no later than one year after the balance-sheet date. Tax returns (corporate income tax, trade tax, annual VAT) are due seven months after the calendar year end; if prepared by a tax adviser, by the last day of February of the second following year.
- Audit
- Statutory audit required for corporations that are not 'small': small = not exceeding at least two of €7,500,000 balance-sheet total, €15,000,000 turnover, 50 employees on average (on two consecutive balance-sheet dates).
- Beneficial owners
- Beneficial owners are recorded in the Transparenzregister; since the CJEU ruling of 22 November 2022, members of the public get only restricted access and must show a legitimate interest.
- Also know
- UG (haftungsbeschränkt) is an official variant of the GmbH under § 5a GmbHG: capital below €25,000, paid fully in cash before filing, with a mandatory reserve of a quarter of annual net profit until capital reaches €25,000. Trade tax depends on the municipality's multiplier (Hebesatz); the GewStG text in force states a 280% rate where a municipality has set no higher rate. The CIT cut to 10% by 2032 was enacted in § 23 KStG (Investitionssofortprogramm, 2025). Notarisation is mandatory; a simplified founding with a model protocol (Musterprotokoll) is available for up to three shareholders and one managing director.
- Company registry
- Handelsregister (commercial register, kept by local courts); Unternehmensregister for publication
- Registry website
- handelsregister.de
- Tax authority page
- gesetze-im-internet.de
- Last reviewed
- Sources
Source Link § 23 KStG (Steuersatz) https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/kstg_1977/__23.html § 4 SolzG 1995 https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/solzg_1995/__4.html § 11 GewStG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gewstg/__11.html § 16 GewStG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gewstg/__16.html BMF Monatsbericht August 2025: Investitionssofortprogramm https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Monatsberichte/Ausgabe/2025/08/Inhalte/Kapitel-2-Fokus/investitionssofortprogramm-deutschland.html HRegGebV Anlage (Gebührenverzeichnis) https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hreggebv/anlage.html § 2 GmbHG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gmbhg/__2.html § 4a GmbHG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gmbhg/__4a.html § 5 GmbHG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gmbhg/__5.html § 5a GmbHG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gmbhg/__5a.html § 7 GmbHG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gmbhg/__7.html § 8 GmbHG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gmbhg/__8.html § 12 UStG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ustg_1980/__12.html § 19 UStG https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ustg_1980/__19.html § 267 HGB https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hgb/__267.html § 316 HGB https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hgb/__316.html § 325 HGB https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hgb/__325.html § 149 AO https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ao_1977/__149.html Transparenzregister Hilfe https://www.transparenzregister.de/treg/de/hilfe