Registration of company in Germany - FCHAIN

How to register company in Germany quickly and reliably

Company formation consists of several stages. Moreover, the company needs legal confirmation of its existence to start operating legally. If a natural person has decided to register company in Germany, then the question arises immediately – where to start? So, let’s look at the step-by-step procedure for the registration of GmbH, and also analyze what documents and where you need to submit them to create a business and how much time you will need for this.

The first step to set up a company

Registration of business in Berlin and other cities in Germany is carried out by qualified professionals who provide legal services. 

The first step on the way to setting up a business or other enterprise is the registration of companies and individual entrepreneurs in Germany. To do this, you must apply to the state registrar where the future legal entity is located. 

The registration of GmbH can be carried out within several administrative-territorial units based on documents submitted in paper form upon the decision of the Ministry of Justice.  

The process of limited company registration includes:

• verification of the documents submitted to fulfill the purpose;
• entering information about the new commercial legal entity in the Unified State Register;
• drawing up and issuing an extract from the list.

All forms submitted for the registration of GmbH must be completed in German. If the documents for the registration of company are sent by mail, the applicant’s signature must be notarized. If the registration documents are submitted through an authorized service provider, you must additionally provide a copy of the original (notarized copy) of a power of attorney proving his authority.  

The documents of the legal entity must meet the requirements established by law. Thus, the founding forms of a business company must contain information on the activities and objectives of the organization, the composition, and the founders.

 Submitting documents

Now let’s consider what documents to submit if you want to register company in Germany.

For the registration of company, it is necessary to submit:

• application for registration in the prescribed form;
• application for the election of the simplified taxation system and/or registration as VAT payer and/or inclusion in the Register of non-profit organizations and institutions (if any of these are in your plans);
• founding document of the legal entity (charter, founding agreement, etc., depending on the chosen organizational-legal form);
• document confirming the registration of the foreign legal entity acting as a founder in the respective country.

Naturally, those who have passed the registration of individual entrepreneurs must be registered with the state registration authority, the Pension Fund, and the statistics service to conduct entrepreneurial activities. However, there is nothing complicated about this because getting on such a register does not require any significant effort on the part of the entrepreneur.  

Registration with the tax inspectorate is automatic without the entrepreneur’s participation. After entering information about the inclusion of a natural person-entrepreneur in the Uniform State Register, in other words, on the day of registration of a company, the state registrar independently transfers information about the beginning of the entrepreneurial activity to the State Tax Service, Pension Fund and statistics bodies for registration.