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There was enough said about taxes. The procedures to open a startup in Germany are complex. This is the cheapest way: Go to the notary and create a "UG" after
by philippz 9y ago
There was enough said about taxes.
The procedures to open a startup in Germany are complex. This is the cheapest way:
Go to the notary and create a "UG" after "Musterprotokoll". Create a company bank account, transfer the minimum amount of 1€ (plus the costs for founding, so you better transfer ~500€). This the fastest way and costs you together with an entry the commercial register (150€) around 500€ (300€ for the notary, depending on how many founders). This is followed up by stuff like "Körperschafts Anmeldung @Finanzamt", "Gewerbeamtanmeldung" (25€) and "IHK Gebühren" (80€/yr) and "VBG Anmeldung" (costs vary by the amount of employed persons). Don't forget the contract for the CEO as employed person.
As already told by others: You need to have a native speaker on your side to deal with the bureaucracy. Is this a startup friendly environment? Does it sound like? Hell no.
On the other hand: You can live in Berlin really cheap if you want to. Infrastructure is great and you don't need a car. There are a lot of meetups and startup events to get around people like yourself. Programmers aren't payed that well. Fundraising is a matter of network and traction like, i'd say, everywhere else.
- perseiden 9y agoSpeaking of bureaucracy, one thing that shouldn't be left out is that as a non-EU citizen you will also have to deal with the Ausländerbehörde for your visa. There you will have to deal with bureaucrats that refuse to speak anything besides german and the rather complicated process of acquiring a visa or specifically an Arbeitserlaubnis that allows you to earn money. My wife had to go through it as an employee and I've helped colleagues with visiting scientist visas. I've heard from others that a freelancer visa comes with a whole array of different requirements that can be hard to meet, but maybe someone else knows more about it. While visas here in general are doable and probably a lot less complicated than a US Greencard / Visa, it is something you should check out beforehand.
- ibotty 9y agoFound a "UG (haftungsbeschränkt)". That way you don't need 20000 Euro in in hand.
- BjoernKW 9y agoI'm not saying it isn't bureaucratic. It is. However, I suppose you need a native-level proficiency speaker everywhere when founding a company.
- 8draco8 9y agoIt is. In UK or Poland you can open company online in a matter of minutes if you have all necessary documents. If not it should take you around week (maybe little bit longer in Poland because you have to wait for decision, which sometimes takes time)
- BjoernKW 9y agoFair enough. The process definitely is a major pain in the arse. However, founding a company shouldn't be something done lightly. After all, it'll be a major factor in your life for the next few years at least. On that timescale the complexity of founding the company doesn't matter all that much. Moreover, yes in the UK you can register an Ltd. entirely online. However, you still need to complete the required legal paperwork and register with Her Majesty's.
- chrisked 9y agoI would love to chat with you about your experience. This pain during the slow formation process in Germany is exactly what we are trying to solve. You can reach me via ck at firma.de.