3 ms·

Don’t start a company in Germany if you don’t have to. Expensive and bureaucratic tax system (accountants and time wise), regular accountancy checks which you h

Don’t start a company in Germany if you don’t have to. Expensive and bureaucratic tax system (accountants and time wise), regular accountancy checks which you have to pay your accountant for, very hard to close down and insolvency is very complicated.

bflesch 9y ago
Yeah it is very bureaucratic indeed. If you want to raise money or add shareholders you need to make official appointments w/ lawyers and pay significant fees.
mannigfaltig 9y ago
[deleted]
- exhilaration 9y ago
  Because it protects entrenched players?
- claudius 9y ago
  It doesn’t really stifle innovation in any way?
eastendguy 9y ago
Is this hearsay or your experience? "regular accountancy checks"... I even forgot when our last one was...maybe 5 years ago. And this seems is typical.
matt4077 9y ago
Meh... It's not quite as easy as one might wish, but I haven't seen any business where it had any significance. If you're small, it's about $300 to start and maybe around $500 for an accountant. It get's more complicated once you have employees, but even that's not relevant compared to almost any other aspect of a business. I think we're paying EUR30 per quarter for managing the employees taxes and various benefits. If you're doing GAAP accounting, you're 95% done with taxes as well. And since these standards have converged over the years, the only difference in bureaucracy that remains is people's enduring stereotypes.
groby_b 9y ago
It's not any more bureaucratic than the US. With the significant difference that German bureaucrats usually stick to the law, while the US ones occasionally feel like making shit up. (Especially my friends at CBP.)
- sneak 9y ago
  This isn’t true. Starting and ending limited liability companies is an order of magnitude faster, cheaper, and easier in the US.
  - pgeorgi 9y ago
    I'm not sure how often you intend to spin up LLCs and turn them down again? Every quarter? Your partners must be thrilled to work with you, standing before closed doors all the time without notice.
    - sneak 9y ago
      I said nothing of frequency, just that the two operations involved in most startups, starting and ending, are way easier in the US. My business has been around for 10 years this year, so who knows wtf you’re on about.
      - pgeorgi 9y ago
        What does it matter if the paperwork takes 3 weeks (which doesn't mean "you have 3 weeks of work to do": it's a 1h meeting with a notary, mailing two form and one bank transfer) if the business runs for 10 years? Which means that unless you're in the business of flipping LLCs, "way easier" seems like a made-up concern to me.

bflesch 9y ago

Yeah it is very bureaucratic indeed. If you want to raise money or add shareholders you need to make official appointments w/ lawyers and pay significant fees.

mannigfaltig 9y ago

[deleted]

exhilaration 9y ago
Because it protects entrenched players?
claudius 9y ago
It doesn’t really stifle innovation in any way?

eastendguy 9y ago

Is this hearsay or your experience? "regular accountancy checks"... I even forgot when our last one was...maybe 5 years ago. And this seems is typical.

matt4077 9y ago

Meh... It's not quite as easy as one might wish, but I haven't seen any business where it had any significance. If you're small, it's about $300 to start and maybe around $500 for an accountant. It get's more complicated once you have employees, but even that's not relevant compared to almost any other aspect of a business. I think we're paying EUR30 per quarter for managing the employees taxes and various benefits. If you're doing GAAP accounting, you're 95% done with taxes as well. And since these standards have converged over the years, the only difference in bureaucracy that remains is people's enduring stereotypes.

groby_b 9y ago

It's not any more bureaucratic than the US. With the significant difference that German bureaucrats usually stick to the law, while the US ones occasionally feel like making shit up. (Especially my friends at CBP.)

sneak 9y ago
This isn’t true. Starting and ending limited liability companies is an order of magnitude faster, cheaper, and easier in the US.
- pgeorgi 9y ago
  I'm not sure how often you intend to spin up LLCs and turn them down again? Every quarter? Your partners must be thrilled to work with you, standing before closed doors all the time without notice.
  - sneak 9y ago
    I said nothing of frequency, just that the two operations involved in most startups, starting and ending, are way easier in the US. My business has been around for 10 years this year, so who knows wtf you’re on about.
    - pgeorgi 9y ago
      What does it matter if the paperwork takes 3 weeks (which doesn't mean "you have 3 weeks of work to do": it's a 1h meeting with a notary, mailing two form and one bank transfer) if the business runs for 10 years? Which means that unless you're in the business of flipping LLCs, "way easier" seems like a made-up concern to me.