Located in the Central and Western Europe, lying between the Baltic and the Northern seas to the north, and the Alps and Lake Constance to the south, Germany, or Federal Republic of Germany, has a social market economy with high skilled labour force, a large capital stock, a low level of corruption and a high level of innovation.
Germany is a part of European Union (EU), United Nations (UN) G4, G8, the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
All of this, together with the fact that Germany has the largest national economy in Europe which is also the world’s fourth largest by nominal GDP and the fifth by PPP, represent the reason to consider Germany as the next country where your business should grow. That is why we added Germany to the list of country where we can assist you with company formation and corporate services.
Types of company in Germany
The most widespread forms of company in Germany are:
Company with limited liability (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung or GmbH) – One person can set up a GmbH and be a shareholder, where the minimum share capital is 25.000,00 EUR.
Joint-stock company; public limited company; corporation (Aktiengesellschaft or AG) – To set up AG there must be at least one person who may be a shareholder of the company, too. Minimum share capital in 50.000,00 EUR, and share may be, but not need to be, listed on the stock exchange.
General partnership (Offene Handelsgesellschaft or OHG) – Contrary to GmbH and AG, the partners in OHG have unlimited liability. All partners are legally obliged to actively participate in operating the business, unless it is otherwise stipulated by the articles of partnership (Gesellschaftsvertrag).
Limited partnership (Kommanditgesellschaft or KG) – A KG includes two kinds of partners:
- the general partner (Komplementär), who has an unlimited liability extending to his or her personal assets, and
- the limited partner (Kommanditist) whose liability extends only to his or her nominal holdings in the company.
Beside these most widespread forms of company, Limited partnership with a limited liability company as general partner or GmbH & Co. KG are also well known.
Corporate Services in Germany
Beside company formation services, there are also other corporate services that our team can provide you with in Germany, such as:
- Opening a bank account;
- VAT Communication & Assessment
- In-house EU-VAT Solutions
- EU-VAT Compliance Services
If you want to know more about out company formation and corporate services in Germany or in some other country from or Asst World program feel free to contact our team today.
