🇩🇪 Germany

Standard vehicle for a German design subsidiary. Notarized articles of association, share capital of €25,000 (min. €12,500 paid in at registration), registration in the commercial register (Handelsregister). Gives full liability separation from the parent and is required for most grant programs, which contract with a separate legal entity.

Requires

Notarized formation deed; managing director (no residency requirement, but practical availability needed); German business address; bank account for capital deposit.

Cost

€25,000 share capital (€12,500 paid in) + ~€1,500–3,000 notary/registration fees

A lighter alternative to a GmbH: the existing foreign company registers a branch with the Handelsregister and the Finanzamt, without forming a new legal entity. A German branch is a taxable permanent establishment (Betriebsstätte), which is sufficient to claim most rule-based fiscal instruments — including the Forschungszulage — since those attach to German tax liability, not to a specific legal form. You give up liability separation: the foreign parent is directly liable. Most grant programs still require a separate legal entity.

Requires

Excerpt from the foreign company's home register (apostilled/legalized as needed); German business address; registered branch manager (Zweigniederlassungsleiter).

Cost

~€200–500 notary/registration fees; no minimum capital

Fastest way to have engineers on the ground: a third-party EOR provider formally employs your German staff and handles payroll, social security, and wage tax, while you keep operational control. No German entity is formed at all. Trade-off: you are not the taxpayer performing the R&D, so this route generally disqualifies you from the Forschungszulage and most instruments that require the applicant to be the domestic entity claiming its own costs. Best treated as a bridge, not a long-term structure, if fiscal instruments matter to you.

Requires

Service agreement with an EOR/PEO provider; no German registration of your own company needed.

Cost

Market rate, provider-dependent — commonly quoted as a per-employee monthly service fee

Primary route for non-EU design engineers. Reduced salary threshold applies for shortage occupations, which include electrical engineering and IT professions.

Requires

Recognized degree; employment contract meeting the salary threshold (annually adjusted; reduced threshold for shortage occupations); employer cooperation for the accelerated procedure.

Cost

€100–411 in fees depending on procedure

Before claiming the research allowance, each R&D project must be certified as qualifying R&D by the Bescheinigungsstelle Forschungszulage (BSFZ). The certificate binds the tax office on the R&D qualification.

Requires

Project description demonstrating novelty, uncertainty, and systematic approach (Frascati criteria); can be applied for before, during, or after the project.

Cost

Free of charge

Register the new entity with the local trade office (Gewerbeanmeldung) and complete the tax office questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) to obtain tax numbers and VAT ID.

Requires

Commercial register excerpt; business address; managing director details.

Cost

€20–60 trade registration fee