How to Set Up a Company in Germany for English-Speaking People
If you are bootstrapping, or just founding a small side business, it doesn&#x27;t have to be so complicated. There is a special provision for small businesses [1]. As long as you expect to stay under 50000 € in sales in a given year, you can be treated as a private person - meaning you don&#x27;t have to pay VAT to the government for sold goods, but you do have to pay it to vendors like regular customers. Once you&#x27;ve grown enough, you can register as a company. Note also that parts of the complications and expenses arise when you want to be a limited liability company - if you are just making websites on the side, this is probably not neccessary.<p>Germany has a strong culture of entrepreneurship - being not employed but &quot;selbstständig&quot; (occupationally independent) is held in high regards. In my experience, while burocracy can be complicated, officials are very willing to help (I haven&#x27;t made the jump myself, but I know from others). And one thing that is nicer in Germany &#x2F; Europe is that it seems less litigious than the US. I would be constantly afraid to get sued or to break some unknown law in another US state, whereas here if you get a good accountant and avoid a few common pitfalls, you are pretty safe.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;de.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kleinunternehmerregelung_(Deutschland)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;de.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kleinunternehmerregelung_(Deut...</a>