GmbH Share cap­ital

The GmbH (lim­ited liab­il­ity com­pany) is one of the most pop­u­lar forms of com­pany in Ger­many. A cru­cial aspect of found­ing a GmbH is the GmbH share cap­ital. In this art­icle, you will learn everything you need to know about the share cap­ital of a GmbH, the legal require­ments, prac­tical tips and the options avail­able to you.

What is the GmbH share cap­ital?

The GmbH share cap­ital is the amount of money that the share­hold­ers must raise for the found­ing of the GmbH. It serves as the fin­an­cial basis of the com­pany and plays a cent­ral role in the legal frame­work of a GmbH.

Min­imum amount of share cap­ital

In Ger­many, the min­imum share cap­ital is 25,000 euros. At least 12,500 euros of this must be paid in before the GmbH is registered. This pro­vi­sion is part of the legal require­ments to ensure that the com­pany has suf­fi­cient funds for oper­a­tions.

Require­ments for the GmbH share cap­ital

1. depos­its

Con­tri­bu­tions can be made in the form of cash or con­tri­bu­tions in kind (e.g. prop­erty, machinery). In the case of con­tri­bu­tions in kind, it is import­ant that their value is real­ist­ic­ally assessed and noted in the art­icles of asso­ci­ation. An inde­pend­ent expert can help to determ­ine the value and thus avoid legal dif­fi­culties.

2. proof of share cap­ital

When regis­ter­ing the GmbH with the com­mer­cial register, you must prove that the share cap­ital has been prop­erly paid in. This is done by means of a pay­ment slip from a busi­ness account opened in the name of the GmbH.
Click here to register with the com­mer­cial register.

3. util­isa­tion of the share cap­ital

The share cap­ital must be used for busi­ness pur­poses. Private use by the share­hold­ers is not per­mit­ted. This is import­ant in order to main­tain the lim­it­a­tion of liab­il­ity.

Buy­ing or found­ing a GmbH?

A com­mon ques­tion among entre­pren­eurs is whether they should set up a GmbH or buy an exist­ing shelf GmbH. Both options have their advant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages:

Found a GmbH

• Bene­fits: You have com­plete con­trol over the com­pany struc­ture and can cus­tom­ise the art­icles of asso­ci­ation.
• Dis­ad­vant­ages: The incor­por­a­tion pro­cess can be time-con­sum­ing and you must ful­fil all legal require­ments.

Buy GmbH (Shelf GmbH)

• Bene­fits: The pro­cess is often faster and less com­plic­ated as the share cap­ital is already avail­able. You can start busi­ness oper­a­tions imme­di­ately.
• Dis­ad­vant­ages: You are tak­ing over an exist­ing com­pany that may have leg­acy issues. It is there­fore essen­tial to care­fully exam­ine the com­pany before pur­chas­ing it.

GmbH found­ing costs

The costs of found­ing a GmbH are made up of sev­eral factors that go bey­ond the share cap­ital:

• Not­ary fees: For the not­ar­isa­tion of the art­icles of asso­ci­ation.
• Court costs: For entry in the com­mer­cial register.
• Con­sultancy costs: Costs for tax con­sult­ants or law­yers may also be incurred.
• Other costs: Open­ing a busi­ness account and other admin­is­trat­ive expenses.

These total costs can vary, but are an import­ant aspect when plan­ning the found­ing of your GmbH.

Prac­tical tips for found­ing a GmbH

1. Plan early: Think about how much share cap­ital you want to con­trib­ute and in what form (cash or non-cash assets).
2. Pro­fes­sional sup­port: It can be help­ful to con­sult a tax advisor or start-up con­sult­ant to avoid legal pit­falls.
3. Obtain an expert opin­ion: When mak­ing con­tri­bu­tions in kind, you should have their value con­firmed by an expert.
4. Choose the right loc­a­tion: The loc­a­tion of your lim­ited com­pany can influ­ence the costs and access­ib­il­ity of your cus­tom­ers.
5. Take advant­age of our ser­vice: At Start­bereit, we sup­port you in all aspects of found­ing a GmbH, includ­ing provid­ing tem­plates and regis­ter­ing with the com­mer­cial register. So you can con­cen­trate fully on your busi­ness idea.

Con­clu­sion

The GmbH share cap­ital is a cent­ral com­pon­ent in the found­ing of a GmbH in Ger­many. It pro­tects the share­hold­ers and provides a solid fin­an­cial basis for the com­pany. Find out about the legal require­ments and plan your steps care­fully.

Für weit­ere Inform­a­tionen über die Gründung einer GmbH und die ents­prechenden Kos­ten bei start­bereit, besuche unsere Seiten zu den The­men Geschäft­skonto und GmbH gründen.

Ber­lin office
Bleib­treustrasse 38/39
10623 Ber­lin

info@start-bereit.com
+49 30 41734256