The process of registration of a sole traidor in Germany is quite simple. You need to fill out a one-page form at the Gewerbeamt and get a registration certificate – Gewerbe-Anmeldung.
The registration fee is about 10€
Within a month after registration, documents from various organizations will be sent to be filled out. The largest of them is from the tax service. In it, you need to enter your data, description of activity, contact information and account number.
You should also indicate the planned income for the first two years, which will affect the amount of taxes. Taxes in Germany are paid “in advance”, not after, as in Ukraine.
Tip: it is better to fill out this questionnaire together with a tax consultant or an experienced entrepreneur.
After that, health insurance and a pension fund. It also indicates the expected income, on which the amount of contributions will depend.
Industrie – und Handelskammer (IHK) will also contact you. They will also want to know what kind of income you plan to have. Because you will be paying them certain fees. But in the first 2 years, as well as with an annual profit of up to €5,200, they will not be charged.
Reporting to the tax office with an annual turnover of less than half a million euros and income up to €60,000 is very simple. Enter expenses, income and final balance.
How to choose the “right type” of a private entrepreneur in Germany?
Gewerbetreibende – entrepreneurs engaged in trade.
Selbstständig – self-employed who mainly work as freelancers (Freiberufler).
The decision on belonging to a certain category is made by the tax office (Finanzamt).
Your taxation depends on which group you belong to.
Self-employed (Selbstständig) are mostly highly qualified specialists, such as private doctors, lawyers, architects, psychologists, designers, IT specialists, etc.
Important: programmers can be freelancers only if they teach programming.
Bloggers are also mostly classified as merchants (Gewerbetreibende), because their income consists in placing advertisements.
To work as a freelancer (Freiberufler) you need a relevant professional education, documented.
It is often necessary to become a member of a professional chamber (Kammer) and go through the qualification confirmation procedure. More detailed information about confirmation can be obtained from the Federal Union of Liberal Professions and the Institute of Liberal Professions.
Gewerbe includes all other types of business and services that are not considered liberal professions.
Registration of such entrepreneurs takes place in the Gewerbeamt organization and in the tax inspectorate (Finanzamt). The availability of relevant and confirmed education is not mandatory.
Taxes of a private entrepreneur in Germany
The amount of taxes depends on the form of business. We are interested in the forms of a private entrepreneur.
Einzelunternehmen (Einzelkaufmann) – an individual conducting business in his own name.
Among the main taxes that a private entrepreneur must pay in Germany are the following:
Einkommensteuer – income tax;
Umsatzsteuer – value added tax (with limits of €22,000 in the first year and €50,000 you can not pay), not all services and goods are subject to this tax; .
Gewersteuer – for those who do not work as a freelancer (profit up to €24,500 per year is not subject to this tax, also there is usually an offset between Einkommensteuer and Gewersteuer, so in most cases the FOP usually does not pay this tax);
An individual entrepreneur with a small profit pays ordinary income tax. And he also gets the opportunity to legally deduct business expenses from the taxable base (that is, he can write off his expenses for equipment, materials, fuel, work trips, training courses).
For example, the average income after paying all taxes from a private hairdresser (where you are the owner and also work as a hairdresser) is 3-4 thousand euros per month.
Anna Seminishina