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Anyone who forms or acquires a company in Germany must ensure that they comply with legal regulations pertaining to anti-money laundering and transparency and is legally obliged under section 20 of the Money Laundering Act (GwG) to register the beneficial owners with the Transparency Register, as well as keep their details up-to-date.

Our shelf companies are duly registered with the Transparency Register when they are founded. The Money Laundering Act requires that new beneficial owners be registered with the Transparency Register once the appointment has been notarised and shares transferred. We take care of this notification for you as part of our services package.

The extract from the Transparency Register provides information about the beneficial owners of a company. This is particularly important to ensure compliance with the anti-money laundering regulations, the conduct of business relationships and the fulfilment of legal obligations.

You will need an extract from the Transparency Register to present to the bank responsible for managing your business account (when opening a new account or when taking over an existing account) as well as when dealing with other authorities. To obtain this extract, which is subject to a fee, you need to register with the relevant authority, prove your identity and submit a corresponding application for inspection. We will take care of all the necessary steps and will send you your extract from the transparency register by e-mail after successful notification and processing of your data.

To integrate your limited liability company into the general economy in Germany, to sell goods and services, to issue proper invoices and to generate turnover, the company must be registered for tax purposes with the competent tax authorities and have been provided with a tax ID number or a VAT identification number. These numbers must be included on invoices.

The relevant tax office will often refuse to register shelf companies for tax purposes so as to maintain their status as an economic start-up when shares are acquired and to avoid the time-consuming process of re-registering the company with the receiving tax office in the event that the beneficial owners change at the same time as the registered office is relocated. Furthermore, there are further tax obligations and advance VAT returns that are associated with being issued a tax ID number and VAT number, not to mention the possibility of tax returns that need to be submitted regardless of whether any economic activity has taken place.

The tax office regularly disagrees with this procedure, could see it as an attempt at abuse and carry out an audit on you immediately at the beginning, even though there were no sales.

That said, we want to work with you from the beginning to the end of the sale process so that we may undertake the extensive and complex preparatory work and be able to submit a complete application for tax registration and the issuance of a tax ID number to the authorities as soon as the relevant documents have been notarised.

A business is any commercial or self-employed activity for which the intention is to earn money and which is carried out over a longer period of time in one’s name and at one’s own expense, regardless of whether a profit is made. If you are planning to start an operational business with your company and want to do so in the short term, you must register a business in Germany. The business must be registered concurrently with the start of operations.

We provide you with all the necessary forms and explanations to make sure that this administrative task is handled smoothly.

Not found the right partner yet? We would be happy to support you. We have an wide network of notaries throughout Germany and we are at your disposal for support. Our experienced consultants would be happy to help you identify the suitable notary for your requirements. Feel free to discuss your notarial needs with our team of consultants, and we will find the right partner for you.