Company Registration Fees in Germany (2027)

Registering a GmbH or UG in Germany in 2026 involves three official fees: the notary, the commercial register (Handelsregister) and the trade office (Gewerbeamt). For a simple UG, these start at roughly 530 EUR in total; for a GmbH with its own articles of association, expect from roughly 1,200 EUR, rising with the share capital. Below, we break down each fee, show what the trade registration costs in Germany’s largest cities, and list the extra costs that apply when you set up your company from abroad.

Every figure below applies to 2027. Notary and court fees are set by federal law, the Court and Notary Fees Act (Gerichts- und Notarkostengesetz, GNotKG), so they are the same at every notary in Germany for the same deed. What varies is the deed itself: the legal form, the share capital and whether you use the standard model protocol or your own articles.

The three official fees at a glance

Notary fees are quoted plus 19% VAT and small expenses (copies, register retrieval). The share capital is not a fee: it stays in the company’s bank account and can be used for business expenses once the company is registered.

Notary fees for a UG or GmbH

Every German GmbH and UG must be founded by notarial deed (§ 2 GmbHG, the Limited Liability Companies Act). The notary’s fee covers the deed itself, the list of shareholders (Gesellschafterliste), the application to the commercial register and the electronic filing. Under the GNotKG, the fee is calculated on the “business value” of the deed, which for a formation is essentially the share capital, with a statutory minimum for custom articles.

This produces two practical consequences:

• A UG with a low share capital is the cheapest company to found, because the business value is low.

• Custom articles of association cost more than the model protocol, because they are charged on a higher minimum value and involve more drafting.

What is the model protocol (Musterprotokoll) in Germany?

The model protocol is a statutory template for simple formations. It contains only the essentials: company name, registered seat, business purpose, share capital, shareholders and the managing director. It is the cheapest route, and it has firm limits:

• at most three shareholders

• exactly one managing director

• no individual clauses, such as pre-emption rights, deadlock rules, or rules for what happens when a shareholder leaves

Honest downside: the model protocol exempts only the first managing director from the prohibition on self-dealing (§ 181 BGB, the German Civil Code). If you later replace the managing director, the new one does not inherit that exemption, and changing it means amending the articles at the notary. For a single founder this rarely matters. For two or three founders, we usually recommend custom articles from the start, because the drafting cost is lower than the cost of a shareholder dispute without rules.

Online formation and notarisation abroad

Since 1 August 2022, a GmbH or UG can be founded by video through the Federal Chamber of Notaries’ platform (online.notar.de). The statutory fees are the same. In practice, the online route requires an identity document with a German-compatible electronic ID function, which most founders from the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, China, India and Hong Kong do not have. They sign a power of attorney in their home country instead (see the foreign-founder costs below).

Commercial register fee (Handelsregistereintragung)

After the notary files the application, the local court (Amtsgericht) enters the company in the commercial register and charges a fee under the Commercial Register Fees Ordinance. The commercial registration fee for a GmbH or a UG costs 300 EUR in 2027.  The court sends its invoice to the company after the entry. Register extracts are free to download from handelsregister.de.

Gewerbeanmeldung: what trade registration costs in Germany in 2026

Every GmbH and UG that carries on a trade or service activity must register with the local trade office (Gewerbeamt) of the municipality where it has its seat, no later than the day it starts business (§ 14 of the Trade Regulation Act, GewO). There is no national fee: each municipality sets its own.

Across Germany, expect between 15 EUR and 60 EUR. Additional fees apply if your activity needs a licence, or if the trade office asks for a certificate of good conduct (Führungszeugnis) or an extract from the central trade register.

Good to know: the trade office automatically forwards your registration to the tax office (Finanzamt), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK) and the employers’ liability insurance association. The tax office then expects the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) within one month. However, you do not need to wait for a request from the tax office; you can apply for your tax number immediately after your entry in the commercial register. Your tax adviser can take care of this for you, or the service fee charged by GmbH-UG.com always includes the cost of the application.

Extra costs when you set up your company from abroad

These costs are not official German fees, but they are where most budgets for foreign founders go wrong.

If the shareholder is a foreign company, the notary also needs proof that the company exists and that the person signing may represent it. In the UK, for example, this is issued by a notary public, because a Companies House extract alone does not prove who may sign.