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Economic Development Dortmund
Legal forms of enterprises
There are two ways for an existing enterprise to be active at a new
location in Germany:
- by the foundation of an independent subsidiary
(“Tochterunternehmen”) with a legal form of its own
- by the foundation of a branch office (“Niederlassung”)
which can be
- independent or
- dependent (a so-called plant location – “Betriebsstätte”).
It depends on many factors whether you setup an entirely new business
or a branch office: taxes, business organisation, business objectives,
etc. The following list of questions gives you an impression of the crucial
factors. Additionally, the most important criteria considering the choice
of the appropriate legal form are subsumed in a schedule.
The following information on the formalities with regard to the foundation
of each legal form can give you a first hint of the suitable legal form
of your business. But in any case you should check this central decision
together with your tax and management consultants.
Subsidiary / new foundation
As far as the foundation of an independent subsidiary (or an entirely
new enterprise) is concerned, you will have to choose between the following
possible legal forms:
Beside these legal forms, there are hybrids which we will not discuss
here.
Branch offices
In case of the foundation of a branch office you will have to decide
if it shall be independent from the parent company or dependent on it.
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One-man
business 
Introduction