You are reading a single comment by @two-five and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
@two-five
Depends on the address you'll be using on your invoices.
If your primary address is still in the UK, and you write your invocies with that address, there is no need for a registration in Germany. At least not for the first time.
If you give up your UK address and your primary address is in Germany, you'll have to get a German tax number. Additionally, you'll probably have to register your business at the "Gewerbeamt". "Probably" means that German law differenciates between "gewerblich" and "freiberuflich". In most professions, you act "gewerblich", which means you need to register your business. However, for some professions, especially software development, lawyers etc., there is a special status of "freiberuflicher Tätigkeit". Somebody working "freiberuflich" has the advantage that one type of tax ("Gerwerbesteuer") won't have to be paid.
To determine whether you need to register your profession as "gewerblich" depends on your exact kind of business. Doing "only" software development is "freiberuflich", but working as a web designer, assembling and selling computers etc. is "gewerblich"...
"Gewerbeanmeldung" (registration of a self-employed business) costs a one-time fee of 26 Euro.
You bring your car here to Germany?
Simple advice: look for a cheap one. For a stationary, line based phone, there are combined offers for telephony and DSL in the price range of 25-30 Euro per month. Including a flat rate for telephony to other stationary phones, but not to the mobile numbers. For a mobile telephone, you may chose between the "prepaid" and the "contract" model. A mobile phone user with an average activity and a "good" tariffing model normally pays 20-25 Euro per month for mobile telephony. Just check the offers and calculate.
You'll have to register at the "Einwohnermeldeamt" within one week. Ask your homelord here where you have to go to, they'll know. No costs.
Also, if you're leaving, you'll have to "unregister". Again no costs.
Well, try to get in contact with other people who also moved to Germany. They'll probably know better what to consider than a native German. For me, all that bureocratic stuff is just "normal". However, if you have questions, just send mail.