Hire employees and manage payroll in Germany

To enable running a local payroll in Germany companies must register the new business with the local municipality’s authorities. These include:

• Local Trade Office (Gewerbeamt)

• Trade Register (Handelsregister)

• Local Tax Office (Finanzamt)

• Relevant Professional Chamber

• Employer's Liability Insurance Association (Berufsgenossenschaft)

Although registration with the Trade Office automatically leads to the Tax Office, Trade Register and Employer’s Liability Insurance Association being informed, it is generally recommended to follow up on this as a company too, to ensure registrations are complete.

A local tax number (Steuernummer) is issued to the company once registered with the Tax Office. Similarly, a registration in the relevant Employer’s Liability Insurance Association leads to the company acquiring a membership number (Unfallversicherungsnummer) once its first employee is hired. It is also obligatory to register for an operation number (Betriebsnummer) at the job agency (Agentur für Arbeit).

These three (Steuernummer, Unfallversicherungsnummer and Betriebsnummer) are all required for correct communication and payments with respect to the company’s social security obligations.