Contracting in Germany

With just a few clicks, you can calculate your take-home pay in Germany and choose the optimal solution to get the most out of your contract. Use the app below to calculate your possible net retention in Germany.

Employment

This is a standard form of employment – you officially work for a company who pays you a monthly salary.

Pros:

• Enrollment in the social security system, which includes health insurance, unemployment benefits, pension, paid time off and sick leave.
• Job security due to protection by German employment laws.
• Job stability – contracts are generally open-ended.
• Income tax is deducted from your salary, so you do not need to worry about calculating how much you have to pay.

Cons:

• Lower retention rate compared to other solutions due to social security payments.
• More and more companies are looking towards independent contractors rather than employees, so it could be more difficult to find such employment, especially as a foreigner.
• Less flexibility – you do not get to choose the projects that you can work on, you must work on the tasks assigned to you by your employer.
• Formal working hours – you may have to work “9-5”, as determined by your employment contract, rather than being able to determine your own working hours.

Self-Employment

This includes independent contracting, or freelancing – you provide services to a company based on a limited contract, while not being officially employed by them. This could be a contract for up to several years where you get paid monthly, or a limited one where you are contracted to do a specific project and then part ways.

Pros:

• Possibility of gaining a higher rate of pay.
• Freedom to choose projects that interest you.
• Freedom to choose your own working schedule.
• Laws are sympathetic towards this type of employment – you can deduct a lot of different expenses from any sales tax you have to pay.
• No need to pay any social security contributions, meaning a higher take-home pay

Cons:

• No social security benefits
• Must have independent health insurance.
• May be terminated without cause once an extendable contract runs out.
• You will need to sort out payments of income tax and social contributions yourself, or you could consider engaging a payroll company like Access Financial.
• Need to pay an additional sales tax if you earn over 22,000 a year.
• Must have a residence permit
• There can be a fine line between self-employment and regular employment. If, for example, you end up doing too much work exclusively for a specific company, you could be classified by an audit as falsely self-employed, which can result in very hefty fines and the possibility of some legal action against you/your client.

Work visa for qualified professionals

This is the most standard visa, which is basically a residence permit with the permission to work.

Requirements:

• Completion of a higher education institution comparable to those in Germany
• A valid job offer from a German company.

EU Blue Card

This is a visa for foreign academics seeking to work in Germany.

Requirements:

• Degree from a higher educational institution comparable to those in Germany, or a German one
• A valid job offer from a German company
• Gross annual income of at least €58,400

Visa for job seekers

This type of visa is for people who do not have a job offer, but want to move to Germany to facilitate in finding a job there that meets their qualifications.

Requirements:

• Proof of vocational or academic training
• A degree from a higher educational institution
• Proof that you have enough funds to cover the costs of living
• If you have vocational training, additionally some knowledge of the German language is required, at a level of at least B1.

 Visa for vocational training

This is a visa for people who wish to raise their qualifications by training at a school or company in order to gain and the possibility to find a proper job in Germany.

Requirements:

• Proof that you have been accepted to such a programme in Germany
• A minimal level of B1 in the German language
• Proof that you have enough finds to cover the cost of living

If you want to work in Germany, you will likely need to obtain a residence permit; this is a type of visa which includes a work permit.

EU, EAA, Switzerland

Citizens of the above countries do not need a visa to live or work in Germany. However, for stays longer than 90 days, you must register your stay at a local Residence Registration Office, or Immigration Office.

USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, South Korea

If you are a national of one of the above countries, you do not need a visa to enter Germany. You can search for a job, and then apply for the permit in the country directly at an Immigration Office.

Other non-EU Nationals

If you are a national in any other country, you need to secure a job offer before you can enter Germany. After you get the offer, you need to apply for an entry visa at your local German consulate or embassy, and only then you can enter the country and apply for the permit there.

An Employer of Record (EOR) in Germany is a company that has an AUG (Arbeitnemeruberlassung) License which is mandatory if they want to hire foreign contractors.

The EOR is generally responsible for payroll, taxes, contracts, work permits, social security contributions, and other aspects of employment that are related to compliance.

In a lot of cases, companies who do not have this license enter in a three-way agreement between themselves, an official EOR, and a contractor, which allows them to hire contractors without getting an AUG license and outsource their payroll and other employment aspects to the EOR.

A contract with an EOR can last up to 18 months; after that time, you can choose to become a legal full-time employee of the company you were doing the work for.

If you are a contractor working in Germany, make sure that the company you are selling your services to either has this license, or is in agreement with an EOR who will become your official employer.

Here are just some of the services we offer in Germany:

• Assistance in obtaining the necessary visas/work permits for employees from third countries.
• Registering employees with the tax and social security office.
• Providing consultations on German labour regulation & benefits.
• Setting up the Payroll system compliantly.
• Submitting wage tax returns and national insurance forms.
• Keeping our clients up-to-date and compliant with changes in German regulations.

We provide a full set of services in Germany, allowing corporate clients, recruitment agencies and professional contractors to operate in an optimal manner, while ensuring that all local compliance obligations are taken care of.

Access Financial offers the following services in Germany:

• Contract Management
• Outsourced Payroll
• Employer of Record (EOR)
• Work Permits & Immigration Assistance