Register your GmbH or UG with the Finanzamt
Norman guides you through the tax registration questionnaire for capital companies and files it digitally via ELSTER. Your tax number follows. Free.
The tax registration questionnaire for GmbH and UG
Norman knows the capital-company version: shareholders, managing directors, share capital, and opening balance sheet instead of freelancer fields.
The right version of the form
The questionnaire exists in several variants. Capital companies get different sections than sole traders: shareholder structure, management, share capital, and formation costs. Norman only shows the fields that apply to a GmbH or UG.
Tax number, VAT ID, and tax types
Your company cannot issue invoices before the tax number arrives. Norman applies for the VAT ID for EU trade at the same time and registers corporate tax, trade tax, and VAT correctly.
A profit estimate that does not punish you
Your estimate drives corporate and trade tax prepayments. Set it too high and you tie up cash, too low and you face back payments. Norman works from your real plan figures, including the managing director salary.
Filed digitally via ELSTER
Electronic submission has been mandatory since 2021. Norman validates every required field and transmits the registration straight to the Finanzamt via ELSTER. No certificate of your own, no paper, no postal delay.
Straight into ongoing bookkeeping
As soon as the tax number arrives, your setup continues in Norman: invoicing, bank reconciliation, opening balance sheet, VAT returns, and EC Sales Lists. The data from the questionnaire is already on file.
What Norman saves you
Registering a capital company for tax is standard work. It should be neither expensive nor slow.
Tax advisor fee for a form you can file yourself with guidance.
Extra waiting time when the questionnaire comes back incomplete and has to be filed again.
The result of a profit estimate set too low in your first financial year.
At Norman, the essentials are free.
Also, it is tax-deductible.
Free
Invoicing and bookkeeping.
/month (excl. VAT)
- Complete double-entry bookkeeping
- AI Autopilot
- Unlimited e-invoicing
- Bank sync (1 account)
- Receipt capture
- AI usage limits apply
Pro
Reports, insights, and advisor tools.
/month (excl. VAT)
- BWA & financial reports
- AI tax insights
- DATEV export
- Tax advisor access
- Invoicing Pro plan
- Higher AI limits
Max
Tax filings and team access included.
/month (excl. VAT)
- UStVA & ZM filing
- Annual filings (USt & GewSt)
- Multi-user access
- Bank sync (5 accounts)
- Invoicing Pro plan
- Unlimited Norman AI
Get the tax number for your company
Fill in the questionnaire, file it via ELSTER, receive your tax number. Invoicing, bookkeeping, and VAT returns then continue in Norman.
Start for freeFAQ
When does my GmbH or UG have to file the questionnaire?
Within one month of starting business activity, in practice after the notarial deed (§ 138 AO). You do not need to wait for the commercial register entry: the pre-formation company is already taxable, and without a tax number you cannot issue compliant invoices.
How does the capital-company version differ?
It asks for things sole traders never see: shareholder structure and holdings, managing directors and their remuneration, share capital and contributions in kind, formation costs, and the opening balance sheet. Profit is always determined by balance-sheet comparison rather than EÜR, and corporate income tax joins VAT and trade tax.
Does Norman transmit the questionnaire to the Finanzamt?
Yes. Norman validates every required field and files the registration digitally via ELSTER. You do not need your own ELSTER certificate. The Finanzamt usually takes two to six weeks to process it, after which you have your tax number.
What does it cost?
Nothing. The tax registration questionnaire is free in Norman, for sole proprietors as well as for a UG or GmbH. Invoicing and bookkeeping also stay usable on the free plan.
Can a capital company use the small-business VAT scheme?
In principle yes: § 19 UStG depends on revenue, not legal form. It rarely pays off for a UG or GmbH, because you lose input VAT deduction on formation costs, notary fees, and running expenses, and B2B customers reclaim VAT anyway. Norman models both options before you commit.
Do I need a tax advisor for this?
No. The questionnaire is not reserved work: you may file it yourself. Norman explains the consequential fields, above all the profit estimate, accrual versus cash VAT accounting, and the VAT ID. For complex cases such as holding structures, contributions in kind, or foreign shareholders, you can bring a Steuerberater into Norman as well.
How high should I estimate the profit?
Realistically, based on your plan figures and after deducting the managing director salary. The estimate sets your corporate and trade tax prepayments. Too high ties up cash you need in year one, too low means a back payment plus raised prepayments. You can adjust it informally with the Finanzamt at any time.