Leasing a car in Germany (and why you might want to)

Ford FocusMany companies in Germany who provide their employees with company cars do not actually buy the cars outright, instead they prefer to lease them and my company car is no exception.

By leasing the car, I pay a monthly fee to a leasing company, often a bank, who have purchased the vehicle from my usual dealer.  That fee allows me to drive the car up to an agreed number of kilometres each year.

And when the lease runs out, I just return the car to the dealer and can lease a new one.

Buy why not buy the car outright as a business and then sell it again later? [Read more…]

Blogging in Germany: Personal, Business or Journalist?

Hat with press card - ©Can Stock Photo Inc. / stocksnapperHave you ever considered at what point a blog stops being a personal one and starts being a business?  Or at which point the blogger becomes a writer, or even a journalist?

Quite apart from any internet marketing advice telling you to “treat your blog like a business”, in Germany the differences can have knock-on effects such as how much tax you pay.

Obviously, the first difference between a personal blog and a business site is the need for the Impressum, but a simple way of looking at it is that a personal blog does not make any money.  A business site does, regardless of whether the blog directly sells products, contains advertising or is simply connected to an existing business. [Read more…]

PAngV

PAngV is the abbreviation for Preisangabenverordnung. This is a law in Germany that came into effect in 1985.

It governs factors of consumer life, such as ensuring that the prices in supermarkets and restaurants include tax (MwSt), unlike in some other parts of Europe.  For web-based shops, this can mean stating whether or not a price includes tax, because the shop may not necessarily be targeted at consumers.  Business prices often to not include MwSt.

Another example of this law would be the finance rates at the bank or on a credit card, which have to be displayed in a particular way.

To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:

(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)

Download the MP3 file | Subscribe to the podcast

This podcast is intended to be a guide for foreign visitors to Germany, and does not constitute legally binding advice.

Please click on ACCEPT to give us permission to set cookies [more information]

This website uses cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible. Cookies are small text files that are stored by the web browser on your computer. Most of the cookies that we use are so-called “Session cookies”. These are automatically deleted after your visit. The cookies do not damage your computer system or contain viruses. Please read our privacy information page for more details or to revoke permission.

Close