Ask a tax advisor on the topic of Other questions to tax advisors

Asset management GmbH Business object

December 22, 2020 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Steuerberater Knut Christiansen

Good day,
I am planning to establish a new company (GmbH) at the beginning of next year. Currently, I am still unsure about the correct business purpose. Below, I describe the purpose of the company and hope you can answer the open questions based on this information.

• Establishment of an asset-managing GmbH
• My existing UG will be transferred to the GmbH (GmbH will become a shareholder of the UG). The goal is for the UG to transfer its profits to the GmbH at a low tax rate (approximately 1.5%).
• The asset-managing GmbH will not be actively operating (does not issue invoices).
• The asset-managing GmbH will purchase stocks for long-term investment (with approximately 1.5% tax upon sale) and speculate in the short term with derivatives.

Planned business purpose: management of own assets, holding of investments, acquisition and sale of securities and derivatives.

I have the following questions regarding this topic:
1: Is this business purpose sufficient for the above-mentioned scenario?
2: Are there any pitfalls arising from the business purpose that should be taken into consideration?
3: Should the business purpose be expanded based on your experience?
4: Can the desired low taxation on the transfer of company profits and the sale of long-term-held stock investments be achieved?

Thank you for your support.

Kind regards,

Steuerberater Knut Christiansen

Hello and thank you for using ask-a-tax-expert.com!

I am happy to answer your question as part of an initial consultation.

Regarding 1) The company's purpose is described sufficiently in my opinion. No additional information needs to be provided here. If other "activities" are added later, they can always be supplemented.

Regarding 2) I cannot see any pitfalls here.

Regarding 3) see 1).

Regarding 4) If the vvGmbH holds a stake in the UG, the UG's distributions can be received by the GmbH tax-free to 95%. Since only 5% of the distribution is taxed, a significant tax advantage can be achieved here.

Also, capital gains from shares, ETFs are tax-free according to § 8b para. 2 KStG (except for 5% non-deductible operating expenses).

However, ongoing income (dividends) would only be tax-free if the stake is at least 10% (trade tax 15%). This is usually not the case.

I hope I have answered your questions, if not, please feel free to reach out again.

Please note that this forum cannot replace personal advice, but only serves as an initial tax assessment. Missing or incomplete information can alter the legal outcome.

Best regards,

Knut Christiansen
Tax Advisor