Kanzlei-Blog

15.3.19

New Case Law on Unclaimed Annual Leave

In Germany every employee is entitled to at least 24 working days of paid vacation per calendar year. This vacation entitlement is exercised by the employee expressing his or her wish for vacation to the employer and requesting that it be granted.

9.4.19

How Do I Form a Start up Company

The successful formation of a company takes place in various steps. Depending on the sector in which you wish to start your business, these steps range from obtaining any necessary permits and opening a business bank account to organising bookkeeping.

26.4.19

Standard Insolvency Proceedings What You Must Consider

Standard insolvency proceedings enable entrepreneurs and self employed persons to be discharged from their debts. In addition to the secure discharge of residual debt, further objectives of standard insolvency proceedings are the continuation of the business and, in particular, effective protection against attachment so that creditors can no longer enforce against the debtor.

6.5.19

The Health Bonus is it Permissible at All

The so called health bonus is being discussed in the media in the field of labour law. Opinions differ in particular as to the actual purpose of the health bonus.

12.6.19

Time Recording Required Immediately for All Employees The ECJ Has Ruled

In its new judgment on time recording, the Court of Justice of the European Union has shaken up the world of work and there is now particular discussion in Germany about the practical consequences of implementing this judgment.

2.10.19

Thomas Cook is insolvent what now

It has been widely reported in the media that the British traditional company Thomas Cook has filed for insolvency. As a result, several thousand travellers are stranded worldwide. Everyone is asking who will bear the cost of the trip and thousands of employees fear for their jobs.

30.12.19

The Federal Labour Court Annual Review 2019

The eight most important decisions of 2019

29.1.20

New in 2020 Minimum Wage and Minimum Remuneration for Trainees

There are also legislative changes in the field of labour law in 2020. The most important changes for employees and trainees are the increase in the minimum wage and the introduction of minimum remuneration for trainees.

27.3.20

Insolvency in the Coronavirus Crisis The COVInsAG

The current coronavirus pandemic also has consequences for insolvency law. Companies whose financial situation has deteriorated massively as a result of the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic and which have virtually no income are at serious risk of sliding into insolvency.

18.3.20

Coronavirus and Short Time Work

The coronavirus epidemic is spreading faster every day and is therefore having an ever greater impact on our daily lives and especially on the economy. Many employers are ordering work from home, some are ordering the reduction of overtime and vacation entitlements, and some businesses no longer have any work for their employees at all due to the nature of their industry. Where there is no work, short time working allowance comes into play in order to safeguard the employees wages and save the company from impending insolvency.

4.8.22

No Right to Reemployment in Insolvency

No right to reemployment in insolvency (Federal Labour Court, judgment of 25 May 2022, docket number 6 AZR 224/21)

23.6.20

Managing Directors Liability During the Coronavirus Crisis

If a company is insolvent, that is, if it is unable to pay its debts as they fall due (insufficient funds to cover all due liabilities) or overindebted (liabilities exceed the company’s assets and there is no positive continuation prognosis), the managing directors may no longer make any payments from the assets of the company.

10.8.22

Formation of a GmbH Has Been Simplified by the Option of Online Notarisation as of 1 August 2022

The extension of the possibility of online certification of commercial register filings has also led to simplified formation of a GmbH or entrepreneurial company.

6.9.22

No Inheritance Tax on Acquisition through a Foreign Legacy

If a person living abroad is granted domestic real property by way of a legacy from a testator who also lived abroad, the beneficiary under the legacy does not have to pay German inheritance tax on the real property.

23.8.22

No Income Adjustment for a GmbH Due to Unclear Source of Funds of Its Sole Shareholder

In a recent judgment the tax court of Münster held that unexplained increases in assets on the part of a shareholder of a corporation do not in themselves permit the conclusion that the corporation has generated unrecorded operating income.

29.9.22

Dissolution of a GmbH Due to Opening of Insolvency Proceedings Does Not Automatically Trigger a Loss Realisation

In the case at hand, at the beginning of 2014 the claimant acquired shares in the GmbH concerned in the nominal amount of one euro and granted the GmbH a loan of 320,000 euros in order to avert insolvency. As security, the GmbH transferred to the claimant a spare parts warehouse with a value of 40,000 euros and vehicles with a value of 38,000 euros.

5.10.22

Credit Reference Agency Must Delete Data of an Insolvency Debtor

Credit reference agencies must not process the data of an insolvency debtor for longer than the information may be published in the official insolvency announcements portal.

4.11.22

Duty to File for Insolvency in the Absence of Management of an English Limited Company

Section 15a paragraph 3 of the Insolvency Code does not apply to an English Limited but only to a GmbH governed by German law.

18.11.22

No Penalty Payable by the Owner of an English Limited Company for Filing the Dissolution of the Secondary Establishment

The judgment of the higher regional court of Celle concerned an English Limited company with its registered office under its articles and registration in the Companies House in the United Kingdom, which had transferred its administrative seat to Germany. Its branch office had been registered in the German commercial register since April 2009.

7.12.22

Subparticipation in a Limited Partnership Interest Is Subject to Tax as a Co entrepreneurship

The claimant was a GmbH and co limited partnership which was also a family business. Individual family members who were not themselves limited partners in the family business were involved through subparticipations in the limited partnership interests. This was made possible by special provisions in the partnership agreement. One of the limited partners sold his entire limited partnership interest to a third party, which also gave rise to a capital gain at the level of the claimant.

21.11.22

Discharge of the Managing Director Only if Adequate Accounting of Personal Management Activities Is Provided

The judgment of the higher regional court of Brandenburg concerned the discharge of a managing director of a GmbH. The former managing director and co shareholder (the defendant) had been removed from office as managing director for cause by shareholders resolution and his shares had been redeemed. It was further resolved that the company should pursue its claims against the defendant.

7.2.23

Formation of a Unified Company Only Possible in Two Steps

If a unified company consisting of a limited partnership and a limited liability company (GmbH or entrepreneurial company) is to be formed, in which all limited partnership interests are contributed to a limited liability company, this formation cannot be carried out in a single step.

3.1.23

Allocation Key from the Declaration of Division Is Binding for Condominium Owners Association Resolutions

If the declaration of division also contains rules on the allocation key for advance payments for operating costs, these rules are binding for the condominium owners association. This means that the association may not depart from the rules in the declaration of division by resolutions on financial plans.

13.4.23

No Change in the Insolvency Ranking Due to the Occurrence of New Estate Insolvency

The decision of the Federal Labour Court of 25 August 2022 concerned the insolvency ranking of claims for default of acceptance of work and the occurrence of new estate insolvency notified by the insolvency administrator during the insolvency proceedings.

9.2.23

Immoral Shareholders Resolution Not Entirely Immune from Challenge

If a shareholders resolution is obtained in an immoral manner and has become final and unchallengeable due to the passage of time, a claim for damages aimed at restoring the situation that existed before the shareholders resolution is not necessarily excluded.