A single plan for your German expansion, from formation to the first invoice.
GmbH formation, tax and payroll registration, market regulations, distribution agreements and personnel posting — with our team in Berlin we manage your German market entry as a single project.
An integrated legal framework for Expansion into Germany
Expanding into Germany is not merely company formation or a distributor agreement. Market access, tax, employment law, trademark, data, supply chain, and local representation must all be established within the same plan.
Our team in Berlin and İstanbul coordinates the legal roadmap and the implementation steps so that Turkish companies can operate sustainably in Germany.
Services We Offer in This Focus Area
In the Expansion into Germany focus area, we combine the relevant legal disciplines into a single work plan.
GmbH & Branch Formation
Establishment of a company, branch or liaison structure in Germany; coordination of the notary, registry and bank steps.
Explore →Contracts for the German Market
Drafting the Turkish side of your customer, distributor and supply contracts; the German-law clauses are settled together with our partner firm activelaw.
Explore →Employees & Secondment
Setting up employment in Germany, A1 secondment, payroll and employment law obligations.
Explore →Tax & Accounting Coordination
Coordination of double taxation, VAT registration and accounting arrangements with German tax advisors.
Explore →Market & Regulatory Compliance
Pre-entry compliance screening against German product, packaging, e-commerce and sector-specific regulations.
Explore →Disputes in Germany
Representation before the German courts is carried by our partner firm activelaw in Germany; we coordinate the file end to end, including arbitration, trade-fair injunctions and debt collection.
Explore →A team based in Germany that thinks in Turkish
The most expensive mistakes in expanding into Germany are choosing the wrong structure, contracts that conflict with German practice, and tax obligations noticed too late. With our Berlin office you gain a single team that works on the ground and communicates with your Turkish headquarters in its native language.
- A Berlin-based team registered with Rechtsanwaltskammer Berlin as Turkish lawyers
- A single end-to-end plan from GmbH formation to market entry
- On-the-ground command of German notary, registry and banking practice
- Seamless German-Turkish reporting with the Turkish headquarters
- On-site intervention in trade fair, distributorship and debt collection matters
A market-entry team based in Berlin that reads both legal systems together
Related Practice Areas
The legal disciplines this focus area draws on.
Related Services
Our services most often engaged in this focus area — together with their scope.
Foreign Direct Investment
For foreign investors, we manage end to end the processes of market entry into Türkiye — strategy, structuring, incorporation, and access to incentives. From permits and licences to compliance, we provide a multilingual, integrated legal bridge at every step.
Explore →Company Formation & Registration
We manage the entire process, from the formation of joint-stock (A.Ş.) and limited liability (Ltd. Şti.) companies to trade registry and MERSİS registration. From the articles of association to the establishment of branches and liaison offices, we lay a solid legal foundation.
Explore →Contract Management
Contract management covers the drafting, negotiation and full-lifecycle tracking of your commercial contracts. Weighing Turkish law together with DACH-region practice, we structure balanced and enforceable texts.
Explore →Accounting & Payroll
From full-service accounting and payroll to SGK (Social Security Institution) filings, from periodic reporting to regulatory compliance, we manage the entire financial operation. While you focus on your business, we secure compliance.
Explore →Risk & Preventive Advisory
Risk and preventive advisory: we identify, analyse, and manage legal risks with preventive strategies before they turn into disputes. We map out your contract risk profile and clear problems before they even arise.
Explore →Related Sectors
The sectors this focus area touches often.
Automotive
Contract, compliance, investment, and dispute advisory across the automotive value chain for OEMs, suppliers, distributors, and investors.
Explore →Logistics
Advisory on contracts, liability and disputes in transport, warehousing, customs, CMR and cross-border delivery processes.
Explore →Technology
Legal advisory on licensing, SaaS, data, intellectual property, investment, scaling, compliance, and product law for technology companies.
Explore →Export & Import
Advisory for the sales, delivery, payment, customs, distributorship, collection, and cross-border dispute processes of foreign trade.
Explore →Textiles
Supply contracts, ESG/LkSG compliance, export, trademark, employment law and debt-collection advisory across the textile and apparel chain.
Explore →Related Regional Desks
Our cross-border and specialist desks that run this focus area.
Track Record: Selected Matters
Anonymised examples of our work in this focus area, including the approach, process and outcome.
GmbH incorporation in Germany and market-entry compliance
Establishing a Turkish manufacturer's German subsidiary, together with tax-payroll registrations, packaging registration and sales copy.
Review the matter →Defending the manufacturer against a compensation claim
Resolving, through defence and negotiation, a compensation claim asserted upon the ending of a German distributorship relationship.
Review the matter →Cross-border acquisition of a manufacturing facility in Türkiye
End-to-end representation of the buyer in a multi-jurisdictional acquisition, from due diligence to closing.
Review the matter →Uninterrupted legal counsel for a multinational supplier
Retainer-based support across day-to-day commercial operations, contract management and compliance processes.
Review the matter →Team in This Focus Area
Expansion into Germany and meet our experienced multilingual team.
Related Publications
Expansion into Germany — latest insights and guides.
Related Legislation
Expansion into Germany — the legislation that directly affects this focus area, tracked in plain language on our Legislation Radar.
A German law imposing human rights and environmental due diligence on large companies across their supply chains; the obligations flow through German buyers to Turkish suppliers by contract.
ABAvrupa B.EU Directive & RegulationIn forceCorporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)Source · ABl. L 322, 16.12.2022In force · 05.01.2023Last amended · Feb 2026 (Omnibus I, Directive (EU) 2026/470 — scope narrowed, ESRS simplification)A directive imposing comprehensive sustainability reporting on large companies operating in the EU and selling into the EU market; the data requests reach Turkish suppliers too through the value chain.
ABAvrupa B.EU Directive & RegulationIn progressEU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)Source · ABl. L, 5.7.2024In force · 25.07.2024 (application from 26.07.2029)Last amended · Feb 2026 (Omnibus I — scope narrowed; transposition 2028, application 2029)The EU-scale counterpart of the LkSG: it imposes a human rights and environmental due diligence obligation on the largest companies across the value chain; it is expected to reach Turkish suppliers through a contractual cascade.
ABAvrupa B.EU Directive & RegulationIn forceEU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)Source · ABl. L 135, 23.05.2023In force · 13.12.2024 (application)Last amended · Nov 2025 (Commission application guidelines, C/2025/6233)A regulation introducing safety, traceability and — critical for non-EU sellers — an EU-established “responsible person” requirement for consumer products sold in the EU; in force since 13 December 2024.
The minimum capital for a GmbH is €25,000 (at least half of which is paid in upon formation); with the notary, commercial register and bank account steps, the process usually takes a few weeks. Starting with lower capital via a UG is also possible. We build the structure together with its tax dimension.
Setting up a branch is fast, but the parent company's liability continues without limit; a GmbH provides a separate legal entity and limited liability. Tax, customer perception and tender requirements also affect the choice. We evaluate the model comparatively according to your objectives.
Enforcing a Turkish court judgment in Germany may also be an option; in both directions recognition and enforcement turn on the reciprocity condition — Article 54 of the Turkish Act on Private International Law for Türkiye, section 328 of the ZPO for Germany — and are assessed case by case.
The minimum share capital for a GmbH is EUR 25,000 (at least half is paid in at incorporation); incorporation before a notary and registration in the commercial register are required. Alternatively, the lower-capital UG structure can also be considered. We choose the right structure with you based on your objectives.
Yes; short-term secondments involve the certificate of posting (T/A 1) and social security coordination, while permanent employment brings German employment law and residence and work permits into play. We structure the secondment model according to duration and cost.
German formal demand letters and Mahnverfahren (payment order) proceedings resolve most receivables without litigation; where litigation and enforcement are needed, those steps are taken by our partner firm activelaw in Germany. Our Germany Desk coordinates the file end to end and reports to the Turkish head office in its own language.
In German commercial practice, the review of general terms and conditions (AGB) is strict; some clauses customary in Türkiye may be held invalid in Germany. We build your contracts with German case law in view, settle the German-law points together with our partner firm activelaw, and make clear in bilingual texts which language prevails.
Let's build a legal strategy in the Expansion into Germany focus area.
Let's assess your needs together with the relevant Practice Areas, Sectors and Regional Desks.