An alternative to a management company in Germany?

[nicodeemus]

Another alternative is to work thru my UK limited company, as the initial contract is only 3 months.. but very likely to get extended and I wanted to get into the German tax system from the start.. hmm..

[BlasterBates]

Just when I thought I had it all sorted... aaarggghh !!

Some legal bod in the clients office is making a big song and dance about an AUG.. or arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz .. has anyone ever been required to get one of these for germany? and they cost like 4k euros.

Apparently if I used a management company apparently this would all be fine, and the agent actually already negotiated a proportionate increase in my rate to cover the MC costs, which is kinda nice, but the bottom line is that I prefer not to use one at all.


Anyone ever heard of anything like this or can advise?

One of the management companies would be Connexion Europe - any horror stories to share??

Become a Freiberufler, anything else just doesn't work. You can be a Freiberufler and an employee at the same time for 400 Euro's a month i.e. minimimum salary without being taxed to satisfy their Human Resources, but accept nothing less.

AUG law is only applicable if you've been working for two years for the same client, so if this is a 6 month contract, the legal bod is off the mark. However the client sometimes make a song and dance about it.

I would hold your ground, and go in as a Freiberufler. Management Co's often have illegal tax schemes, and you end up with a huge back tax bill and fines. If you do use a Management co. make sure they set you up as a Freiberufler, if not don't touch it. The combination of an employment contract and Freiberufler would be OK. I did that.

[nicodeemus]

Thanks man. Yes I would be freiberufler with the MO, and would even make money out of it thanks to the negotiated rate increase to cover costs (probs save 2000 euros a year) but it's the principle really. Having rarely used agents I'm annoyed at adding in more layers that are needless as per my investigations and confirmed by folks on here.

We'll see how it goes.. something I am concerned about is setting a precedent.. as in I don't want to be stuck with the MO if i'm there for a few years... if the client has money in reserve to pay the MO i'd much prefer we split the difference tbh. and they can't tell me that every contractor on site there is with an MO, even the german ones, it's ridiculous.