Small businesses
A small business is a company that is "qualitatively or quantitatively one in a commercial way established business does not require" ( § 1 para. 2 Commercial Code ).
Only natural persons and civil law companies (GbRs) can be small businesses ; other companies that operate a trade are always merchants within the meaning of § 6 HGB. Small businesses are not subject to the HGB regulations, but rather the general regulations of the German Civil Code (BGB) and tax regulations apply . In addition, small businesses are not entered in the commercial register.
Difference between small businesses and main occupations
At the end of the day, the trader first assesses himself whether his activity is a small business or a mainstream activity. To do this, he announces his assessment in field 16 of the business registration form. This has been specified in the forms since March 2008.
Furthermore, the demarcation from pure hobby must also be observed. The general population roughly assumes that the small business reaches a turnover limit of € 22,000 (until 2019: € 17,500). Small business is often used synonymously for part-time business .
Bookkeeping, tax
The small business owner is regarded as an entrepreneur , but not as a businessman, which is why many of the provisions of the HGB are not applicable to him. At least under commercial law, he is not obliged to keep books and can therefore usually determine his profit using an income surplus calculation (EÜR). An obligation to keep accounts can, however, result from tax regulations; see § 141 Tax Code (AO).
Furthermore, he can choose the actual taxation for sales tax , whereby the due date of the sales tax is postponed to the pre-notification period of the incoming payment. This is an advantage in terms of liquidity , especially for customers who are in default, as the VAT portion to be paid to the tax office does not have to be pre-financed by the entrepreneur until the actual payment has been received.
Company name
In business dealings, small businesses usually appear with their last name and at least one full first name; References to the activity or the industry are permitted, e.g. B. "Eisenhandel Werner Schmitt".
In addition, in the course of a company succession, it is possible to continue an existing company name. In this case, however, a reference to the current operator must be added, here for example: "Eisenhandel Werner Schmitt, Inh. Walter Hansel".
In the past, these naming regulations resulted directly from Section 15b of the Industrial Code (GewO); However, this was deleted without replacement in March 2009, so that today it is only a matter of recommendations, the observance of which, however, still makes sense for further legal considerations.
Individual evidence
- ^ Justus Meyer: Commercial Private Law - An Introduction . 7th edition. Springer, 2012, p. 53 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-22520-8 .
- ↑ Differentiation between small businesses and commercial enterprises. Retrieved May 11, 2017 .
- ↑ Business names of (...) small businesses. (PDF; 109 kB) In: Brochure from the Regensburg Chamber of Commerce. March 1, 2010, archived from the original on February 18, 2015 ; Retrieved January 20, 2012 .
