If you are bootstrapping, or just founding a small side business, it doesn't have to be so complicated. There is a special provision for small businesses [1]. As long as you expect to stay under 50000 € in sales in a given year, you can be treated as a private person - meaning you don't have to pay VAT to the government for sold goods, but you do have to pay it to vendors like regular customers. Once you've grown enough, you can register as a company. Note also that parts of the complications and expenses arise when you want to be a limited liability company - if you are just making websites on the side, this is probably not neccessary.<p>Germany has a strong culture of entrepreneurship - being not employed but "selbstständig" (occupationally independent) is held in high regards. In my experience, while burocracy can be complicated, officials are very willing to help (I haven't made the jump myself, but I know from others). And one thing that is nicer in Germany / Europe is that it seems less litigious than the US. I would be constantly afraid to get sued or to break some unknown law in another US state, whereas here if you get a good accountant and avoid a few common pitfalls, you are pretty safe.<p>[1]: <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleinunternehmerregelung_(Deutschland)" rel="nofollow">https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleinunternehmerregelung_(Deut...</a>