Budget statues

The IHK membership fee

The chambers of industry and commerce charge membership fees. The sum is determined every year by the annual general meeting in the budget statutes – in example by the elected representatives of all members. The current legal basis for the membership charges of the Darmstadt CCI are the CCI Law (IHK-Gesetz1), the fees schedule and the financial statutes.
The fee is composed of a graduated basic sum and an earnings-dependent contribution. Here, a differentiation is made between small businesses (including associations under civil law) and companies which are entered in the trade registry.
Upon application, small companies with annual business earnings of up to 5,200 Euro are exempted from payment.
Also, founders of a new business can normally be exempted from all membership fees during the first two years of operation and from the earnings-dependent contribution during the following third and fourth years.
Business earnings2
in euros
Basic fee in euros
Contribution3 as percent
of business earnings
Small businesses
up to 5,200 Euro
0.00 Euro
0.00 percent
Small businesses
from 5,200 to 25,000 Euro
50.00 Euro
0.20 percent
Small businesses
above 25,000 Euro
60.00 Euro
0.20 percent
Private limited companies as general partners4
up to 40,000 Euro
150.00 Euro
0.20 percent
Trade registry companies5
up to 40,000 Euro
200.00 Euro
0.20 percent
Trade registry companies
above 40,000 Euro
300.00 Euro
0.20 percent
Large enterprises6
10,000.00 Euro
0.20 percent
Footnotes:
  1. paragraph 3 and 4 of the statute provisionally regulating the law concerning chambers of industry and commerce, dated 18.12.1956.
  2. Operating profits according to the Trade Tax Act or, to the extent that no trade tax sum was stipulated for the assessment year, income from business according to income and corporation tax law.
  3. For natural persons and partnerships, when calculating the contribution percent part of the fee, the calculation basis is reduced once by an allowance of 15,340 Euro for the enterprise.
  4. Upon application, the basic sum part of the fee for private limited companies (GmbH) with an operating profit of up to 40,000 Euro, whose commercial activity amounts to nothing more than a general partner function in a commercial partnership which is also a member of the Darmstadt CCI, will be reduced to 150 Euro.
  5. Companies entered in the trade registry or cooperative society registry, as well as business operators whose businesses are not registered, but whose manner and extent of operations require a commercial organisation.
  6. Regulation until 31.12.2011: Enterprises which comply with at least two of the following three criteria: (1) more than 500 mio. Euro balance sheet total assets; (2) more than 100 mio. Euro turnover; (3) more than 1,000 employees. For these enterprises, the contribution percent part of the fee reduces by 5,000 Euro to a maximum of 0 Euro.
    Regulation from 01.01.2012: Enterprises with more than 1,000 Employees.