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 – i.e. 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 € 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.

Footnotes:

1. §§ 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 % part of the fee, the calculation basis is reduced once by an allowance of 15,340 € 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 36,850 €, 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 152 €.
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. € balance sheet total assets; (2) more than 100 mio. € turnover; (3) more than 1,000 employees. For these enterprises, the contribution % part of the fee reduces by 5,000 € to a maximum of 0 €.
   Regulation from 01.01.2012: Enterprises with more than 1,000 Employees.