Template shareholder loan (German/English)

Here you will find our template for a shareholder loan in both German and English. Please note that you will need to submit the loan to the financial authorities (Finanzamt). The reason for the binding German translation is that in case of an (only) English binding version the Finanzamt may require a German translation by a certified translator, which will trigger additional costs.

Please note that depending on the conditions of the loan tax implications may occur for the shareholder and/or the company. Because of the ever changing terms of the financial market, not least the market interest rates, you need to update the loan conditions continuously, even if a tax advisor already approved conditions a while ago. Therefore, please always seek up-to-date tax advice for the loan conditions.

The template is designed for loans by a shareholder to the company. This also works for indirect shareholders, i.e. natural persons behind a shareholder of the company.

An important clause is the subordination in § 3. This prevents the company from becoming insolvent when the loan is due (even) if the company does not have the liquidity to pay it. Depending on the liquidity this may result in the loan not to be paid back.

Due to this risk of repayment many shareholders choose to grant a convertible loan instead of this (mere) loan. This way, the shareholder can claim new shares instead of repayment (in particular if the company cannot afford to pay him back) and thus increase his share in the company. Please contact us for a draft of a shareholder loan.