German enterprises and private individuals have to report if they directly or indirectly own 50 % or more of the capital shares or voting rights in a foreign enterprise on the reporting date and the foreign enterprise has a balance sheet total of more than €500,000 (converted), as well as German enterprises and private individuals if between 10 % and less than 50 % of the capital shares or voting rights in a foreign enterprise are directly or indirectly attributable to them on the reporting date and the foreign enterprise has a balance sheet total of more than €5 million (converted). German investors which maintain branches or permanent establishments abroad with business assets of more than €500,000 are also subject to reporting requirements.

Indirect holdings must be reported if a foreign enterprise in which the German investor has a holding of more than 50 % – this is then considered a “dependent enterprise” – has a holding of 10 % or more in other foreign enterprises. If the dependent enterprise has a full 100 % interest in another foreign enterprise, the other enterprise is also considered to be “dependent”, and provided a 100 % interest exists in additional enterprises, each of those is considered to be “dependent” also. The shareholdings of these other dependent enterprises in foreign enterprises, insofar as they comprise 10 % or more of the shares or voting rights, are also regarded as indirect shareholdings of the reporting entity.

The same applies as for the period 1999 to 2001 with the exception that the threshold for the balance sheet total of the DIE as well as for the business assets of a branch or permanent establishment has been harmonised at €3 million, irrespective of the percentage and the directness of the participation.

German enterprises and private individuals have to report if they directly own at least 10 % of the shares or voting rights in a foreign enterprise as well as a branch or permanent establishment that has a balance sheet total (or business assets) of more than €3 million on the reporting date.

German enterprises and private individuals have to report indirect participations if they hold, via a directly majority owned foreign enterprise or through a mixture of direct and indirect shares, a combined share of more than 50 % (majority stake). Such enterprises are deemed to be “dependent enterprises”. And if these dependent enterprises themselves have direct or indirect holdings totalling more than 50 % of the shares or voting rights in other foreign enterprises, these enterprises have to be reported too.

Any German enterprise with a balance sheet total of more than €500,000 has to be reported if a foreign investor (or a group of foreign individuals or enterprises where the group members have common economic interests^[51]) owns 50 % or more of the capital shares or voting rights in the German enterprise on the balance sheet date, and German enterprises with a balance sheet total of more than €5 million if a foreign investor (or several economically related foreign investors together) is attributable between 10 % and less than 50 % of the capital shares or voting rights in the German enterprise. German branches and permanent establishments of foreign investors with gross operating assets of more than €500,000 must also be reported.

Indirect participations in Germany have to be reported if foreign investors hold more than 50 % of a German enterprises – these enterprises are then regarded as “dependent enterprises” – and these dependent enterprises themselves own 10 % or more of the capital shares or voting rights in other German enterprises. If the controlled enterprise has a full 100 % interest in another German enterprise, the other enterprise is also considered to be “dependent”, and, subject to further 100 % shareholdings, each further enterprises is considered as “dependent”. The participations of these other dependent enterprises in German enterprises, insofar as they comprise 10 % or more of the capital shares or voting rights, are also regarded as indirect participations.

The same applies as for the period 1999 to 2001 with the exception that the threshold for the balance sheet total of the German enterprise as well as the business assets of a German branch or permanent establishment has been harmonized at €3 million, irrespective of the percentage and the directness of participation.

Any German enterprise with a balance sheet total of more than €3 million has to be reported if a foreign investor (or a group of foreign individuals or enterprises where the group members have common economic interests) owns 10 % or more of the capital shares or voting rights in a German enterprise on the balance sheet date. German branches and permanent establishments of foreign investors with business assets of more than €3 million have to be reported also.

Indirect shareholdings have to be reported if foreign investors hold more than 50 % of German enterprises – the enterprises are then regarded as “dependent enterprises” – and these dependent enterprises themselves directly or indirectly own more than 50 % of the capital shares or voting rights in other domestic enterprises.