Anyone who pays taxes in Germany has lost control over their household budget, says keynote speaker Dr. Stephan Meyer.

A tongue-in-cheek analysis 

Do you know the difference between a German middle-class entrepreneur and a masochist? The masochist at least knows he enjoys pain. The German middle-class entrepreneur, on the other hand, dutifully pays his taxes, battles his way through regulatory thickets, and then wonders why his wallet is as thin as a tax official's patience just before closing time at the end of the month.

Welcome to Germany, where you pay for a Bugatti and get a Trabant – and then the TÜV complains that the Trabant doesn't meet the latest EU emissions standards.

As a PhD in business psychology and a change agent, I observe daily: Germany is like an ex-relationship you just can't let go of, even though you know perfectly well it would be better. "But we have a shared history!" sigh many entrepreneurs as they fill out form A38/b (in triplicate, of course) for the umpteenth time.

Customers say they have rarely heard such a good presentation.

The calculation is actually quite simple: If you want to run a successful business in Germany, you need:

• A personal tax advisor (or better yet, an entire firm)
• A lawyer specializing in employment law (because "employee" is a 24-volume encyclopedia)
• A data protection expert (because the GDPR is longer than "War and Peace")
• And a therapist (for yourself, of course)

Or – and this is the revolutionary part – you pack your bags and move your company to a place where work is still enjoyable and doesn't just produce forms.

The keynote speaker delivers a captivating presentation.

In 2021, I took the plunge and emigrated to Cyprus. There, you'll find not only more sunshine than bureaucratic hurdles, but also a tax system as transparent as the Mediterranean waters off the coast. Imagine: you can pay your taxes online without having to take a crash course in Byzantine bureaucracy! As a speaker, I deliver inspiring and strategic presentations at conferences and congresses on how innovation and added value become possible again when leadership is willing to think objectively about a company's location.

A quarter of a million Germans say "goodbye" to bureaucracy, overregulation, and the popular pastime of "spot the mistake in the form" every year. Many of them are highly qualified professionals who realize their ideas abroad – while Germany laments the shortage of skilled workers. It's roughly equivalent to complaining that the pool is empty when you're the one who pulled the plug.

The digital revolution makes it possible: Many jobs can now be easily done remotely. Your employees can work from anywhere – even from Germany, if they insist. The major advantage: You don't have to worry about bogus self-employment abroad. There, the revolutionary principle applies: Anyone who works and creates value is allowed to do so.

A motivating keynote speech with expertise

My advice to you: Stop paying for a Bugatti and settling for a Trabant. There's a world of opportunities out there – with less bureaucracy, more entrepreneurial freedom, and tax systems that weren't designed by Kafka.

Of course, emigrating or relocating a business isn't a decision you make between coffee breaks and lunch. But let's be honest: if you add up all the time you spend each year on forms, paperwork, and dealing with government offices – couldn't you have started a new life in a sunny destination three times over?

About the author

Dr. Stephan Meyer is the director of an institute for corporate modernization and has done what others only think about: he emigrated. As a change agent, he advises companies on daring to make bold changes – and sometimes that means saying "goodbye" to Germany.

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