EOR from Germany to India.
Hire Indian talent from Germany without setting up an Indian entity. Save up to 70% on setup & employment cost.
Hire in India from Germany. Without an Indian entity.
TMS becomes the legal employer of your Indian hires while you operate from Germany. We invoice you in EUR (€); salaries paid to your team in INR. All statutory contributions handled. Auto, engineering, pharma R&D.
What you get with TMS
We're the legal employer
TMS signs the employment contract under Indian labour law; you direct day-to-day work. Your IP / NDA / non-compete flows into the contract.
Invoiced in EUR (€)
Pay TMS in EUR (€) from your home-country bank account. Salaries disbursed to employees in INR. No FX exposure on your books.
5-7 day onboarding
From signed master agreement to first onboarded employee in under a week, regardless of time-zone or location.
Germany-friendly process
MSA + DPA reviewed against your home jurisdiction. Compatible with most home-country compliance standards.
Save up to 70% vs entity
Skip the Rs 12L+ subsidiary cost, 90+ days of registration, and statutory auditor overhead. Same compliant Indian team — fraction of the cost.
Statutory bullet-proof
PF, ESIC, PT, LWF, gratuity, bonus, TDS — all filed correctly state-by-state. 20 years zero penalties.
Office, IT & visa support
Coworking, managed office, laptop & equipment rental, employee mediclaim, visa / mobility for your home-country team visiting India. Bundled or a-la-carte.
Clean exits & entity transition
Decide later to set up your own Indian entity? We'll help you migrate every employee onto your payroll with zero salary disruption.
How it works
Discovery
Germany time-zone friendly. ~30 minutes.
Proposal & MSA
Pricing in EUR (€), statutory breakdown, sample contract.
Offer & onboarding
Candidate signed on TMS employment contract aligned to your spec.
Day 1 live
Indian employee starts. Payroll, benefits, statutory pre-configured.
What’s included in your monthly EOR fee
Contracts & HR letters
- ✓State-compliant employment contract
- ✓Offer, appointment, increment / transfer letters
- ✓NDAs, IP assignment, non-compete (jurisdiction-permitting)
- ✓Customized HR policies
Payroll
- ✓Monthly INR disbursal to employees
- ✓Invoicing to you in EUR (€)
- ✓Form 16 / annual returns
- ✓Reimbursements + perk taxation
Statutory compliance
- ✓PF, ESIC, PT, LWF, gratuity, bonus, TDS
- ✓State-wise registrations & filings
- ✓Monthly compliance MIS
- ✓Audit-ready registers
Benefits & insurance
- ✓Group mediclaim
- ✓Personal accident & term life
- ✓Leave & state-specific holiday policies
Office, IT, visa (optional)
- ✓Coworking / managed office
- ✓Laptop & equipment rental
- ✓Visa & mobility for visiting Germany staff
- ✓On-ground administrative help
Germany → India EOR Playbook 2026
Country-specific PDF: tax treaty optimisation, payroll mechanics in EUR (€), common compliance pitfalls, time-zone playbook.
- ✓Germany-to-India tax treaty notes
- ✓Payroll mechanics: EUR (€) → INR
- ✓Compliance pitfalls + how to avoid
- ✓Sample EOR contract clauses
Frequently Asked Questions
Do we need an Indian entity to hire from Germany?
No. TMS becomes the legal employer in India. You hire from Germany without registering an Indian subsidiary.
Currency of invoicing?
EUR (€). Salaries to your team are paid in INR — TMS absorbs the conversion.
How long to onboard?
5-7 business days from signed master service agreement. Most Germany clients run their first Indian hire on TMS within 10 days of first call.
Can we transition to our own Indian entity later?
Yes — and we help you do it. Many Germany companies start with EOR and transition to a wholly-owned subsidiary at 30+ headcount. We migrate employees cleanly.
Talk to our EOR team.
Tell us your role, headcount, and timeline. You'll get a proposal in EUR (€) and a free 30-minute consultation with our managing partner.
Tell us what you need.
our EOR Sales Expert will respond inside a business day.
Tell us your role, headcount, and timeline. You'll get a proposal in EUR (€) and a free 30-minute consultation with our managing partner.
A German company can hire full-time employees in India without setting up a legal entity by using an Employer of Record (EOR) like TMS. TMS becomes the legal employer in India, handles payroll, statutory compliance, and benefits, while your team manages day-to-day work — typically live within 48 hours.
Why German companies hire from India through an EOR
- Acute skills shortage at home. Germany’s Fachkräftemangel (skilled-worker shortage) is the most documented in Europe — IT and engineering roles routinely sit unfilled for 6+ months. India removes that bottleneck.
- Engineering depth that matches German standards. India produces ~1.5 million STEM graduates annually. SAP, Bosch, Siemens, and Deutsche Bank have run India engineering centres for decades — the talent pool understands German engineering rigour.
- Cost arbitrage. A senior engineer in Bangalore, Hyderabad, or Pune costs 30-45% of an equivalent hire in Munich, Berlin, or Frankfurt for comparable skill.
- Time-zone overlap. India is 3.5-4.5 hours ahead of CET. A 9am Munich start is 12:30pm in Bangalore — full overlap for the German afternoon.
- Avoiding the 4-6 month India entity setup with its ₹15-35 lakh first-year cost.
How EOR Germany to India works
- TMS is the legal employer of record in India. Employee signs an Indian employment contract with TMS. TMS issues offer letter, pays salary in INR, deducts statutory taxes, files all returns.
- You retain operational control. Day-to-day work, performance, projects, goals stay with your German team. Governed by a Master Services Agreement (MSA).
- No Indian permanent establishment for your German GmbH. Because TMS is the employer, your German entity does not create taxable presence in India.
- Your payment to TMS is a deductible service expense in Germany, invoiced in EUR or INR by agreement.
Roles German companies typically place on TMS payroll
- Software engineers (backend, full-stack, frontend, mobile) — by far the largest category.
- SAP and enterprise systems consultants — Germany’s industrial base runs on SAP; India has the deepest SAP talent pool globally.
- DevOps, SRE, platform engineering — strong India talent pool, time-zone overlap.
- Data engineers, ML, AI engineers — growing fast in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune.
- Mechanical engineering / CAD support — for automotive, machinery, industrial automation clients.
- Finance, accounting, controlling — for German companies that want India back-office to support their European accounting.
- Customer support and technical account management — for English-speaking customer bases.
The TMS 5-step onboarding process
- MSA and scope agreement — commercial terms, IP assignment, confidentiality, exit provisions.
- Candidate sign-on — Indian employment offer letter, KYC, PAN, Aadhaar, prior-employer relieving letter, bank details.
- Statutory enrollment — EPF, ESI (if applicable), professional tax, gratuity nomination.
- Payroll setup and first salary credit — CTC structured (basic, HRA, special allowance, employer-EPF, gratuity provision).
- Monthly compliance and reporting — EPF, ESI, PT, TDS, quarterly statutory returns. Single consolidated invoice.
We deploy talent in 48 hours.
EOR vs setting up your own India entity (GmbH-Indien)
For the first 1-25 hires, EOR overwhelmingly wins.
Real first-year cost of an Indian entity: – Registrations and legal: ₹3-12 lakh (incorporation, FDI/FEMA, PAN, TAN, GST, EPF, ESI, professional tax per state, RoC filings, legal review). – Operational setup: ₹15-35 lakh (~€16,000-€38,000) — statutory auditor, payroll software, HRMS, compliance consultant, banking and FX setup. – Time to operational: 4-6 months minimum. – Ongoing: 80-150 hours/month of HR + compliance work.
EOR through TMS replaces all of that with a single per-employee fee, 48-hour deployment, zero PE risk, and one-line accounting on your German books.
When EOR fits: 1-25 employees in India, market-test phase, multi-country expansion. When to consider transitioning: 30+ India headcount, Indian directorial presence on roadmap, strategic IP held by Indian subsidiary. TMS supports the EOR-to-entity transition as a standard service.
FAQ
Do I need a Tochterunternehmen in India to hire engineers there?
No. Through an EOR like TMS, you can hire full-time Indian employees without registering an Indian company. TMS is the legal employer; you are the operational manager.
How fast can a new hire be live on TMS payroll?
For candidates you have already identified, TMS deploys talent in 48 hours.
Who is the legal employer — TMS or my GmbH?
TMS. The Indian employee signs an Indian employment contract with TMS. This eliminates Indian permanent-establishment risk for your German entity.
Can I convert my EOR hires to my own Indian entity later?
Yes. TMS supports EOR-to-entity transition as a standard service. We preserve EPF continuity, gratuity tenure, and employee experience.
How does GDPR apply to India-based TMS employees handling EU customer data?
Your GmbH remains the data controller for any EU/UK personal data. India operates under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDP). TMS-side employment contracts include confidentiality and IP-assignment clauses; data-handling controls (access, training, monitoring) sit with you as controller. India-EU data transfer relies on Standard Contractual Clauses or adequacy assessment under your DPA.
Can my India team work German business hours?
Yes — and naturally so. India is 3.5 hours ahead of CET (4.5 ahead during CEST). German morning starts give India a full afternoon overlap; many teams work 1pm-10pm IST for maximum German overlap.
How are India statutory benefits handled?
TMS administers EPF (12% employer + 12% employee), ESI where applicable, professional tax, gratuity (4.81% provision), paid leave per the applicable Shops & Establishments Act, and maternity benefits. All compliance is on TMS’s books.
What does TMS NOT handle?
TMS handles employment, payroll, statutory compliance, and benefits. Not in scope: IP assignment specifics (in MSA), employee equity/RSU administration (your equity admin), individual income tax filing for German persons, work-visa processing for travel to Germany, and direct contracting that bypasses TMS as employer of record.
Illustrative engagement — German engineering Mittelstand hiring an India team
A German Mittelstand mechanical engineering company decides to build a 6-person India team — 4 CAD/PLM engineers + 2 SAP consultants — to support their European operations. They want to be operational in 4 weeks.
- Week 0: MSA signed. Salary bands agreed (₹16-28 lakh for CAD engineers, ₹25-45 lakh for senior SAP consultants).
- Weeks 1-3: All 6 hires deployed within 48 hours of each acceptance.
- Month 2: Full team live on TMS payroll, working 1pm-10pm IST for German afternoon overlap. The GmbH has zero direct India statutory exposure, zero PE risk.
- Month 15: Team expands to 22 people across CAD, SAP, and finance back-office. The company decides to formalize an Indian Pvt Ltd entity. TMS coordinates the transition over 90 days.
Hiring in India from Germany?
Free consultation. No minimum headcount. Reply in under 10 minutes during business hours.
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