The questions your legal team asks first
Before anyone discusses rates, DACH procurement wants to know whether an offshore engagement is clean. These are our answers, in full, with the edges where they stop.
Five Answers
Each page states the position up front, then explains why it holds and where it does not.
Do we need an AÜG licence for an offshore team in India?
No — as long as the work is performed in India. The German Temporary Employment Act (Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz, AÜG) governs workers who are hired out to work in Germany. Someone who does their work entirely from India is not being hired out into Germany at all.
Read the answerDo Indian contractors create a false self-employment risk for us?
Not in the way the question usually assumes, because you never contract the individual. Your contract is with JoinNow FZCO for a service; the professional's contract is with KVC in India. The relationship German classification rules examine — between a company and a person it engages directly — does not exist here.
Read the answerIs it GDPR-compliant for a team in India to work in our systems?
Yes, with the right safeguards in place — and the first thing to establish is whether a transfer happens at all. Neither India nor the United Arab Emirates has an EU adequacy decision, so where personal data is accessed from either country, the transfer needs safeguards under Art. 46 GDPR alongside the processing agreement under Art. 28.
Read the answerDoes engaging people in India create a permanent establishment for us?
Usually not in this structure, but it depends on facts about your company that we are not in a position to assess. You have no premises and no personnel of your own in India: the Indian entity employs, the Dubai entity invoices you, and you buy a service. That is a different arrangement from establishing a presence — but the conclusion is your tax adviser's to reach, not ours.
Read the answerIs an own Indian subsidiary cheaper than an EOR?
For a handful of people, EOR. For a permanent India operation you intend to grow, your own entity — but the crossover sits later than most cost models put it, because this is not a fee-against-fee comparison. A subsidiary brings a fixed statutory apparatus with it: an India-resident director, an annual statutory audit, Registrar filings and intercompany pricing documentation. None of it gets smaller because the team is two people.
Read the comparisonThese guides describe how our engagements are set up and how the rules apply to that setup. They are general information, not legal or tax advice — have your own advisers review your specific situation.
Still have a question we have not answered?
Send it over. If the answer is that our model does not fit your situation, we would rather tell you now than three months in.