Payment services for minors: Stripe, PayPal and more

In short: Whoever wants to take money online needs a payment service provider. Most of them, however, require full age or admit minors only through a legal representative. So the question of age has to be clarified early.

Why age matters

Payment services must identify customers (money laundering law) and conclude contracts. Minors have only limited legal capacity (§ 106 ff. BGB): contracts need the parents’ consent. A trade additionally needs the family court’s approval (§ 112 BGB), see Contracts and terms for small founders.

Practical options

1. Parents as contract partner: a parent opens the account with the service and is responsible for it. Tax-wise and legally this remains a construction that must be designed honestly (who is the entrepreneur?).
2. Account with permission: some services admit teenagers from a certain age (often 16 or 18) with consent. Conditions change, check the current terms.
3. Marketplaces and platforms: selling through platforms that handle payments themselves avoids an own account but has fees and rules.
4. Without online payment at first: bank transfer to a youth account or cash if the volume is small.

Important

• Never give false details about age or identity. That violates the terms, can cost accounts and is legally delicate.
• Understand fees (for example percent plus a fixed amount per payment) and include them in prices.
• Income from online payments is income in the sense of the cash-basis profit statement.
• The subject of taxes stays independent of the service: Taxes for pupils and apprentices with side income.

This text is orientation. What age limit a service currently has is in its terms.

See also: Withdrawal and cancellation for digital subscriptions