A positive change that can take place relates to payments being made into the equity and in full or partially into the share capital. Occasions when you’d want to increase your share capital arise when you need extra funding for your company and you’re issuing more shares for instance or you need to meet the minimum requirements there may be imposed to your equity in total (i.e. it cannot be negative) and so on. In situations like these you’d consider paying into the share capital as well. Although, it should be mentioned that due to the restrictions there may be on reducing the capital, if decided so, the payment into the capital itself should be as minimal as possible.
Capital decreases happen mostly in two cases – when there’s simply too much share capital or when the company is winding down its business and decides to pay at least some of the capital back to its owners. Note that such action may be subject to dividend regulations (meaning also additional tax expense in most countries) and should be consulted with your local auditors or other officials for tax optimization advice.