Do I have to register a business (Gewerbe) in Germany?
Yes, as soon as you run a trade on your own account – at the same time as you start. The trade notification (Gewerbeanzeige) goes to the competent authority of your municipality, usually the trade office (§ 14 GewO); the municipality informs the tax office. On top of that, the tax office needs further tax details within one month, as a rule electronically (§ 138 AO). Liberal professions (freie Berufe) do not register a trade: they only tell the tax office that they have started. Changes must be notified too – moving the business, a new line of business, a change of name and closing down. Not notifying, or notifying wrongly or late, can cost a fine of up to €1,000.
📋 The rules
- Notify at the same time as you start a fixed trade, a branch or a dependent branch office
- Also notify: moving the business, changing or extending what it does, a change of name and closing down
- Moving to another district: notify only the new authority, which passes on the deregistration
- Tax office: tax registration details within one month of opening, electronically in the official data format
- Licensed crafts (zulassungspflichtiges Handwerk): only with an entry in the Register of Craftspeople
- Vending machine operators: notify the authority of the head office and show name and address on each machine
🔓 Exceptions
- Liberal professions: no trade notification, only a notice to the tax office
- The Trade Regulation Act does not apply to, among others, fishing, teaching, educating children for pay, lawyers, patent attorneys, notaries, tax advisers and auditors (§ 6 GewO)
- If it is clear that the business has closed and you do not deregister, the authority can deregister you itself
⚠️ Penalties & fines
Not notifying a trade, or notifying it incorrectly, incompletely or late, is an administrative offence with a fine of up to €1,000 (§ 146(2) no. 2 and (3) GewO). Whether a fee is charged for the notification, and how much, your trade office will tell you.
📎 Official sources
- § 14 GewO · duty to notify (in German) →
- § 146 GewO · fines (in German) →
- § 6 GewO · scope (in German) →
- § 138 AO · notifying the tax office (in German) →
- § 1 HwO · Register of Craftspeople (in German) →
❓ Frequently asked
When do I have to register my business in Germany?
At the same time as you start: the Trade Regulation Act requires you to notify the competent authority of the start of a trade “at the same time”. This also applies to a branch or a dependent branch office.
Do freelancers in Germany need to register a trade?
Not if their work counts as a liberal profession: anyone who takes up such work only tells the tax office (§ 138 AO). The Trade Regulation Act expressly does not apply to certain professions, such as lawyers, notaries, tax advisers and auditors.
What happens if I register my business late?
A trade notification that is not made, or made incorrectly, incompletely or late, is an administrative offence. The fine can be up to €1,000.
Do I also have to register with the tax office?
The municipality passes your trade notification on to the tax office. In addition, within one month of opening you must give the tax office further details for taxation, as a rule electronically in the official data format; only to avoid undue hardship can the tax office accept a paper form.
Do I have to deregister when I stop or move?
Yes. Closing down, moving the business, changing what it does and changing its name must all be notified. If you move the business to another district, you notify only the new authority; it passes the deregistration on.
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