Register your trade.

Anyone who works independently, on a lasting basis and to make a profit registers their trade (Gewerbe) with the trade office, at the same time as they start (§ 14 (1) GewO). This applies to sole proprietorships, GbR, UG and GmbH alike, and to a side business.

1. 1

   Check your activity. Liberal professions such as doctors, lawyers, journalists or tax advisers do not register a trade, only with the tax office; see our starter kit for freelancers. Brokers, restaurants or security services need a permit first.

2. 2

   Responsible trade office. The municipality where your business is located is responsible, not where you live. Depending on the city, the office is called Gewerbeamt, Ordnungsamt, Bürgeramt or Bezirksamt; find your trade office with its address, online service and fee.

3. 3

   Form. Registration uses the nationwide standard form (GewA 1), on paper, in the city's online portal or through us.

4. 4

   Documents. Your ID; for a UG or GmbH the extract from the Handelsregister, and a power of attorney if someone else registers; for trades that need a permit, the permit.

5. 5

   Trade licence. The trade office confirms receipt of the registration within three days (§ 15 (1) GewO). This confirmation is the trade licence (Gewerbeschein).

6. 6

   Tax office. The trade office informs the tax office, the IHK or Handwerkskammer and the Berufsgenossenschaft (accident insurance). You still send the tax registration questionnaire yourself, within one month of starting, via ELSTER (§ 138 AO).

The fee is set by the city or the federal state. For a UG or GmbH, the large cities charge, according to their fee schedules:

Elsewhere, the fee is usually between €20 and 65. In Berlin, registering through the online service costs €15 instead of €31 in person. In Berlin, Düsseldorf and Cologne, each further legal representative adds €13. Our fixed price of €79.95 already includes all official fees. Fees as of 9 October 2026.

If something about your trade changes, you report that at the same time too (§ 14 (1) GewO), with its own form (GewA 2).

• Moving within the city: change of registration with the city's trade office.
• Moving to another city: registration with the new municipality and deregistration with the old one.
• New or different activity: change of registration if you change your business purpose or extend it to goods or services that are not usual for your trade.
• New legal form: If a sole proprietorship becomes a GmbH, that is a new trader: the GmbH registers, the sole proprietorship deregisters.

If you give up your trade, you deregister it with the trade office at the same time (§ 14 (1) GewO, form GewA 3). This also applies to a small or side business. Depending on the city, deregistration costs a small fee or nothing.

The trade office informs the tax office. You still file your tax returns for the last year. For a UG or GmbH, deregistering is not enough: the company continues to exist until it is dissolved, wound up and deleted from the Handelsregister.

If you have already started without registering, catch up on the registration immediately and enter the actual start date. Late registration is an administrative offence (§ 146 (2) GewO); how the trade office handles it is decided case by case. The longer you wait, the likelier a fine becomes.

A “Kleingewerbe” (small business) is not a legal form of its own but a sole proprietorship or GbR that does not have to be entered in the Handelsregister. It is registered like any other trade. Two rules make it easy:

• Small business VAT exemption: If your turnover was below €25,000 in the previous year and stays below €100,000 in the current year, you can invoice without VAT (§ 19 UStG).
• Trade tax allowance: Sole proprietorships and partnerships pay trade tax only on trade income above €24,500 a year (§ 11 (1) GewStG). A UG or GmbH has no allowance.

How to set up the right business: sole proprietorship, GbR, UG or GmbH.