Register a trade at the location Ordnungsamt Treptow-Köpenick / Gewerbeangelegenheiten

Payment options

• Girocard (mit PIN)

You must register your business whenever you start a self-employed business with a fixed place of business (known as a ‘permanent business’).
This applies in the following cases:

1. Setting up a new business/head office,
2. Setting up a new branch,
3. Setting up a dependent branch,
4. Taking over an existing business, e.g. through purchase, inheritance or lease,
5. Joining an existing partnership as a new managing partner, e.g. in a GbR, KG or OHG,
6. Conversion of a business into a different legal form (in the event of a change of legal form, deregistration of the business under the old legal form and registration of the business under the new legal form must be carried out),
7. Relocation of a business from another federal state to Berlin (in the event of relocation, deregistration of the business must be carried out with the trade licensing authority of the previous municipality and registration of the business must be carried out with the Public Order Office in Berlin).

The business registration must be carried out at the same time as the business commences operations.
The notification requirement applies only if the activity is a commercial activity.

What is a commercial activity?
A commercial activity is any activity that is not socially harmful, is carried out with the intention of making a profit, is intended to be of a permanent nature, and is carried out independently in one’s own name and for one’s own account. It is irrelevant whether a profit is actually made.

The activities listed in Section 6(1), first sentence, of the Trade Regulation Act (GewO) are exempt from the notification requirement. (See ‘Further information’). Exemptions include, amongst others:

• Primary production (agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing)
• Liberal professions (including lawyers, notaries, tax advisers, auditors, doctors, scientific, artistic and literary activities)
• Childcare provided for remuneration
• Education
• Management of one’s own assets (e.g. a let property)
• as well as generally prohibited or socially undesirable activities (e.g. illegal gambling)

Some business activities also require a licence. Others are subject to supervision. Additional requirements then apply to them (see ‘Further information’).

The competent authority also forwards the business registration to other bodies such as the tax office, the Chamber of Crafts or the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the registry court and the employers’ liability insurance association. The purpose of registering a business is to enable the competent authority to monitor the conduct of the business and to carry out statistical surveys.

Prerequisites

• You want to run a business.
  
  Traders are natural persons or legal entities (joint-stock company, limited liability company, registered cooperative or registered association, partnership limited by shares).
  The following must be notified:
  

  • Sole traders: the sole trader,
  • Partnerships (e.g. OHG, GbR): the managing partners,
  • KG: each personally liable partner, the limited partners of a KG only if they have management authority.
  • Corporations (e.g. GmbH, AG): the legal representatives (managing directors, board of directors).
• The trade registration must be done at the same time as the start of the business.
  
  The obligation to notify exists only if it is a commercial activity.

Documents required

• Trade registration (Gewerbeanmeldung)
  
  Possible online; or you can use the business registration form.
• Identity document
  
  Identity card or other official identification document with photo (not required for electronic application). Residence permit if the applicant is not a national of an EU country.
• Up-to-date excerpt from the Trade Register
  
  Registered companies are required to submit an up to date excerpt from the Trade Register.
  Legal entities that are in the process of being established (GmbH, AG, UG) are required to submit a notarised copy of their partnership agreement or statutes as well as statements of approval by their associates.
• Declaration of consent of the shareholders
  
  Only for business notifications of legal entities in the process of formation
• Supplement for authorised representatives
  
  In the case of trade registrations for legal entities with multiple representatives

Forms

• Trade registration (Gewerbeanmeldung)
• Supplement to the application for authorised representatives
• Declaration of consent of the shareholders

Fees

• EUR 26.00 - per single person company, per associate for business partnerships
• EUR 31.00 - legal entity with one legal representative
• EUR 13.00 - for each additional representative of a legal entity
• EUR 15.00 - trade registration via electronic process (online processing)

Legal basis

• Trade Regulations (GewO) § 14 Sec. 1 - Duty of disclosure
• Trade Regulations (GewO) § 15 - Acknowledgement of receipt
• Trade Regulations (GewO) § 11 - Data processing
• Trade Regulations (GewO) § 6 Sec. 1 - Scope of application
• Trade Registration Ordinance (Gewerbeanzeigeverordnung or GewAnzV)
• Schedule of Administrative Fees (Verwaltungsgebührenordnung (VGebO))

More information

• Information sheet on trade registration (IHK Berlin)
• Information sheet on residence and employment of foreign nationals (IHK Berlin)
• Information sheet for companies and employees from other EU countries (IHK Berlin)
• Note on data protection (public order offices of the state of Berlin)
• Trade - register a trade requiring supervision (service)
• Overview - trades requiring a permit (Einheitlicher Ansprechpartner Berlin)
• Information sheet on money laundering obligations for traders (Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises)

Notes on responsibility

The competent Public Order Office for the district in which the company’s premises are located.

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