Gewerbeanmeldung 2026: How to Register a Trade in Germany with Form GewA 1

You register a trade (Gewerbe) with the trade office (Gewerbeamt) of your municipality on the nationwide form GewA 1, at the same time as you start, so on your first working day at the latest (§ 14 GewO). The municipality sets the fee: Berlin charges 15 € online and 26 € in person, Munich 50 to 60 €. This applies to sole traders, GbRs, UGs and GmbHs; liberal professions under § 18 EStG only register with the tax office.

Key facts at a glance

• Deadline: at the same time as you start (§ 14(1) GewO). Registering late or not at all risks a fine of up to 1,000 € (§ 146(2) no. 2(b) and (3) GewO).
• Form: GewA 1, the same everywhere in Germany, 33 fields on two pages. Online, by post or in person at the Gewerbeamt where your business is located.
• Fee: set by the municipality. Berlin 26 € in person, 15 € online, 31 € for a legal entity; Munich 50 to 60 € depending on the legal form.
• Gewerbeschein: the office confirms receipt within three days (§ 15(1) GewO).
• Next: tax registration questionnaire within one month (§ 138(4) AO). The tax number usually arrives 4 to 8 weeks later.

Do I have to register a trade?

You must register any independent, ongoing, profit-oriented activity that is not a liberal profession, agriculture or forestry, or the mere management of your own assets. Whether you make a profit in the first year does not matter. A side business and a small trade with a few hundred euros of revenue must be registered too.

In borderline cases the tax office decides based on your activity description. An IT consultant who also sells hardware is a trader for the sales. The details are in Freiberufler vs. Gewerbetreibender.

How often the question comes up shows in 4,423 registrations that founders made with Norman in 2025 (self-employed professions in Germany). One in five concerns IT and tech (20.1%), a field where many count as Freiberufler and register no trade. Clearly commercial, by contrast, are e-commerce (6.2%), retail (5.2%), transport and logistics (7.7%, almost 30% of them app-based delivery and ride services) and the creators in marketing and social media (29.4% of that category).

For UG and GmbH: the commercial register entry does not replace the trade registration. If you register before the company is entered, note 4 on the form says the notice only covers the founders. It covers the company once you show the office the register extract.

Documents to prepare

• ID card, or passport with registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung)
• For citizens outside the EU and EEA: a residence permit that allows self-employment (fields 30 and 31)
• For activities that need a licence, the licence, for example under § 34c GewO for brokers or § 34a GewO for security services (field 28)
• For licensed crafts under Annex A of the Crafts Code, the Handwerkskarte (field 29)
• For UG and GmbH: commercial register extract and articles of association; the managing directors register
• For a GbR: a separate form for each managing partner

Filling in form GewA 1: the fields that cause queries

Most fields are basic data. Queries and later costs come from these fields:

Wording your activity in field 18

The form asks for a precise description. If you do several things, you underline the main one. Too broad, and the office asks questions or suspects an activity that needs a licence. Too narrow, and every expansion needs a change notice (GewA 2) and a new fee. The examples below cover the most common activities in our registration data. Write the description in German; the English is here for reference.

Avoid words like "Vermittlung" (brokerage), "Finanzberatung" (financial advice) or "Bewachung" (security) unless you do that work. They trigger a licence check.

How to register: online, by post or in person

1. Find the responsible office. It is the Gewerbeamt where your business premises are, in many cities part of the Ordnungsamt. In Berlin it is the Ordnungsamt of your district.
2. Choose the channel. Online through your city or state portal, by post with a signed form, or in person with an appointment. To log in, portals ask for an account such as BundID or BayernID, the online ID function or an ELSTER certificate. Munich, for example, needs a BayernID account but not the online ID function.
3. Fill in and sign the form. On paper you sign in field 33. Online you confirm in the portal.
4. Upload or show your documents and pay the fee: online by transfer or payment service, in person in cash or by card.
5. Keep the Gewerbeschein. In person you get the receipt at once; online it comes as a PDF or by post. Banks, chambers and insurers ask for it.

How much does registration cost in 2026?

There is no national fee. Each municipality sets it in its fee schedule, and online is sometimes cheaper:

For other cities, check your Gewerbeamt's page. The fee is a business expense. Licensed activities add costs for the licence, a certificate of good conduct or an extract from the central trade register.

Chamber of commerce (IHK) membership is automatic but often free for founders: natural persons without a commercial register entry pay no contribution while their trade income stays at or below 5,200 € a year. Founders with no trade or self-employed income in the five years before are fully exempt in the founding year and the year after if their trade income is at most 25,000 € (§ 3(3) IHKG).

After registration: deadlines in the first weeks

The Gewerbeamt forwards your notice to the tax office, the chamber, the employers' liability insurance association (Berufsgenossenschaft) and other bodies. Under note 1 of the form, the notice also counts as notice to the tax office under § 138(1) AO. The tax office still lacks your tax details, though.

For the business account, banks often ask for the Gewerbeschein. Among traders using Norman, N26 is the most connected bank (about 21%), followed by Sparkasse (about 16%). About one in five trades has a Sparkasse or Volksbank account connected, almost twice the share among freelancers (banks of the self-employed).

In the questionnaire you also decide on the small business scheme (Kleinunternehmerregelung): it applies if your revenue did not exceed 25,000 € last year and does not exceed 100,000 € this year (§ 19 UStG). You then invoice without VAT, but you cannot reclaim input VAT either.

Sole traders and partnerships pay trade tax only on trade income above 24,500 € a year (§ 11(1) GewStG). UG and GmbH have no allowance.

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Main or side business

For tax, field 19 changes nothing: same form, same fee, same duties towards the tax office. It matters for social insurance. As a main business you arrange your own health and long-term care insurance. As a side business you stay insured through your job, as long as the self-employment stays behind the job in hours and income.

If you are employed, check your contract for a duty to report side work. How a side business and the small business scheme fit together is explained in Kleingewerbe vs. Kleinunternehmer.

Changing and deregistering: GewA 2 and GewA 3

• GewA 2, change: a move within the municipality, a new or wider activity, a new managing partner.
• GewA 3, deregistration: when you close the trade. The municipality sets the fee; Munich charges 35 €.
• Moving to another municipality: a new GewA 1 at the new location. According to the form, it includes the deregistration at the old one.

If you forget to deregister, the chamber and the Gewerbeamt keep you on file and contribution notices keep coming.

What a mistake costs

• Late or no registration: a fine of up to 1,000 € under § 146 GewO. The tax office still counts your income from day one.
• Starting a licensed activity without the licence: the notice permits nothing. The office can stop the business under § 15(2) GewO.
• Missing the questionnaire: the tax office sends reminders and can enforce it with a penalty payment (§ 328 AO). Until the tax number arrives, your invoices lack a mandatory detail (§ 14(4) UStG).
• Activity worded too narrowly: every expansion costs a change notice and a new fee.

How to do it with Norman

1. Start the trade registration. After the tax registration questionnaire, Norman asks "Run a trade (Gewerbe), not a freelance profession?". For a UG or GmbH, the home screen shows "Register with the Gewerbeamt". Both lead to "Register your trade (Gewerbeanmeldung)".
2. Fill in three steps. Under "Basics" you enter the start date, at most 14 days ahead. "Business" covers legal form, premises and activity, which you can sharpen with "Reformulate with AI". Under "Owner" you choose main or side business. Details from your questionnaire or GmbH formation are already filled in.
3. Sign and generate. Under "Sign & generate" you sign on screen, confirm the details and click "Generate Gewerbeanmeldung".
4. Download and submit. "Download the form (PDF)" gives you the completed GewA 1. For many large cities Norman names the responsible Gewerbeamt. You submit the form yourself with a copy of your ID.

The limit: Norman does not submit the trade registration to the office and does not pay the fee. The tax registration questionnaire, by contrast, you send straight from Norman through ELSTER. Both work with a free Norman account. What Norman then handles for bookkeeping and taxes is on the trade registration with Norman page.

From our own experience

Ironically, Norman itself missed the Gewerbeanmeldung and only filed after a letter from the Gewerbeamt. Don't be like us: don't miss the filing.

Read next: tax registration questionnaire, Freiberufler vs. Gewerbetreibender, trade tax and business bank account.