# Starting a Sole Proprietorship in Germany: Registration and Tax Source: https://norman.finance/de/en/sole-proprietorship **For new accounts:** 75% off your first 3 months. No credit card needed. Create an account: https://app.norman.finance/sign-up?utm_source=ai_markdown&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=en-sole-proprietorship --- The Einzelunternehmen is Germany's most common legal form: no minimum capital, no notary, one person. How you register depends on whether your work is freiberuflich or gewerblich — and that also decides trade tax and chamber membership. ## For sole traders who want to manage without an accountant Registration, ongoing bookkeeping, and tax returns in one place. Invoicing and bookkeeping are free; you pay only when you file. - **Automated EÜR preparation:** Norman maintains your income-expenditure report continuously and prepares it automatically at year-end. - **Deductions you'd otherwise miss:** Norman's AI checks every expense for deductibility. No deduction slips through anymore. - **Income tax declaration:** Norman pre-fills your income tax declaration with data from your ongoing bookkeeping. - **ELSTER submission included:** Submit your tax declarations directly from Norman to the tax office, no extra software needed. - **Live tax estimates:** See at any time how much tax is coming your way and plan ahead with real-time data. ## What applies to a sole proprietorship Five points that decide how the year runs. 1. **Freiberufler and Gewerbe are both Einzelunternehmen.** Einzelunternehmen is the umbrella term for a business with one natural person behind it. Whether you work freiberuflich under § 18 EStG or gewerblich does not change the legal form — but it decides nearly everything else. 2. **Freiberufler: the tax questionnaire only.** Liberal professions register no trade. The Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung at the tax office is enough: no Gewerbeanmeldung, no trade tax, no compulsory chamber membership. Norman completes and submits the questionnaire. 3. **Gewerbetreibende: trade registration plus questionnaire.** Commercial activity needs the Gewerbeanmeldung at the trade office first — roughly €15 to €65 depending on the city — and the questionnaire after. Norman handles both steps. 4. **EÜR up to €800,000 turnover or €80,000 profit.** A sole proprietorship determines profit by cash-basis EÜR. Full bookkeeping and a balance sheet only become mandatory above €800,000 turnover or €80,000 annual profit (§ 241a HGB). Freiberufler may use the EÜR regardless of those limits. 5. **Trade tax only above €24,500.** Sole proprietorships get a €24,500 allowance on trade income. Below it no trade tax is due, and what falls above is largely credited against your income tax. Freiberufler do not pay it at all. ## What Norman takes off your month-end Norman reduces recurring finance work before receipts, VAT, and deadlines become a problem. - 8 hours: sorting receipts each month - 5 tools: to keep in sync - Tax stress: before every deadline ## Norman instead of manual finance routine Receipts, invoices, tax data, and advisor handoff work together instead of splitting across five tools. | | Norman | Manual without Norman | | --- | --- | --- | | Receipts | Captured and categorized as they arrive | Pile up in your inbox and shoeboxes | | Client invoices | One workflow with automatic reminders | Word template and manual sending | | EÜR & VAT returns | Prepared from live data | Built in spreadsheets at deadline | | Advisor handoff | One login, structured data | ZIP via email and follow-ups | ## Plans that grow with your workflow Start free and unlock tax, team, and automation features when you need them. ### Self-employed (Freelancers & sole traders) - **Free**: Core accounting features. €0. - Unlimited e-invoicing - Tax write-off tips - AI Autopilot - Connect to ChatGPT & Claude - Receipt scanning (OCR) - Norman AI usage limits - **Klein**: For Kleinunternehmer. Monthly: €12/month (excl. VAT). Yearly: €9/month (excl. VAT). -75% for 3 months: €3/month (excl. VAT), then €12. - Bank sync - Annual tax declarations (EÜR) - Personal income tax - Declare salary as an employee - UStVA & ZM filing - Higher Norman AI limits - **Pro**: For self-employed charging VAT. Monthly: €28/month (excl. VAT). Yearly: €21/month (excl. VAT). -75% for 3 months: €7/month (excl. VAT), then €28. - VAT returns - All tax declarations - Tax efficiency score - Receipt auto-matching - Up to 5 bank accounts synced - Maximum Norman AI limits **Registration, bookkeeping, and taxes in one place:** Norman registers your sole proprietorship, keeps the books, and handles EÜR, VAT, and income tax. [Start for free](https://app.norman.finance/sign-up) ## FAQ ### Is a Freiberufler a sole proprietorship? Yes. Einzelunternehmen is the legal form for a business with one natural person behind it, and Freiberufler fall under it. The difference from Gewerbetreibende is not the legal form but the nature of the work: liberal professions under § 18 EStG register no trade and pay no trade tax. ### Do I need a Gewerbeanmeldung? Only if your activity is commercial. Liberal professions — doctors, lawyers, engineers, journalists, and many advisory and creative activities — register no trade and submit only the tax questionnaire. Commercial activities such as retail, skilled trades, or hospitality need both. ### What does it cost to start one? Very little. There is no minimum capital and no notary appointment. Freiberufler pay nothing to register; Gewerbetreibende pay the trade registration fee of roughly €15 to €65 depending on the city. With Norman, both the trade registration and the questionnaire are free. ### Do I have to prepare a balance sheet? Usually not. A sole proprietorship can use the cash-basis EÜR as long as turnover stays under €800,000 and profit under €80,000 a year (§ 241a HGB). Freiberufler may use the EÜR regardless of those thresholds. ### When do I start paying trade tax? Above €24,500 of trade income, and only as a Gewerbetreibender. Trade tax is also largely credited against your income tax, so the real additional burden is usually much smaller than the municipal rate suggests. Freiberufler are fully exempt. ### How does liability work? Unlimited, including your personal assets. That is the real difference from a UG or GmbH, where liability is limited to the company's assets. Growing risk or a growing business is the usual reason people look at changing legal form. ## Related pages - [Freelancers](https://norman.finance/de/en/freelancers): Automate invoices, receipts, bookkeeping, and German tax workflows as a freelancer. - [Self-employed](https://norman.finance/de/en/self-employed): Norman keeps invoices, receipts, bookkeeping, and German tax workflows organized for self-employed operators. - [Small business](https://norman.finance/de/en/small-business): Simple bookkeeping, invoicing, and tax workflows for small businesses under Germany's Kleinunternehmer rules. - [Founders](https://norman.finance/de/en/founders): Norman sets up bookkeeping, invoicing, and German tax workflows for founders and new self-employed operators before the first receipts pile up. - [Freelancer or trade?](https://norman.finance/de/en/freelancer-or-trade): Freiberufler or Gewerbe? Take the 2-minute test to find out whether your activity is a liberal profession (§ 18 EStG) or a trade (§ 15 EStG) in Germany: catalog professions, trade tax, and registration explained. - [EÜR](https://norman.finance/de/en/income-surplus-statement): Create your EÜR online without Excel: Norman categorizes income and expenses, finds deductions and files the Anlage EÜR via ELSTER. Bookkeeping is free. - [Taxes](https://norman.finance/de/en/taxes): Norman builds tax data from live bookkeeping so EÜR, VAT returns, and ELSTER-ready workflows do not start right before the deadline. - [VAT return](https://norman.finance/de/en/vat-return): Norman calculates your German VAT return (UStVA) from bank and receipts and submits it to the Finanzamt via ELSTER. For GmbH, UG and the self-employed. - [Accounting](https://norman.finance/de/en/accounting): Norman keeps receipts, bank transactions, and categories connected, so your bookkeeping stays current week by week. - [GmbH](https://norman.finance/de/en/gmbh): Norman automates bookkeeping, invoices, payments, and German tax workflows for GmbHs.