Business registration

Every business in Austria must still register a trade before starting work if it is commercial and does not fall under the exemption provisions (§ 2 GewO). If your business is located in the city of Innsbruck, register your trade at the City Magistrate Innsbruck with the required documents.

There are free and regulated trades. For regulated trades, you must provide proof of qualification. Please note the deadlines when you are allowed to start your work.

You must also report anychanges of trade locationor newmanaging directors. If you no longer practice your trade, you can delete your trade. If you have any questions, the contact persons at Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. will be happy to help.

Who must register a trade?

Every company in Austria must apply for a trade license before starting work if it operates commercially and does not fall under the exemption provisions (§ 2 GewO). Even if it is a free trade, it must be registered. An activity is carried out commercially within the meaning of the Trade Regulation Act if it is carried out independently, regularly and with the intention of generating a profit or other economic benefit.

Which trades are free, which are regulated?

• The list of free trades can be found in the nationwide list of free trades (bmdw.gv.at).
• All regulated trades can be found in § 94 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (GewO).

No matter whether free or regulated trade, you must register all trades if you are commercially active and do not fall under the exemption provisions (§ 2 GewO))! In the case of free trades, only the certificate of competenceis not required.

How do I register my trade?

You can register your trade in person, by online form or by e-mail in the Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. with the required documents.

If you have detailed questions, you can contact the Trade and Business Facilities Department. If you need general information, please contact the start-up service of the Chamber of Commerce.

What documents do I need to register a business?

You need different documents depending on the trade and type of business (sole proprietors, companies, firms, etc.). In any case, you need a copy of the official photo ID.

There are free trades, for which you do not need a certificate of competence, and regulated trades, for which such a certificate is required.

Which certificates of competence do I have to provide?

You only need to provide proof of competence for regulated trades. Which exactly varies from trade to trade. To do this, you must first use the list of trades in Austria(Section 94 of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (GewO)) to determine which trade your activity falls under. Which certificates of competence you have to provide is defined for each trade in a separate ordinance. All ordinances can be found in the RIS (legal information system of the federal government). If you have detailed questions, you can contact the Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. ... If you need general information, please contact the start-up service of the Chamber of Commerce.

Qualifications can be, among others:

• Master craftsman's examination
• School leaving certificate
• Service certificate
• Graduation certificate
• Work certificates
• etc.

If you are not qualified yourself, you can also hire someone who can prove this qualification. This person is then the managing director under trade law. When registering, you will also need this authorization form. If this person leaves the company, you must hire another person with proof of qualification and register the new managing director.

Example: Required documents for business registration of a company

1. Contact details
2. Business location
3. Company register excerpt
4. Trade wording(list of free tra des or § 94 GewO). You must select from the list which trade your activity falls into. From this you can see whether your trade is regulated or free.
5. If the trade is regulated, you need a certificate of competence.
   1. for each regulated trade there is a separate regulation, which lists how the qualification can be proven.
   2. If you do not have the qualification yourself, you can also hire someone who does. This person will then be the professional manager. To do so, you must attach this Authorization Form to the application.
6. Data of the managing director under trade law and of all partners:
   1. Name
   2. Date of birth
   3. Social security number
   4. Residence
   5. Telephone number or e-mail
   6. Managing directors under trade law from third countries also need a valid residence permit.
   7. Proof of qualification
7. Photo IDs of all managing directors and shareholders with significant influence
8. The past five years are checked for reasons for disqualifying the managing director under trade law and all managing directors and shareholders with a significant influence:
   1. If you have had your place of residence in Austria throughout this period, the department can check this itself.
   2. If you did not have your residence in Austria, you need:
      1. Criminal record excerpt
      2. Confirmation of residence (If there is no confirmation of residence in the country where you were, then you need proof that you lived there, e.g. invoices, etc.)
      3. Confirmation that no bankruptcy has been dismissed for lack of assets or has not been opened.
9. You or the managing director under trade law as well as all managing directors and shareholders with a significant influence must submit a declaration that there are no reasons for excluding a trade. For this purpose, there is a formentitled "Grounds for exclusion from the trade". Judicial grounds for exclusion include the following
   1. court sentences over three months or over 180 daily sentences
   2. if insolvency was not opened due to lack of assets
   3. organized illicit work
   4. fraudulent crida (criminal act): fraudulent or grossly negligent causing of insolvency by a debtor, etc.
   5. All reasons for exclusion can be found in §13 GewO.
10. You need an order authority of the company or the owner of the trade towards the managing director under trade law. This authorization form is available for this purpose.
11. You need a confirmation of the employment of the managing director under trade law with the company or the owner of the trade of at least 20 hours per week, if he/she is not the managing director under commercial law.
12. You must indicate the date from which the trade is to be registered. You can apply for registration only from the date of application.

If you are a sole proprietor who can prove the qualification for the trade himself/herself, then you do not need to consider items 3, 6, 10 and 11. If you want to be sure which documents you need, please contact the Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law . For general questions, please contact the business start-up service of the Chamber of Commerce.

You can also use the following forms for registration:

• Form 1: Registration of a trade for a sole proprietorship (natural person) with own qualification
• Form 1a: Registration of a trade for a sole proprietorship (natural person) with a managing director under trade law
• Form2: Registration of a trade for a legal entity
• Form4: Registration of a cateringbusiness(natural person) with own qualification
• Form 4a: Registration of a cateringbusiness(natural person) with a managing director under trade law
• Form 5: Registration for catering establishments(legal person/partnership) andnotification of managing director
• Form 8: Notification for an additional business establishment (natural person)
• Form 8a: Notification for an additional business establishment (legal entity/partnership)
• further forms for business registration

When may I start my trade activity?

If the trade is not a sensitive trade according to § 95 GewO 1994, the trade can be started immediately after registration. However, the documents must be complete and there must be no grounds for excluding the trade. If you start your activity after filing the application and your documents are not complete, you are liable to prosecution.

Even the placement of advertisements is a commercial activity and may only be started when the application has been received in full by Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. has received it.

What are the deadlines for registering a trade?

You must register your business before you start trading - see: When may Istart my trade activity?

The Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. has three months to register your trade after submitting the complete documents. If your trade has been registered in the Gewerbeinformationssystem Austria, a GISA extract (= trade license) will be sent to you.

What do I have to do when changing my business location?

You must report a change of location to Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. if the new location is in Innsbruck. Otherwise, the respective district authority is responsible. For this it is sufficient to send an e-mail with the following content:

• Name and address
• if you run several trades: Details of which trade it is
• old location
• new location
• Copy of ID card
• if possible: GISA number. This can be found on the trade license.

You can also use the following forms to report the relocation:

• Notification of relocation of business natural person
• Notification of relocation of alegal entity/partnership

What do I have to do if a new managing director is appointed?

In such a case, you must register the new managing director with the following documents at Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. with the following documents:

1. Form of resignation and entry of the previous or new managing director(s)
   1. Notification of managing director oflegal entity/partnership
   2. Notification ofthe appointment of anatural person as managing director
2. Photo ID of the new managing director and of the trade owner
3. Data of the new managing director:
   1. Name
   2. Date of birth
   3. Social security number
   4. Residence
   5. Telephone number or e-mail
4. Managing director from third countries: valid residence permit
5. If you did not reside in Austria:
   1. Criminal record extract
   2. Confirmation of residence (If there is no confirmation of residence in the country where you have been, then proof that you have lived there, e.g. invoices, etc.)
   3. Confirmation that no bankruptcy has been dismissed for lack of assets or has not been opened.
6. The managing director under trade law must submit a declaration that there are no reasons for excluding the trade. This form is available for this purpose. Judicial grounds for exclusion include the following
   1. court sentences over three months or over 180 daily sentences
   2. If insolvency has not been opened due to lack of assets.
   3. Organized illegal work
   4. Fraudulent crida (criminal act): fraudulent or grossly negligent bringing about of insolvency by a debtor, etc.
   5. All grounds for exclusion can be found in §13 GewO.
7. You need an order authority of the company/individual towards the managing director under trade law. This authorization formis available for this purpose.
8. You need a confirmation of the employment of the managing director under trade law at the company of at least 20 hours per week, if he/she is not the managing director under commercial law.
9. Certificate of qualification of the new managing director under commercial law

How do I delete my trade?

If you no longer wish to exercise your trade, you can have your trade deleted at the Trade and Business Facilities Department. To do so, you just need to send an e-mail with the following content to the Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. :

• Name and address
• Indication of the trade you wish to cancel
• Copy of your identity card
• if possible: GISA number. This is written on the trade license.

You can also use the following forms for cancellation:

• Form 13: Cancellation of trade (natural person)
• Form 13a: Cancellation of trade (legal person/partnership)

Who can help me with business registration?

If you have detailed questions, you can contact the Service Unit Business and operating facilities - Professional law .. ... If you need general information, please contact the start-up service of the Chamber of Commerce.