Registration of a free business licence (Freie Gewerbe) in Austria
- Severina Ditzov
- Jun 27, 2022
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 24
In this article, you will learn about:
The first step toward setting up your business is to make sure you fall under the right category of self-employment.
This article is dedicated to those who want to take the next step and register a free business licence and self-employment in Austria.
In general, there are two ways of dealing with the registration of a free business licence (Freie Gewerbe) in Austria: online (the recommended way, as it gives you access to all the online authority channels) and the traditional way of sending a form by mail. If you’ve already decided on the way you’re going to register, you can just jump to whichever section below is more relevant for you.
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Requirements & deadlines
You officially become self-employed the moment you start conducting a business classified as self-employment.
Registration works as a notification to all the relevant authorities that you have started your activity. It’s your duty to register, and there are certain deadlines as well as penalties for missing them.
It’s mandatory to register a free business licence once the professional activity is identified to be on this official list or once the WKO confirms such necessity.
The registration of a free business licence happens at the district or city administration authorities (Bezirksverwaltungsbehörden). In Vienna, it’s a municipal district office ("Magistratisches Bezirksamt" or “MA 63”).
General requirements for sole proprietorships (natural persons) are:
18 years old, no legal adult representative (proved by submitting a copy of a passport or a personal ID)
Austrian citizenship, citizenship of a member state of the EU or unlimited residence permit required for non-EU citizens (proved by submitting a copy of a passport or a personal ID); third-country nationals need a residence permit, which allows access to the labour market or allows self-employment (proved by submitting a copy of a residence permit)
clear record from financial crimes such as tax evasion, embezzlement, etc. (criminal record certificate of the country where the applicant resided in the previous 5 years, translated by a sworn translator)
absence of grounds for exclusion
For details on all possible grounds of exclusion, visit this page.
Upon receipt of all application documents, the commercial activity can be started as soon as all prerequisites have been met.
After registration of your business licence, you will automatically become a member of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO) and can start your activity (upon receipt of all application documents, the commercial activity can be started as soon as all prerequisites have been met). You can expect a lot of leaflets and letters with instructions to come to your mailbox within around 2 weeks after registration. Additionally, an annual fee for the membership at the WKO will apply (cost depending on the type of licence).
Please note that if you conduct more than one business activity. There is an exception when the additional activity you want to perform is actually related to your business licences. In this case, you don’t have to register another business licence. However, you have to be careful that this additional activity is always factually related to the main business.
The next step is registration at the Austrian Tax Office (Finanzamt) and the Austrian Insurance Institution for Self-employed (SVS). In both cases, the deadline is 4 weeks from starting the professional activity. Our recommendation is to do it right away, because the process sometimes requires waiting for some activation letters (e.g., Finanzonline account, ID Austria).
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