Gewerbe ummelden

Are you moving your business to a new location in the relevant municipality? Or do you offer additional other goods or services in the future that are unusual for the currently registered trade? In these and other cases, you must re-register your business.

If you wish to relocate the registered office of your company within the area of responsibility of the municipality that was already responsible for it, you must re-register your trade. The same applies if you change the location of your registered office or the registered office of a branch or dependent branch. The local trade or regulatory office is responsible for this.

If you change the subject of your trade, you must also re-register your trade. This is the case, for example, if you offer goods or services in your business exclusively or additionally in the future that are not customary in relation to your registered trade. An example would be the expansion of a stationery business to include travel agency services. The same applies if you continue to sell the same goods but change the scope of your business from retail to wholesale.

If there is a change in the subject matter of your business, you will need to re-register not only your standing business, but also your travel business.

Certain changes related to your business are not subject to notification. You can, however, report such changes voluntarily - for example, if you are giving up an activity, sideline business, etc.

The following persons or their authorized representatives must carry out the re-registration:

• In the case of sole traders, by the trader himself/herself,
• in the case of legal entities (e.g. limited liability company, joint stock company), by the legal representatives.

In the case of partnerships (e.g. OHG, KG, GbR/BGB-Gesellschaft, GmbH & Co. KG), business re-registrations must be made by all partners authorized to manage the business.

If you move your place of business to the jurisdiction of another municipality, you must first deregister the trade at the previous location and then re-register it at the new location. This is not a case of re-registration.

Activities that pose a potential risk to third parties and are therefore subject to special monitoring trigger a review of personal reliability by the responsible regulatory authority. Accordingly, if you expand your business to include such activities that are subject to monitoring, you must apply for the documents required to verify your reliability.

• Copy of ID card or passport with certificate of registration, or presentation on site. In the case of electronic business re-registration, depending on the municipality, further suitable and appropriate procedures for establishing identity (for example PIN/TAN procedure, the electronic ID function, De-Mail or a self-declaration of identity).
• Copy of the extract from the commercial register, if your company is entered in the commercial register (also: register of cooperatives, register of associations).
  

• You move the place of business, a branch office or a dependent branch office within the jurisdiction of a municipality, or
• you change or expand the goods and services offered, so that the character of your business changes, or
• You change your name or the name of your business.
• Voluntary reporting contents: for example, the abandonment of an activity, sideline.

You can re-register your trade in person, in writing (for example, by fax or letter) or by electronic means.

• If the deregistration is done in person or in writing, you must fill out the form "Gewerbe-Ummeldung" - GewA 2 and sign it personally.
• The form "GewA 2" is available at the office responsible for the re-registration or, depending on the offer, can also be downloaded. The same data is collected in the electronic procedure as in the personal re-registration. However, the form may not be the same and you do not have to sign it personally.
• In the case of electronic re-registration in the online procedure, the competent office may use suitable and appropriate procedures to establish your identity (for example, PIN/TAN procedures, the electronic ID function, De-Mail or a self-declaration of identity).
• You will receive a certificate from the authority for the receipt of your trade re-registration.
• The competent authority will forward the trade re-registration to other authorities, such as the tax office, the employers' liability insurance association, the chamber of crafts or the chamber of industry and commerce and, if applicable, the registration court.

• After receipt of your complete documents, your application will be processed

If you have filled out the form correctly and your documents are complete, the competent office will certify receipt of your re-registration immediately if you come in person. If you reregister in writing or electronically, you will receive the receipt of your reregistration within 3 days.

You are required to reregister your trade at the time of business relocation or change. If you change or expand the subject of the trade, you must also re-register at that time.

If you expand your business to include an activity that requires a permit and the relevant permit is not on file with the authority, the competent body may prevent you from continuing your business.

• Business re-registration
• A trade re-registration is required for:
  • Relocation of the place of business or the location of a branch office or dependent branch office within the jurisdiction of a municipality.
  • Change or expansion of the goods and services offered to include those that were not previously part of the registered trade (e.g. new assortment of goods that is not customary for the registered trade; change of industry, expansion from retail to wholesale, etc.).
  • Name changes of the trader or his business.
  • On a voluntary basis, other circumstances may be reported (e.g. abandonment of a sideline business).
• If the place of business is moved to the jurisdiction of a municipality other than the one previously responsible or to another state, the trade must first be deregistered in the previous municipality. The trade is then re-registered at the new location.
• Responsible: depending on the federal state, the local trade or regulatory office.

You must re-register the trade with the lower trade authority responsible for you. As a rule, this is the trade office or regulatory office of your municipality.

- Forms: yes

- Online procedure possible: yes (if offered)

- Written form required: no

- Personal appearance required: no