Application for, or modification of, a business permit

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Application for, modification of or cancellation of a business permit
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Apart from a few exceptions, any economic activity carried out on a regular basis is subject to the prior granting of a business permit.

As a rule, you must apply for a business permit if you wish to engage in the following professional activities, either as a self-employed person or as a company:

  • a commercial activity (trade, HORECA (hotel, restaurant and café), transports, industry, etc.);
  • a craft activity (food, fashion, construction, mechanical engineering, audiovisual, entertainment, art, etc.);
  • certain liberal professions which are mainly intellectual in nature.

You can consult the list of activities that are subject to a business permit (French, Pdf, 236 Kb).

You can apply for your business permit online via MyGuichet.lu. Online applications benefit from quicker processing because:

  • the payment of the tax stamp (timbre de chancellerie) is made directly online;
  • you can receive messages from the administration in your secure mailbox on MyGuichet.lu.
  • you will receive your business permit directly in your business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu.

The holder of a business permit must notify certain changes (for example: change of the managing director's usual place of residence, change of place of business, etc.) to the General Directorate for SME, Craft and Retail (see 'Mandatory notifications' below).

You can find the number of a company's business permit or check whether the company has a business permit by using the 'Search business permits' tool available on our website.

Who is concerned

The business permit is granted to the business if you meet the legal requirements in terms of:

In order to apply for a business permit you must be:

  • the owner of the business (if the activity is carried out in your own name); or
  • the legal representative of the company registered with the Trade and Companies Register (Registre de commerce et des sociétés - RCS), if the business has the legal form of a company.

You may not be appointed as the managing director of more than 2 craft businesses (which are not part of the same group of businesses) operating in the trades on lists A and B, unless you hold, directly or indirectly, at least 25 % of the shares in each of these businesses.

Special cases

Self-employed sales agents require a business permit as traders. Their salaried representatives are exempt from any specific permit but must carry out their activity under the cover of a business permit granted to their employer. It is therefore advisable to provide them with proof of their employer’s permit and proof of their recruitment.

Lawyers, physicians, dentists, veterinaries or statutory auditors (réviseurs d'entreprises) exercise liberal professions covered by laws other than those governing the authorisation of establishment.

Providers of intellectual services not included in the list of liberal professions must apply for a business permit for commercial activities and services.

Persons who sell their own products (craftwork, artwork, jam, honey, etc.), recycled items or items they did not purchase for commercial purposes, are not considered to be professionals and are therefore not required to have a business permit. However, they must hold a business permit for commercial activities and services if they wish to participate in fairs and markets or if they are operating a dedicated website to sell their goods online.

EU businesses that supply occasional and temporary services in Luxembourg do not require a business permit. Craftsmen and manufacturers nevertheless have to submit a prior notification to the General Directorate for SME, Craft and Retail.

Non-EU nationals who wish to set up in Luxembourg as self-employed persons must submit their business permit application together with their application for an authorisation to stay as a self-employed person. By doing so, they only have to send in a single dossier to the Minister responsible for immigration who then transfers the business permit section to the General Directorate for SME, Craft and Retail.

Journalistic or book authoring activities that do not involve self-publishing, as well as school projects involving entrepreneurial activity for educational purposes that do not generate an annual turnover excluding tax of more than EUR 35,000, are not subject to a business permit.

Prerequisites

To obtain a business permit, you must meet the following conditions:

  • professional integrity;
  • professional qualification in line with the planned activity:
  • establishment in Luxembourg; the business permit is only granted if there is a physical installation in Luxembourg that includes an infrastructure suitable for the nature and scale of the concerned activity;
  • effective and permanent management of the business by the business permit holder who must:
    • be physically present in the establishment at all times to ensure effective day-to-day management of the business;
    • be effectively connected to the business (as an owner or legal representative of the business);
  • compliance with tax and business obligations: the business manager must not have evaded business and tax obligations (including withholding tax) in their previous or current business activities, whether these activities were carried out in their own name or through a company run by said business manager.

The final granting of the business permit requires that the articles of association are filed with the Trade and Companies Register (RCS).

In order to request the permit online via MyGuichet.lu, applicants must have a LuxTrust 'Private' or 'Pro' certificate and be registered on MyGuichet.lu.

Costs

The stamp duty for the issue of a business permit amounts to EUR 50.

If you submit your application using an online form via MyGuichet.lu, you must pay the stamp duty directly during the procedure with:

  • Saferpay (Visa, American Express and Mastercard); or
  • Payconiq.

If you apply by post, you must enclose proof of payment of the stamp duty, i.e.:

IBAN: LU76 0019 5955 4404 7000
BIC: BCEELULL
Name of the beneficiary: Bureau de Diekirch - Recette
Communication: Autorisation de commerce.

The notification is not subject to stamp duty.

How to proceed

Submitting the application

You can submit your business permit application in 2 ways, where the first is strongly recommended because you will receive the business permit or the response from the administration directly in your business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu:

  • either filling in your business permit application yourself online via your business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu, using a LuxTrust product.
    The system uses the information you have entered to determine which documents you need to enclose with your application;
  • or by sending the business permit application by postal mail to the General Directorate for SME, Craft and Retail.

Anyone can get help with their business permit application through:

Documents to be submitted with the application

A list of documents to be attached to the application for a business permit:

The administration's response

Applications will usually be processed within 3 months from the receipt of the complete application. The absence of a response before the end of the 3-month period is equivalent to a tacit authorisation.

For applications submitted via MyGuichet.lu, you will receive messages from the administration exclusively in electronic form, via the MyGuichet.lu secure messaging system.

Appeal

A negative decision regarding an application for a business permit is an administrative decision against which the usual means of appeal (informal appeal, judicial appeal) can be used, provided the legal deadlines are complied with.

It is also possible to file a claim with the Ombudsman.

Issuance of the permit

If you have submitted your application via MyGuichet.lu and if the business permit is granted, you will receive it online, directly in your business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu.

A 2D barcode is assigned to each business permit.

This barcode must be displayed on letters, emails, websites, price quotes, invoices and shop fronts of all sales outlets, as well as on the signs that must be installed at all construction sites.

Procedures to carry out after obtaining the business permit

Once you have obtained your business permit, you will have to complete certain administrative formalities with various bodies (for example : AED, ADEM, Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts, Chamber of Commerce, Order of Architects and Consulting Engineers, Joint Social Security Centre, etc.).

You can find instructions for registration with the social security and an affiliation form for the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts which can be downloaded in the section 'Further information' below.

Validity of the permit

The business permit expires:

Modifying an existing business permit

The holder of a valid permit must request a new permit in the event of:

  • a change or extension of the company's objects;
  • a change of a company director to whom the qualification and professional integrity relate.

Mandatory notifications

You must notify the General Directorate for SME, Craft and Retail within one month of:

  • obtaining the guarantee for package travel and linked travel arrangements;
  • the opening of a branch office;
  • a change in the company's place of business (attach a copy of the lease contract);
  • the creation or closure of any sales outlet;
  • a change in the business manager's usual place of residence.

The notification can be submitted by post or email.

Obligations of all professionals

Each company must comply with the following throughout their existence:

  • all requirements with respect to obtaining a business permit;
  • all laws and regulations with respect to business management.

Sanctions

Professionals without a business permit run the risk of criminal sanctions (imprisonment and fines) and the temporary closure of the establishment.

Online services and forms

Online services

Application for, modification of or cancellation of a business permit

Other language(s)

Application for an extract from the criminal record for a natural person

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Downloadable forms

Note: view tips for using PDF forms.

Business permit application (including the declaration of honour)

Last update 18.10.2023

PDF1.28 Mb

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Supplementary declaration of honour

Last update 18.10.2023

PDF423 Kb

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Appointment booking

Rendez-vous au guichet de la Direction générale PME, artisanat et commerce auprès de la "House of Entrepreneurship"

Who to contact

  • Ministry of the Economy Reception desk of the General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises at the 'House of Entrepreneurship'

    Address:
    14, rue Erasme L-1468 Luxembourg Luxembourg
    Closed ⋅ Opens Monday at 9.00
    Sunday:
    Closed
    Monday:
    9.00 to 12.00
    Tuesday:
    9.00 to 12.00
    Wednesday:
    9.00 to 12.00
    Thursday:
    9.00 to 12.00
    Friday:
    9.00 to 12.00
    Saturday:
    Closed

Related procedures and links

Procedures

Links

Further information

Tools

Search business permits

Publications

Practical guide "Becoming an entrepreneur: from idea to launch, having a clear vision"

of the Chamber of Commerce

Legal references

  • Loi modifiée du 2 septembre 2011

    réglementant l'accès aux professions d'artisan, de commerçant, d'industriel ainsi qu'à certaines professions libérales

  • Règlement grand-ducal modifié du 1er décembre 2011

    1. d'établir la liste et le champ d'application des activités artisanales prévues à l'article 12(1) de la loi du 2 septembre 2011 réglementant l'accès aux professions d'artisan, de commerçant, d'industriel ainsi qu'à certaines professions libérales ; 2. de déterminer les critères d'équivalence prévus à l'article 12(3) de la loi du 2 septembre 2011 réglementant l'accès aux professions d'artisan, de commerçant, d'industriel ainsi qu'à certaines professions libérales

  • Règlement grand-ducal du 1er décembre 2011

    déterminant les modalités de l'instruction administrative prévue à l'article 28 de la loi du 2 septembre 2011 réglementant l'accès aux professions d'artisan, de commerçant, d'industriel ainsi qu'à certaines professions libérales

  • Règlement grand-ducal modifié du 3 février 2012

    précisant les modalités des formations prévues aux articles 7, 8 (1) c), 9 b) et 10 (1) b) de la loi du 2 septembre 2011 réglementant l'accès aux professions d'artisan, de commerçant, d'industriel ainsi qu'à certaines professions libérales

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