The trade has to be registered with the trade authority. Registration may be made – without meeting specific formal requirements or by using a form – personally, in writing or also electronically.
Informal applications have to include the following information:
- Precise title of the trade
- Full details of the location where the trade is carried on
- Precise name of the person/entity registering the trade
- For natural persons: first name, surname, address, date and place of birth, citizenship, social insurance number
- For companies/associations: complete company name and Commercial Register number or complete name of the association and Central Association Register number, business address
- If a manager pursuant to trade law is registered at the same time:
- First name and surname, address, date and place of birth as well as citizenship of the manager pursuant to trade law
- If she/he has employee status:
- Social insurance number
- Account number of employer
Tip
If you contact the competent Economic Chamber (→ WKO)German text, it will assist you in registering your trade free of charge.
Trade registration will take legal effect if all requirements are met and the necessary documents are attached to the request. The trade may be carried on as from the date of registration.
Trades in accordance with section 95 of the Gewerbeordnung (hereinafter referred to as "section-95 trades") as well as the chimney sweep trade may be carried on only as from the date on which the final administrative decision (Feststellungsbescheid) is issued. The competent authority has to issue the final administrative decision within three months.
As far as section-95 trades as well as the chimney sweep trade are concerned, the appointment of a manager pursuant to trade law will become effective only as from the date of the notification of approval (Genehmigungsbescheid).
Entry into the Austrian Business Licence Information System (GISA)
The person/entity registering a business is entered into the Austrian Business Licence Information System within three months as from the legally valid registration if all requirements have been met (i.e. if all documents were received by the authority and/or individual professional competence for carrying on the regulated trade has been approved with binding force).
If the requirements are not yet fully met and/or if the required documents were not available upon trade registration and if any of the following requests is filed
upon trade registration, the authority has to take into account administrative decisions issued within the three-month deadline.
Example
A waiver of ineligibility in favour of the person/entity making the registration – which has been issued with legal effect after registration – may be taken into account by the trade authority if the request for the waiver had been submitted no later than upon trade registration.
The date of the legally effective trade registration is defined as the date on which all documents required were received by the trade authority and on which, if applicable, individual professional competence was recognised, a waiver of ineligibility was granted, on which professional competence was recognised or equivalence was established.
The authority will forward a registration certificate of the GISA as well as in the case of section-95 trades a final administrative decision.
The GISA-certificate will be sent to you by standard mail. If you registered a section-95 trade, the final administrative decision required for operating your business will be sent to you in a letter with return receipt ("RSb-Brief").
If the requirements for carrying on a trade have not been met, you will receive an administrative decision rejecting your application.