Before the forms comes the question of what exactly is being closed. That determines how many offices sit in the chain and who informs whom automatically. A mistake here stretches the closure over months.
Trade or liberal profession: the deregistration differs
A Gewerbe and a liberal profession have different recipients. One is deregistered at the trade office, the other reported directly to the tax office.
✓ Verified: 02/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
AUTHORITY
Finanzamt
Federal agencyThe BZSt is the federal body; your personal tax matters go to the Finanzamt for your registered address.
DOCUMENTS 2
› Details and tips
👩🏼💼
Lea recommends:
Check first what is actually registered: many people hold both a trade registration and a liberal profession. Then two strands need closing, and the notifications go to different places.
👨🏻💻
Max recommends:
I had done nothing under my trade registration for a year and assumed it lapsed. It did not: reminders for the declarations arrived, along with the chamber fee for the whole year.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where does the notification go for a Gewerbe? ▾
To the same authority as the registration. The trade regulations require notification not only of starting an independent business but expressly of the case where the business is given up. A separate trip to the tax office is usually unnecessary because the data is passed on.
What about a liberal profession without trade registration? ▾
Then no trade office features in your chain at all. The fiscal code provides for liberal professions to notify the competent tax office directly, and expressly extends that rule to giving the activity up.
Which date counts as the cessation date? ▾
The date the activity actually ends, not the day you fill in the form. That date governs the period of the closing declarations and the boundary between business and private assets, so it must be identical across all documents.
Do I have to deregister at all if I simply stop working? ▾
Yes. As long as the registration stands, the obligations stand: declarations, contributions, memberships. A dormant business with no turnover does not exempt you from filing and drags correspondence along for years.