A Business permit is required for any person that wishes to engage in the following professional activities as a self-employed person or as a company:
- commercial activity (trade, HORECA (hotel, restaurant and catering sector), transports, industry, etc.);
- craft activity (food, fashion, construction, mechanical engineering, audiovisual, entertainment, art, etc.);
- or certain liberal professions which are mainly intellectual in nature.
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, doctors, dentists, veterinary surgeons or statutory auditors (réviseurs d'entreprises) exercise liberal professions covered by laws other than those governing the authorisation of establishment.
Intellectual services not included in the list of liberal professions are not subject to a business permit. However, the persons concerned can apply for a business permit as a trader in order to bill for their 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. They must nevertheless hold a business permit if they take part in fairs and markets.
EU businesses that supply occasional and temporary services in Luxembourg do not require a business permit. Skilled craftsmen and manufacturers nevertheless have to submit a prior notification to the General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.
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 of Immigration who then transfers the business permit section to the General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.
Any person can be assisted by the Business Centre of the Chamber of Commerce (Espace entreprises de la Chambre de Commerce), the "Business Contact" (Contact entreprise) department of the Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts, or by the information office General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) to prepare their application for authorisation