Business Permit in Luxembourg: How to Apply, Form and Fee
How do you apply for a business permit in Luxembourg? You file one application with the Ministry of the Economy, online from a MyGuichet.lu business eSpace or by post, and pay a 50 EUR fee, Guichet.lu says. The law gives the Ministry three months from a complete file; in 2025, by the Ministry’s own count, files took 6.62 days on average.
Do I need a business permit, and who applies?
Apart from some exceptions, any economic activity you carry on habitually in Luxembourg needs a business permit (autorisation d’établissement) before it starts, and a sole trader applies in their own name, a company through its manager registered at the trade register (RCS), says Guichet.lu’s application page.
Article 3 of the law of 2 September 2011 has the Ministry grant the permit once the conditions of establishment, integrity and qualification are met. Without one, Guichet.lu warns, you risk criminal penalties, prison and fines, and the provisional closure of your business.
Each condition, and each activity with rules of its own, has its guide under business permit.
Bill n° 8759 would let commercial activities not otherwise regulated and List C crafts, the crafts that need no qualification, among others, start on a notification number instead of a prior permit. It is not law: the Council of State’s opinion of 27 October 2026 raises formal oppositions.
What goes in the application file?
Every file holds the application form, which includes your declaration of honour, and a copy of your ID card or residence permit. The other requirements depend on where you have lived, your activity, and whether you are forming a company.
Section 6 of the application form lists the documents:
| Document | Who adds it |
|---|---|
| The application form, with your declaration of honour in section 4 | Everyone |
| A copy of your ID card or residence permit, both sides | Everyone |
| Criminal record extracts (the Luxembourg bulletin n° 3, foreign extracts or both) and, in some cases, a non-bankruptcy declaration sworn before a notary, each under 6 months old | Everyone, by where you have lived and whether you have a Luxembourg national ID number (matricule) |
| The certificate for the activity | HORECA (hotels, restaurants and cafés), transport and real estate; otherwise a commercial activity or a List C craft needs no qualification |
| Copies of your diplomas, a CCSS (social security) affiliation certificate and an EC attestation under directive 2005/36/EC | List A or B crafts and liberal professions; see recognising a foreign diploma |
| Draft articles of association, enough for an agreement in principle; the articles registered at the RCS before the permit is issued | A company being formed |
| The supplementary declaration of honour, with a bulletin n° 3 and a copy of a passport or ID card | Each beneficial owner, manager or director of the company other than the applicant |
| A lease or other proof of your premises | Later: at the latest in a second step, once the file is examined |
| Proof of the 50 EUR payment | Paper applications only |
Online, the system picks the documents from your answers, Guichet.lu says. Copies are accepted, though the Minister may ask for the original of an unclear one, article 3 of the regulation of 1 December 2011 says.
The four criteria for a business permit explains what the Ministry checks; proving a clean professional history covers the criminal record extracts and the declaration of honour, and what counts as a fixed place of operation the premises.
The House of Entrepreneurship helps you prepare and file the application for free, says Guichet.lu’s page on its services. The Ministry’s permit line, Guichet.lu adds, answers on (+352) 247 74 700, weekdays 9:00–12:00 and 13:30–16:30, and at info.pme@eco.etat.lu.
How do I apply online, and what does the form ask?
Online, you apply from a business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu, which Guichet.lu says takes a LuxTrust « private » or « pro » certificate and a Luxembourg national ID number (matricule); the form then asks about your activity, « Start Your Business », where you live and your files.
- Check your matricule. A business eSpace needs a 13-digit Luxembourg national ID number, says Guichet.lu’s help page on business eSpaces. If you are not Luxembourgish, live abroad and have none, the national register (RNPP) can give you one for a permit application, free, Guichet.lu’s RNPP page says: you attach a residence certificate under 6 months old and proof of the professional reason, and the number comes by post within 2 weeks of the update.
- Get a LuxTrust certificate, « private » or « pro », and register on MyGuichet.lu.
- Create your business eSpace, the kind of space Guichet.lu keeps for companies, the self-employed and associations.
- Open the business permit procedure from that space, answer the form and attach the documents it asks for.
- Pay the 50 EUR fee inside the procedure, then submit.
What the application form asks
The Ministry’s business permit application form asks for:
- Your activity, described in detail for commercial activities and services (« Activités et services commerciaux »).
- A yes or no on « Start Your Business » (ADEM), a compulsory question. ADEM, the national employment agency, says its StartYourBusiness programme is exclusively for people registered with it. If you are unsure whether your project is part of it, ask the Ministry’s permit line.
- Since when you have lived in Luxembourg, and your operating address, which you can leave « à définir (pas encore connue) », to be defined.
- Access to your files: you let the Ministry consult your files at the AED (VAT), the ACD (direct tax) and the CCSS, or decline and supply the certificates yourself. Article 32 of the law opens the VAT and direct-tax arrears files to the Ministry only with your prior consent.
- Your declaration of honour, in section 4, on the businesses you managed or controlled in the 3 years before the application.
What does the business permit cost, and how do I pay?
The business permit costs a 50 EUR fee, Guichet.lu says: online, you pay it inside the MyGuichet.lu procedure; on paper, you attach a 50 EUR tax stamp bought from the AED, or proof of a 50 EUR bank transfer.
Guichet.lu calls the fee droits de chancellerie.
For a transfer, Guichet.lu, the form and the Ministry’s checklist for a commercial activity give these details:
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| IBAN | LU76 0019 5955 4404 7000 |
| BIC | BCEELULL |
| Beneficiary | Bureau de Diekirch - Recette, the AED’s account, the form says |
| Reference | « autorisation d’établissement », in the form and the checklist; Guichet.lu’s page prints « Autorisation de commerce » |
| Also write | The name, first name and address of the person the payment is for, the checklist asks |
Attach a copy of the transfer to your application, the form says; the checklist adds that cheques are not accepted.
The tax stamp and the transfer are for paper applications only. Online, you pay inside the procedure and attach no proof.
How do I apply by post?
By post, you send the signed form, the documents and the proof of payment to the Ministry of the Economy, at the address the form gives:
Ministère de l’Économie
Service des autorisations d’établissement
BP 535
L-2937 Luxembourg
If you file through MyGuichet.lu, the form adds, you need not post the form. Guichet.lu strongly recommends the online route: you pay the fee there, the Ministry’s messages reach your MyGuichet.lu mailbox, and the permit arrives in your business eSpace, which shortens processing.
What happens after you apply, and how long does it take?
Article 31 of the law gives the Ministry three months from a complete file to decide, and no decision by then counts as a tacit authorisation; in 2025, files took 6.62 days on average, says the Ministry of the Economy’s review.
Article 31 sets the steps:
- Acknowledgment within 15 days, naming any missing document and stating the processing time, the ways to appeal and the tacit-authorisation rule.
- Missing documents: once you send them, a new acknowledgment follows within the same period and starts the time limit.
- Decision within three months of the complete file. For cases under the 2016 law on recognising professional qualifications, the Ministry can take one month more, and tells you before the three months end.
Article 28 of the law issues the permit by online transmission only. If you applied on MyGuichet.lu, it arrives in your business eSpace, and the Ministry writes to you only through the MyGuichet.lu secure mailbox, Guichet.lu says.
Each permit carries a two-dimensional barcode, which Guichet.lu says goes on your letters, e-mails, website, quotes, invoices and shopfronts. Article 39 of the law fines a missing barcode 25 to 250 EUR.
A refusal is an administrative decision: Guichet.lu names the usual remedies, a recours gracieux (asking the Ministry to reconsider) or a court appeal within the legal deadlines, and a request to the Ombudsman.
To check whether a business holds a permit, Guichet.lu’s business permit search finds it by company name, locality, permit number, postal code or RCS number. Article 32 of the law makes a permit’s number, the company’s name and address, its activities and the manager’s name freely consultable online.
Need another copy of your permit? Ask for a duplicate of your business permit.
Where the permit sits among the other registrations is in how long it takes to become self-employed.
I’m not an EU citizen: where do I apply?
If you are a national of a country outside the EU, the EEA and Switzerland, your business permit application goes in with your application for a residence permit as a self-employed person, as one file, Guichet.lu says. You join the permit file to your application for an autorisation de séjour pour indépendant rather than filing it on its own.
What comes after the permit?
Once you hold the permit, you declare your activity to the CCSS for social security and to the AED for VAT, and, if you trade in your own name and your activity is commercial, you register at the RCS.
The CCSS requires every self-employed person to affiliate, the VAT regulation of 1 December 2009 requires anyone liable to VAT to declare the start of their activity, and the RCS law of 19 December 2002 requires every individual trading commercially to register. What to do after you get your business permit gives each deadline and form.
Frequently asked questions
How do I apply for a business permit in Luxembourg?
Online, from a business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu, or by post to the Ministry of the Economy. Either way, Guichet.lu says, you fill in the application form, which includes your declaration of honour, attach the documents it asks for and pay the 50 EUR fee. Guichet.lu strongly recommends the online route, where the permit arrives in your business eSpace.
How much does a business permit cost in Luxembourg?
The fee is 50 EUR, Guichet.lu says. Online, you pay it inside the MyGuichet.lu procedure and attach no proof. By post, you attach a 50 EUR tax stamp bought from the AED, or proof of a 50 EUR bank transfer to the AED's account, with a copy of the transfer. The Ministry does not accept cheques.
How long does it take to get a business permit?
The law gives the Ministry of the Economy three months from a complete file, and no decision by then counts as a tacit authorisation. In 2025, files took 6.62 days on average, the Ministry's review says. If documents are missing, the time limit starts only with the new acknowledgment that follows once you send them.
Do I need LuxTrust to apply online?
Yes, Guichet.lu says: the online route takes a LuxTrust « private » or « pro » certificate and registration on MyGuichet.lu, and a business eSpace needs a Luxembourg national ID number (matricule). Without LuxTrust, you can still apply by post, sending the signed form, the documents and proof of the 50 EUR payment.
Can a non-EU citizen apply for a business permit?
Yes. A national of a country outside the European Union, the EEA and Switzerland who wants to settle in Luxembourg as a self-employed person joins the business permit application to the application for a residence permit for the self-employed, Guichet.lu says, so the two go in as a single file.
How do I check whether a company has a business permit?
Use Guichet.lu's business permit search, which finds a permit by company name, locality, permit number, postal code or RCS number. The law of 2 September 2011 makes a permit's number, the company's name and address, the activities it may carry on and the manager's name freely consultable online.