RCS Registration for Self-Employed in Luxembourg

If you’re starting out as self-employed in Luxembourg, the first question is whether you need to be in the RCS register in Luxembourg (Registre de commerce et des sociétés). The short answer: it depends on whether your activity is commercial or liberal. This article walks you through who has to register, who doesn’t, and how the procedure works for a sole trader.

The legal source is Article 1 of the Loi du 19 décembre 2002 on the RCS, which lists exactly which entities and natural persons must register. We’ll come back to the list.

Who must register in the RCS

The RCS law lists 16 categories of entities that must register. The ones that matter for self-employed people are:

Note: registration is not a choice in either direction. Article 1 of the 2002 law says that only the persons and entities it lists are registered in the RCS, so a liberal-profession sole trader cannot register voluntarily — not even to use a registered trade name.

The artisan question is the trickiest. Pure service artisans who never sell goods (rare) might not technically be “commerçants.” But most artisans — bakers, hairdressers, plumbers selling parts, electricians selling materials — qualify as commerçants under the Code de commerce because they sell goods alongside their service. In practice, almost all sole-trader artisans end up registered in the RCS. If you’re unsure, ask the House of Entrepreneurship before filing.

Whether you run as a sole trader or form a company is what the guides on choosing a legal form help you decide.

Liberal professions: why you don’t register — and what actually counts as one

In Luxembourg, “liberal profession” has a specific legal meaning — it does not mean “anyone doing intellectual or service work as a freelancer.” The list of true liberal professions is short and largely matches the list of professions governed by a professional ordre:

• Avocat (lawyer) — Barreau
• Médecin, dentiste, vétérinaire (doctor, dentist, vet) — Collège médical / Ordre vétérinaire
• Pharmacien (pharmacist)
• Notaire (notary)
• Huissier (bailiff)
• Architecte, ingénieur-conseil, urbaniste, géomètre (architect, consulting engineer, urban planner, surveyor) — OAI
• Expert-comptable (chartered accountant) — OEC
• Réviseur d’entreprises (auditor) — CSSF (grants the title and agrément) + IRE (mandatory membership)
• Some other regulated activities (e.g., professional advisors specifically named in the establishment law)

If your activity is not on this short list, you’re almost certainly classified as commercial — even if your work is purely intellectual. That includes:

• IT consulting, software development, web design
• Management, marketing, strategy, communication consulting
• Coaching, training (non-academic)
• Data analysis, e-commerce, event management

These are all commercial activities in Luxembourg — meaning RCS registration is required. See our article on IT consultant — commercial or liberal? for the full picture and why this catches many people off guard.

Photography and video for hire, a graphic workshop and product design are crafts instead: annex 3 of the law of 2 September 2011 puts the photographer-camera operator (photographe-cadreur), the graphic workshop (exploitant d’un atelier graphique) and the designer on List C, which needs no qualification. For their RCS registration, see the artisan question above.

A writer, translator or interpreter working in their own name is not on the list either: Guichet.lu’s page on access to a profession says a writer (rédacteur) in their own name needs no business permit, and that translators and interpreters in their own name are not subject to one, their work being an intellectual activity.

For true liberal-profession sole traders (the short list above), Article 1 of the 2002 law does not include them, so RCS registration is not required. They are governed instead by their professional ordre or sectoral law.

For a true liberal-profession sole trader, this means:

• No RCS number to put on invoices, websites, or letterheads
• No annual filings with the RCS (true liberal-profession sole traders are not in the RCS at all). Note that commercial sole traders above 100,000 EUR turnover do file annual accounts in the RCS — see the section below.
• You still need a business permit (autorisation d’établissement) if your liberal profession is regulated — see our guide on liberal professions that need a business permit
• You still affiliate with CCSS as self-employed and register for VAT with the AED if applicable

What if I create a SARL for my liberal activity? Then the SARL itself is registered in the RCS — that’s a société, and sociétés always register. The RCS number on your invoices belongs to the SARL, not to you personally.

Documents and information you need

For a sole-trader commerçant filing in the RCS, the law (article 3 of the 2002 law) requires:

The LNI / matricule rule is new. Since 13 November 2024, every natural person registered in the RCS — including independents personnes physiques, managers, partners, etc. — must provide their Luxembourg National Identification Number (LNI), also called the matricule. If you have a Luxembourg social security number, that’s your LNI. If you don’t have one yet, you request it during the RCS filing.

How the filing works (step by step)

The standard route is electronic filing via lbr.lu using a LuxTrust certificate.

Don’t click the top “Registration” menu — that’s for companies only. On lbr.lu, self-employed sole traders are called “Merchants” (English) / “Kaufleute” (German) / “Commerçants” (French). To find your form, scroll down on the lbr.lu homepage to the “Assistance guides and document templates” section and click the Merchants card. Or go directly to the Merchants assistance guide and click “Registration of a merchant with the RCS”.

1. Get your business permit first (if your activity needs one). The RCS will record the permit number, so it makes sense to have it in hand. See our guide on how to apply for a business permit.

2. Check your trade name availability. If you plan to use a trade name (enseigne), searching the published entries on lbr.lu by name is free, according to the LBR’s FAQ; the certificate of name availability, on the other hand, is a paid LBR service, as Guichet.lu’s page on name availability notes. The certificate only says whether the same name is already registered: the LBR refuses only identical names and does not check trademarks, according to its naming principles. It stays valid until the name is registered, but it does not reserve the name — first to file wins.

3. Affiliate with CCSS (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale). You can do this in parallel with RCS — see our guide on CCSS for self-employed.

4. Prepare your file. Gather all the documents above as PDF/A.

5. File electronically. Go to the Merchants assistance guide on lbr.lu and click “Registration of a merchant with the RCS”. You’ll authenticate with a LuxTrust certificate (Smartcard, Token, or LuxTrust Mobile). The portal is in French by default; switch to English in the top-right corner.

6. Pay the fees. Online by card.

7. Publication in RESA. Once your filing is validated, an entry is published in the Recueil électronique des sociétés et associations (RESA), the official gazette. Publication happens on the day of filing or within 15 days at most.

8. After filing — register for VAT with the AED if your activity is subject to VAT. This is the next step in the typical timeline (see how long does setup take).

Practical tip: If filing electronically feels like too much, you can book an appointment at the LBR assistance desk in Luxembourg city. They will go through the form with you. The trade-off: a 20 EUR surcharge on top of the standard fee. Worth it if you’re filing for the first time and want a sanity check.

How much does it cost

The LBR tariffs keep the fee structure simple:

Tariffs are revised periodically. Check the official tariffs page on lbr.lu for the most current amounts before filing.

Annual obligations: what comes after

A sole-trader commerçant does have lighter ongoing obligations than a société — but not zero. The key dividing line for sole traders is turnover of 100,000 EUR (excluding VAT). It is measured on the last financial year: a trader keeps double-entry books from the year after a year above 100,000 EUR, as the ACD’s circular on bookkeeping duties explains, applying article 13 of the Code de commerce.

Privacy detail for sole-trader filings: when a sole trader above the 100,000 EUR threshold files annual accounts, the law preserves their privacy — the filing is not publicly consultable via lbr.lu like société accounts are.

So the rule of thumb: under 100,000 EUR turnover, your only RCS-related “obligation” is to file modifications when relevant info changes (address, trade name, spouse, civil status, business permit). Above that, you also file annual accounts each year.

What you get after registration

Once your file is validated, you receive:

• An RCS number — typically with a letter prefix that depends on the type of registrant under the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 23 January 2003 (A for a sole trader, B for sociétés). This number goes on your invoices, letterheads, websites, and email signatures.
• A public RCS extract confirming your registration — anyone can pull this from lbr.lu by searching your name or RCS number.
• Listed in the commercial register — meaning your trade name, business address, business object, and business permit number become public information.

Your private home address is also collected by the RCS but is not directly published in the same way. Since 2024–2025 reforms, more identity data is restricted to authorities and not visible to the general public. But assume that anything you tell the RCS may eventually become accessible to professionals (accountants, banks, lawyers) doing due diligence on your business.

When you make a mistake or things change

Things you must report to the RCS within one month of the change:

• New business address
• Change of trade name
• Change of business object
• Change of business permit number
• Change of marital status (marriage, divorce, partnership)
• Cessation of the activity (radiation)

Each modification is a small filing on lbr.lu — same procedure, much faster than the original registration.

Failing to update the RCS is one of the most common compliance issues. Under the Loi du 23 janvier 2025 (in force 1 February 2025), the LBR follows a graduated procedure, applied from 21 September 2026 according to its public notice of 9 September 2026: a registered letter asking you to update your file first, then a warning on the LBR portal and a mention on your extracts, and, from the seventh month after the letter, a daily penalty of 40 EUR (article 19-6 of the RCS law) for at most 90 days — 3,600 EUR in all. Don’t sit on changes — file them quickly.

Quick reference