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Starting up a business / registering a company / applying for a tax number

  • Unternehmensstart und Gewerbezulassung

Starting a business / registering a business / applying for a tax number

  • Basic information

    More and more people are taking the plunge into self-employment. They want to take on responsibility with optimism and commitment.

    Many of you are not so familiar with the commercial and tax requirements of entrepreneurial self-employment, so we offer advice and assistance. For your support, there are contact persons for business start-ups in every Bremen tax office. Contact persons are available at our locations in Bremen (Mitte), Bremen Nord and Bremerhaven.

    These experts at the tax offices provide information on general tax issues. Comprehensive tax advice, in particular on structuring options, may not be offered by the tax office. This is reserved for the tax consulting professions.

    The aim is to remove any "stumbling blocks" or "fear of contact" when dealing with the tax office and to support the young companies in their start-up phase.

    You may already know that it is mandatory for every business startup to electronically submit the tax registration questionnaire (FsE) to the tax office within one month of starting operations in order to register a commercial or freelance activity of a sole proprietorship.

    The easiest way to complete this submission is to use the tax administration's service portal "ELSTER - Your Online Tax Office" at www.elster.de. After registering with ELSTER, you will find the questionnaire for tax registration under "Forms & Services".

    If you would like to take advantage of the advisory service, please contact the contact persons by telephone or e-mail or book an on-site appointment.

    Requirements

    Prerequisites for personal consultations at the tax office are:

    • Successful registration in the ELSTER portal
    • A previously completed and electronically submitted tax registration questionnaire.

    In case of problems with the registration, please contact:

    Tel. +49 421 361 95127 or by e-mail to elsteronline@fa-hb.bremen.de.

    If you have any questions regarding the tax registration questionnaire, please contact the above-mentioned persons.

  • Procedure

    Consultation in Bremen is currently only possible in Bremen Stadtmitte.

    Register your business with the business registration office https://www.einheitlicher-ansprechpartner.bremen.de/sixcms/detail.php?gsid=bremen132.c.122100.de or register the commencement of a self-employed agricultural or forestry activity.

    To register for tax purposes, you must submit a tax registration questionnaire electronically to the tax office within one month of starting your business activity. If you do not have any commercial software available, you can do this on the tax authorities' free portal "My Elster" at https://www.elster.de/elsterweb/infoseite/unternehmensgruendung .

  • Necessary Documents
    • Successful registration in the ELSTER portal
    • Questionnaire submitted electronically

      A previously completed and electronically submitted tax registration questionnaire.

      If you have any problems with the registration, please contact:

      Tel. +49 421 361 95127 or by e-mail to elsteronline@fa-hb.bremen.de.

  • Competent Department

    Contact Person

  • Online Services

    Simplified online form
    You can use this form to upload applications and supporting documents for an existing application. You can also ask questions about your application.
    This form is only available in German.

  • Deadlines & processing time

    What deadlines must be paid attention to?

    Please have a look at the entry "Frequently asked questions

    How long does it take to process

    1 month

  • Legal Bases

  • More Information

Frequently asked Questions

  • Are there any deadlines that must be met in order to register a commercial activity with the tax office?

    Anyone who opens a commercial business (including agriculture and forestry) or a permanent establishment is obliged to notify the municipality within 1 month of commencing the activity.

    In the city of Bremen the trade registration office is https://www.service.bremen.de/de/dienststelle/bremen128.c.49378.de ,

    in the maritime city of Bremerhaven is the Bürgeramt / Ordnungsamt https://www.bremerhaven.de/de/verwaltung-politik/buergerservice/dienstleistungen/an-um-oder-abmeldung-eines-gewerbes.35661.html#collapse-dienststelle ) is the responsible office.

    In addition, a tax registration must also be carried out within 1 month after the commencement of the business activity. For this purpose, a tax registration questionnaire must be submitted electronically to the tax office. This can be done on the free portal of the tax authorities "My Elster" at https://www.elster.de/elsterweb/infoseite/unternehmensgruendung can be done.

    In the case of freelancers, only a tax registration (see previous paragraph) is required. The same applies to the relocation and abandonment of a business, permanent establishment or freelance activity ( deadline 1 month after commencement of activity).

  • How do I have to notify the establishment of my company?

    You must perform the tax registration of your business within 1 month after starting the business activity. For this purpose, a tax registration questionnaire must be submitted electronically to the tax office. This can be done on the free portal of the tax authorities "My Elster" at https://www.elster.de/elsterweb/infoseite/unternehmensgruendung can be done. If you do not yet have an Elster certificate, you can create a temporary certificate for submitting the questionnaire within minutes on the specified website. To do this, please click on Create user account and follow the further steps.

    The above principles also apply to the relocation and abandonment of a business, a permanent establishment or a freelance activity.

This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.

The official information in German is complete and correct. 26.02.2026

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