Applying for re-authorisation of a trade after prohibition
The competent authority has banned you from practising your trade due to unreliability. If you wish to operate your trade again, you must submit an application for re-authorisation. After one year, or earlier if there are special reasons, the competent authority may authorise the resumption of your trade .
The prerequisite is that you can prove to the competent authority that the reasons that led to your trade being prohibited no longer exist. Based on your behaviour in the meantime, the competent authority must also be able to predict that you will carry out your trade properly in the future.
As a rule, re-authorisation can only be granted 1 year after the prohibition has been implemented. This period is prescribed by law and is intended to clarify to the authorities that the reasons for unreliability have ceased to exist by changing your lifestyle. For special reasons - such as economic or structural policy reasons - it may be possible to be authorised to exercise the trade again earlier in exceptional cases. This applies, for example, if the resumption of the trade creates additional jobs or enables the creditors of your business to reduce their debts by generating income in your business to repay debts.
The mere cessation of the circumstances justifying unreliability is not sufficient to shorten the one-year period.
Note:
If you resume your activity after being re-authorised, you must at least submit a business registration to the competent authority at the same time. The resumption is to be treated as a new start of trading.
If you have previously had a licence revoked due to unreliability, which is legally required for the exercise of the trade, you must apply for a new licence before resuming your commercial activity requiring a licence. The same applies if a new licence requirement has been introduced in the meantime.
Responsible authority
The lower administrative authority of your future place of business.
This is
- the district administration office of the district responsible for you,
- in the case of independent towns and large district towns (towns and municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants), the municipal administration or
- in certain cases, the administrative community for smaller municipalities.
Contact
Details
Prerequisite
The prerequisite for re-authorisation is that you prove to the competent authority that the reasons that led to the prohibition of your trade no longer exist. Based on your behaviour in the meantime, the competent authority must be able to predict that you will carry out your trade properly in the future.
Or:
The reasons that led to the prohibition no longer exist.
Based on your behaviour in the meantime, the competent authority must also be able to predict that you will carry out your trade properly in the future.
Procedure
Submit an informal written or electronic (e.g. by email) application to the competent authority for re-authorisation to carry out commercial activities and the necessary documents.
The competent authority will check whether you can be re-authorised to carry out your commercial activity on the basis of your supporting documents. To this end, it will make a prognosis decision with regard to the future proper exercise of your trade.
If the requirements are met, you will receive a favourable decision.
Deadlines
- Application: at the earliest 1 year after prohibition, in exceptional cases also possible earlier.
Required documents
- Details of the intended activity
- Details of the location of the intended business activity
- Proof of how you have made a living since the business was banned and whether you have worked as an employee
- Certificate of good conduct (application for a certificate of good conduct for submission to an authority)
- Extract from the central trade register
- Extract from the debtor register and certificate from the insolvency court (available from the competent local or insolvency court)
- current certificates: from the trade tax, tax offices and social insurance organisations
Special features in the event of payment arrears:
If you had payment arrears at the time of the previous business prohibition, you must submit current certificates from the trade tax, tax offices and social insurance organisations. These certificates must contain information on
- the amount of any outstanding arrears, broken down into principal and ancillary claims
- the period from which the possible main claim originates
- any repayment agreements made after the trade ban, their date of conclusion, regulations and compliance
- the implementation of compulsory debt collection measures, their nature and success
Special features in the event of a change of residence:
If you have relocated after the prohibition of trading at that time, then the certificates from the debtor register of the insolvency court, the tax office and the trade tax office are required from both the current authorities and the authorities responsible at the time of the prohibition of trading.
Costs
The amount of the fees depends on the fee statutes of the municipality or city or on the fee regulations of the district administration.
Miscellaneous
none
Legal basis
Gewerbeordnung (GewO):
- § 35 Absatz 6 Gewerbeuntersagung wegen Unzuverlässigkeit
Release note
Machine generated, based on the German release by: Wirtschaftsministerium Baden-Württemberg, 04.12.2024