Register your business: when you must, how it works and what it costs

To register your business takes an hour in some countries and a few weeks in others, but the effect is similar everywhere. Your details become public, the tax authority knows you exist and obligations start to run, such as tax returns that are due even in a quarter without sales. So register when your plan is ready, and make a few choices first that are hard to undo later.

Do you have to register your business?

Two questions hide behind "registering". The first is the legal entity: a company, such as an LLC, a UK limited company or a GmbH, only exists once it is entered in the register.

The second is the sole trader, and here countries differ. In the Netherlands every entrepreneur registers with the Chamber of Commerce (KVK) (source: business.gov.nl, November 2025). In Germany trades register with the local trade office, while freelance professions go straight to the tax office (source: Make it in Germany, October 2026). A UK sole trader can start trading without registering anywhere but must register with HMRC for Self Assessment after earning more than £1,000 in a tax year (source: GOV.UK, October 2026). In the US you are automatically a sole proprietorship once you do business, and most states require you to register a trading name (DBA) if you use one (source: SBA, August 2026).

Whether the tax authority treats you as a business is a separate test again; see tax and bookkeeping.

What to prepare before you register

How business registration works in major markets

Checked in October 2026. Fees and procedures change; the German and Indian sources are older official pages, so confirm locally.

Check your country

• Who registers: does a sole trader register with a business register, only with the tax authority, or both?
• Order and deadline: name reservation, notary, bank account, tax number, and how soon after starting.
• Public data: which details become visible, and can a home address be shielded?
• Follow-up numbers: do VAT, payroll and social security registrations follow automatically?

The EU encourages member states to allow a business to be set up in no more than three working days for less than EUR 100 (source: Your Europe, August 2026). In practice time and cost still vary by country and legal form.

How the registration itself works

1. 01

   Fill in the form online

   Name, address, activity, owners and directors. Many portals need a government e-ID login, so arrange that in time.

2. 02

   Prove your identity

   Online or in person. The Dutch KVK asks most new businesses to come to an office with valid ID (source: KVK, February 2026); for companies the notary or registry often checks identity.

3. 03

   Pay the fee and get your number

   Your number goes on invoices, contracts and your website. Avoid paid lookalike websites: the IRS says you never have to pay a fee for an EIN (source: IRS, October 2026).

4. 04

   Receive or apply for your tax numbers

   Some follow automatically, others you apply for. Diarise every deadline that starts on registration day.

After you register your business

VAT, GST or sales tax number

A VAT number is separate from your registration number. In the EU only the tax administration can issue it, and customers can check it in the VIES database (source: European Commission, October 2026). Whether you must register depends on turnover thresholds; see tax and bookkeeping.

Beneficial owners

Most countries want to know who ultimately owns or controls a company. In the UK that is usually anyone with more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, reported when you register and within 14 days of a change (source: GOV.UK, July 2026). EU countries keep national central registers of beneficial owners, linked through the BORIS system under the EU anti-money-laundering directives (source: European e-Justice Portal, October 2026). In the US, a FinCEN final rule permanently removed the reporting requirement for US companies and US persons; foreign reporting companies still report foreign owners (source: FinCEN, August 2026).

Bank account, records and government logins

Open a separate business account so that business and private money are apart from day one, and choose a bookkeeping system straight away. Tax returns and official letters increasingly arrive through a business e-ID and online mailbox, so set up access and switch on notifications.

Example: Linden Corner registers

Sofia, whose lunch café we followed in the name step, registers a limited company in week 3, the day after signing her lease. Her order:

Registering for VAT before opening matters: the fit-out costs €48,000 plus €9,600 VAT at a 20% rate, and that €9,600 only comes back once the company is registered.

Fictitious Firmfocus example. The VAT rate is an assumption; order and deadlines differ by country.

Small start vs larger start

Pitfalls

• Registering too early: obligations such as nil tax returns start before you have income.
• Paying a lookalike website: use the official portal; many registrations and tax numbers are free.
• A vague activity description: it can put you in the wrong industry for lenders and licences.
• Mixing private and business money: it complicates bookkeeping, tax returns and later loan applications.

Next in the eight steps to start a business comes tax and bookkeeping. The compliance calendar helps you keep the deadlines that registration sets off, and Start a business has every other topic.