Is Business Registration Necessary For Bloggers, Affiliates, And Website Operators?
Is Business Registration Necessary For Bloggers, Affiliates, And Website Operators? - Again and again, I am asked whether a website operator needs a business registration at all.
Is Business Registration Necessary For Bloggers, Affiliates, And Website Operators?
That is an understandable question since many run their affiliate or niche websites as a hobby on the side.
In this article, I'll answer that question.
Who Has To Register A Business?
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| Is Business Registration Necessary For Bloggers, Affiliates, And Website Operators? |
Business registration is necessary for Germany for all persons who pursue a commercial activity, regardless of whether it is full-time or part-time.
According to Section 15 (2) EStG, commercial activity can be identified by the following points:
- You have to work independently and be responsible for your own decisions.
- A business has to be sustainable and therefore designed for the long term.
- Probably the most important characteristic is the intention to make a profit. So you have to want to make money.
- You trade goods and services with other companies and the self-employed.
If these points are given (not all of them have to be fulfilled), then a business registration is necessary.
For bloggers, affiliates, and website operators, the intention to make a profit is a clear indicator. So if you build in any source of income, be it Google AdSense, affiliate links, or just a paid link, you have to register a business.
Freelancer Or Trader?
One of the others thinks that he is a freelancer and therefore does not have to register a business. But that is usually not the case.
The liberal professions (§18 EStG) include lawyers, doctors, notaries, artists, and the like. Website operators are certainly not one of them, even if one or the other blogger sees himself as a writer. ;-)
This means that every website operator who wants to earn money with his website is a trader and has to submit a business registration.
When Do I Have To Register?
There is also great uncertainty on this question.
If you take the law (§14 of the GewO) very carefully, you have to register the trade with the start of the activity. So if you want to create a website with which you want to earn money later, you would have to register the business immediately when you start building the website.
In reality, many take it a little more relaxed and only register a business when the first source of income is built. So, at the latest, you should do that when you build in Google AdSense, affiliate links, and the like.
So you could first build a website just for fun and increase the number of visitors before deciding to make money from it. Then the business registration is necessary and not only when the first income is received.
To The Trade Office
Registering a business is relatively easy. There is nothing to be seen of the much-criticized bureaucracy.
You just go to the local trade office if you are 18 years of age or older and take your ID with you. You should also have some money with you, as the registration costs between 20 and 40 euros, depending on the trade office. (There are also more and more commercial offices that allow online registration or at least provide a template of the form on the internet.)
At the trade office, you fill out the trade registration, whereby one of the employees is helpful. You should have thought about the job description beforehand. This should describe what you do in your business. However, it should not be too specific so that you are still flexible later.
“Internet services” is in my business registration, although it depends a little on the trade office how exactly they want it. That's all for now.
Anyone who is not yet of legal age can still register a business, as described here.
And Then?
After a few weeks, you will automatically receive mail from the tax office. You have to fill out the “tax registration questionnaire”, which I will certainly explain in more detail in another article. In addition, the IHK reports.
I've already written something in more detail about taxes for the self-employed.
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