Unsubscribe from business

The body responsible for deregistration forwards the business deregistration to other bodies, such as the tax office, the trade association, the chamber of crafts or the chamber of industry and commerce and, if necessary, the register court.

According to the Trade Regulations, all trade declarations must be made immediately. This also includes timely business deregistration. Without deregistration, you will continue to pay taxes and contributions to the appropriate chambers and professional associations.

The obligation to notify the abandonment of a commercial enterprise exists only if the commercial enterprise is definitively discontinued. A provision according to which the only temporary suspension of business activity is to be notified to the Trade Office is not to be found in the Trade Regulations.

If you are unsure whether you have to repay taxes after deregistration, you can contact the tax office responsible for you. Whether you have to repay taxes depends on your income and the time of deregistration. If you have made profits by the time you unsubscribe, taxes may be due. Business documents such as contracts, files, invoices and reminders should be kept for ten years.

[Information on unemployment by self-employment can be found here on the website of the Federal Employment Agency.](https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/voluntary unemployment insurance)

A commercial deregistration is not required in this case. If you want to move the place of business of your business to another municipality or city, you only have to register your business with the competent municipal regulatory authority of the new location. The regulatory authority of the previous place of establishment shall be automatically informed by the new competent authority.

[Here you can register your business at the new location online.](https://service.wirtschaft.nrw/application/business registration performance selection/)

You must unsubscribe and re-register your business with:

• change of ownership under continued operation, e.g. after sale, succession, leasing, etc.
• Withdrawal of a partner in a partnership
• change of legal form, for example from a sole proprietorship to a GmbH
• Conversion according to the Transformation Act (UmwG), for example by merger, division, change of legal form or transfer of assets.

If the business is not to be continued after the death of a trader, deregistration by you as a relative should be possible without major bureaucratic effort. Therefore, you can unsubscribe from the trade with the death certificate of your relatives and your own proof of identity.

The deregistration can also be done informally by e-mail or by post to the responsible trade registration office.

In principle, business deregistration can also be done digitally via our WSP.NRW. As the reason for the task, please select the complete task or the death of the trader. The date of the operating task should be the date of death. If there are any discrepancies with the date on which the company ceases to operate, please contact the relevant trade registration office in person.
[Here you can deregister the trade online.](/application/trade registration service selection/)

If the business is to be continued by relatives, a notification obligation on the part of the relatives as new traders is triggered.