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Launching your own activity in Luxembourg means a business permit, CCSS affiliation, VAT registration and choosing a legal form. This guide walks through the first steps in the right order.
Luxembourg welcomes entrepreneurs, but the administrative order matters: permit first, then registrations, then invoicing. The House of Entrepreneurship of the Chamber of Commerce offers free one-stop guidance in several languages.
Most commercial, craft and industrial activities, and many service activities, require a business permit (autorisation d'établissement) issued by the Ministry of the Economy. You must show professional integrity, the required qualification for the activity, and a fixed physical establishment in Luxembourg. Some liberal professions (doctors, lawyers…) follow their own regimes; certain intellectual freelance activities also need the permit — check your specific case on guichet.lu before starting.
Self-employed workers affiliate themselves to the CCSS (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale). Contributions (pension, health, accident, dependency) represent roughly a quarter of your professional income, with a minimum base linked to the social minimum wage and annual regularisation once your real income is known. In the early phase you can request a reduced provisional base if you expect modest income. Affiliation gives you healthcare, pension rights and, under conditions, even unemployment benefit for self-employed who cease activity.
| Aspect | Employee | Self-employed |
|---|---|---|
| Social contributions | Shared with employer, withheld | Fully at your charge, invoiced by CCSS |
| Income | Fixed salary, index-linked | Variable, invoiced to clients |
| Paid leave / sick pay | Statutory | No paid leave; CNS benefits under conditions |
| Tax | Withheld at source | Advances + annual return |
Beware of false self-employment: if you work for a single client under their authority, the relationship may be requalified as an employment contract, with consequences for both parties.
