found in austriaFreies Gewerbe or neue Selbständige — which one are you?
Austria splits solo self-employment into two legal worlds, and everything downstream — where you register, what you pay, who insures you — depends on this first answer.
Freies Gewerbe (free trade)
Most commercial activities are trades (Gewerbe). "Free" trades need no certificate of competence — you just register. Typical expat examples: e-commerce, graphic design as commercial service, marketing/social-media services, software development offered as "IT-Dienstleistung", translation services, photography (commercial).
- Registration: GISA (see the GISA guide), free of charge
- Automatic WKO membership — you can't opt out; the Grundumlage (typically €100–300/year) arrives whether you use anything or not. What you get for it, and how to pause it: the WKO guide
- SVS insurance from day one, regardless of income — minimum contribution roughly €160–170/month even at zero profit (2025/26 values, adjusted yearly; see the SVS guide)
Neue Selbständige (new self-employed)
Activities that are neither regulated trades nor free trades: writers, journalists, lecturers and trainers, artists, psychotherapists, scientists — and some purely intellectual consulting.
- No GISA registration, no Gewerbeschein
- No WKO membership, no Grundumlage
- SVS only once profit crosses the yearly threshold (the SVS guide) — below it: €0; you must self-report crossing it
The 60-second self-test
This is where forums give three different answers. Here's the test that settles it for almost everyone:
- Do you deliver things that work — code, websites, apps, online shops, campaigns, designs, photos, physical products? → Freies Gewerbe. Your trade wording already exists in the GISA vocabulary: "IT-Dienstleistung" (developers), "Werbeagentur" (marketing/design), "Handelsgewerbe" (e-commerce), "Berufsfotograf".
- Is your output purely words, knowledge or art — writing, journalism, lecturing, training, scientific work, art, psychotherapy? → Neue Selbständige. No GISA, no WKO.
- Would you describe yourself to a client as an agency or service provider? Then you're in Gewerbe territory. If you'd say author, lecturer, artist, researcher — NS.
- Both apply? Run both in parallel — a Gewerbe for the building work, NS income for the teaching/writing. Completely legal; you just report the incomes per activity.
Consequences at a glance
| Freies Gewerbe | Neue Selbständige | |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | GISA (free) | none — just Finanzamt + SVS |
| WKO member | yes (Grundumlage) | no |
| SVS starts | day one | above yearly profit threshold |
| Minimum fixed cost | ~€160–170/month SVS + WKO Grundumlage | €0 until the threshold |
| Finanzamt questionnaire | yes | yes |
Done reading? Let the software do the remembering.
useAccount.AI books your receipts, prepares your UVA numbers and explains scary German letters in English. Built in Vienna, BAO-compliant.
Try it free for 7 days →Status: 2026. Amounts and thresholds change (SVS values adjust yearly) — this is careful general information, not individual tax or legal advice. For your specific case, talk to a licensed Steuerberater.