In Germany, a private gym needs no special licence. You register the trade with the local Gewerbeamt, check the approved use of the premises with the building authority and decide with your Steuerberater whether you charge 19% VAT or use the Kleinunternehmer scheme. Customers book online, pay by card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Klarna, and get their door code by SMS. If every booking is paid online, you usually need no TSE cash register. Sparekey costs €990 for setup and €26 a month for Operations (Betrieb).
Registration: Gewerbe, tax office, IHK
- Gewerbeanmeldung. Register the trade with the Gewerbeamt of the municipality where the gym is when you start. Many municipalities offer it online. Fitness studios and hourly gym rental need no trade permit, so this is the only trade step. Agree the wording of your activity when you register.
- Tax office. Within one month, submit the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) through ELSTER.
- IHK. Businesses subject to trade tax are members of the local chamber of commerce by law.
Most founders start as an Einzelunternehmen or found a UG (haftungsbeschränkt) or GmbH. A GmbH needs notarised articles and €25,000 share capital. A UG can start with less, but must pay its capital in full before registration. The IHK founder service and your Steuerberater help you choose.
Premises and building use
Building law is set by each Land. Ask the Bauaufsichtsbehörde whether the approved use of the space covers a gym before you sign the lease, especially for a former office, shop or warehouse. A change of use (Nutzungsänderung) can take weeks.
VAT: 19% or Kleinunternehmer
Letting a sports facility to end customers is a single taxable service, not an exempt rental of real estate, so the standard rate of 19% applies. The 7% rate does not cover gym use.
The Kleinunternehmer scheme lets you charge no VAT if your turnover was no more than €25,000 in the previous year and stays below €100,000 in the current one. You then cannot reclaim input VAT on equipment and fit-out. If you opt out to reclaim it, you are bound for five years. With a large investment in equipment, opting out can pay off. Your Steuerberater can run the numbers.
Payments: Stripe with the methods Germans use
In Germany we set up Stripe, which offers every method German customers expect on one payment page:
- cards (Visa, Mastercard, also debit cards)
- PayPal
- Apple Pay and Google Pay
- Klarna
The Stripe account is in your company’s name, and payouts go to your German account in euros. Stripe checks your identity and business before it pays out, so start early. Setting up the gateway, German booking pages and euro invoices is part of setup.
TSE, cash registers and receipts
German cash register rules (§ 146a AO) require a certified security device (TSE) for systems that record cash or comparable on-site payments, and a receipt for each sale. A gym where every booking is paid online in advance through the gateway has no cash function, so it usually needs no TSE. An access system that is not connected to a till needs none either. If you take cash or card payments at the gym, you need a TSE-protected register. Have your Steuerberater confirm your setup before launch.
Invoices and e-invoicing
Sparekey issues an invoice for every paid booking, in German, with your company details and either 19% VAT or the Kleinunternehmer note. Your Steuerberater gets a CSV export.
E-invoicing only matters for business customers, such as a company booking sessions for its staff:
- Every business must already be able to receive e-invoices. An email inbox is enough.
- From 2027, invoices to other businesses must be structured e-invoices (XRechnung or ZUGFeRD). With previous-year turnover up to €800,000, you can keep issuing other invoices until the end of 2027.
- Invoices to private customers, invoices from Kleinunternehmer and invoices up to €250 are exempt.
Door access
The door is where unstaffed gyms succeed or fail. We recommend a 2N keypad with a maglock, installed by a professional door and access installer. It is built for unattended operation and resists tampering. A Nuki smart lock is the simpler and cheaper alternative. It fits the existing lock cylinder, which also suits rented premises, but it cannot be secured as well against customers tampering with it. Both cost the same in Sparekey.
Every booking gets a time-limited PIN, valid for the booked time only, sent by SMS right after booking under your gym’s name. A stored backup code covers internet outages. Several doors or a shared building entrance are solved during setup at no extra cost. See 2N keypad and maglock and Nuki.
Liability, cameras and house rules
You have a duty to keep premises and equipment safe (Verkehrssicherungspflicht). Insurance is not required by law, but most owners take out Betriebshaftpflicht and contents insurance. Tell the insurer in writing that the gym runs without staff and that access is by code. See insurance and liability.
Cameras are supervised by the data protection authority of your Land. The German authorities’ joint guidance on video surveillance gives you a clear frame:
- legitimate interest under the GDPR as the legal basis
- no cameras in changing rooms, showers or toilets
- a sign at eye level before people enter the covered area, plus a full information notice
- 72 hours of storage is normally enough
See cameras in an unstaffed gym. The house rules carry most of your safety measures: equipment use, training alone, emergency numbers, first aid and how to report damage. Customers confirm them when booking. Start from our house rules template.
What Sparekey costs in Germany
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Setup (one-off) | €990 |
| Operations (Betrieb: hosting, maintenance and SMS sender name) | €26 / month |
| Door-code SMS | €0.11 per message |
Sparekey is not VAT-registered, so no VAT is added. You pay in euros by bank transfer. The price includes unlimited locations. See pricing and how setup works.
FAQ
Do I need a licence to open a gym in Germany?
No. A Gewerbeanmeldung is enough. No qualification or permit specific to gyms is required.
Is a gym without staff allowed in Germany?
Yes. No general rule requires staff on site. You still need safe equipment, house rules, an emergency procedure and insurance that covers unstaffed hours.
Do I need a TSE cash register if customers only pay online?
Usually not, because purely online payments through a gateway have no cash function. Cash or card payments at the gym need a TSE register.
Can customers pay with PayPal?
Yes. The payment page offers PayPal alongside cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Klarna.