Looking after animals privately: what applies in Luxembourg for dog walkers and pet sitters

6 min read

You have your mornings free, you like dogs, and somebody has offered to pay you for it. That is not one question but four: whether you are allowed to, whether you need an authorisation, whether you have to declare it, and whether you are insured if something goes wrong. The four answers come from four different administrations, and knowing one of them tells you nothing about the other three. This page sorts them out. It is not legal or tax advice.

Occasional or habitual

The first question is not how much you earn but how often you do it. Luxembourg law ties the business permit to an economic activity carried out habitually. Feeding the neighbours’ cat once over the summer is not a trade. Anyone who has regular clients, quotes prices and advertises the service visibly is running one: as a sideline too, alongside your studies too, and even when little is left at the end of the year.

The Ministry of the Economy decides. What is required is professional standing and, where the law prescribes one, proof of qualification; the chancellery fee is 50 euros. Whether your activity needs such proof is something the ministry will tell you. Ask that before you fill in the application.

What the animal welfare act asks for

The animal welfare act of 27 June 2018 makes circuses, animal exhibitions and animal markets notifiable in its Article 6, paragraph 1. Paragraph 2 lists what needs an authorisation from the minister on top of that:

• any activity aimed at commercialising animals, except animal markets and agricultural activity
• a cat breeding operation
• a dog breeding operation
• a commercial establishment for animals, except an agricultural establishment
• an animal or zoological garden
• a boarding establishment for animals
• an animal shelter
• the use of animals for filming or similar purposes

That list names neither dog walking nor care at the owner’s home, and neither dog schools nor grooming salons. Anyone who walks dogs, or looks after a cat in the flat it already lives in, will therefore not find their own activity there.

Separately from that, Article 4 applies to every person who keeps, guards or looks after an animal: suitable food and water, housing that fits the species, treatment when it falls ill, no act that causes it suffering without reason. Those duties pass to you for as long as the animal is in your care, paid or unpaid, registered or not.

Money: tax, social security, VAT

Under Luxembourg income tax law, income from occasional services counts as miscellaneous income and stays untaxed as long as it remains under 500 euros net in a calendar year. That is the rule for the neighbourly favour done for a tip.

But it hangs on the same word as the permit: occasional. Once the activity becomes regular, it is no longer an occasional service but a trade with its own profit calculation, and then the 500-euro rule does not apply at all, however small the amount. The line protects the favour, not the small business.

Anyone working for themselves registers with the Centre commun de la sécurité sociale. Where professional income for the year does not exceed a third of the social minimum wage, an exemption for insignificant income is possible. It does not apply by itself: you have to ask for it.

That leaves VAT. There is a small-business scheme for it: where annual turnover excluding tax does not exceed 50,000 euros, the exemption applies and no VAT return is due. The previous year’s turnover still has to be reported to the administration.

Liability

You have somebody else’s animal in your care. If it hurts itself, runs off, causes an accident or bites someone, that is your affair first. Whether your private liability policy covers an activity carried out for payment is in your policy and not in the law. Ring your insurer and get in writing what applies, before you accept the first key.

Settle three more things with the owners in advance, because there is no time for them when it matters: which practice knows the animal, up to what amount you may have it treated without asking first, and how you reach somebody at night. The out-of-hours service for small animals runs from 08:00 to 08:00 the next day; which practice is on duty is published by the Collège Vétérinaire.

The order to do it in, and where the binding answer sits

1. Decide honestly whether this stays occasional or becomes regular.
2. If it becomes regular: apply to the Ministry of the Economy for the business permit.
3. If animals are to sleep at your place: settle the animal welfare authorisation beforehand.
4. Register the self-employed activity with the CCSS, or apply for the exemption.
5. Keep a simple list of what comes in, from the first job onwards.
6. Get your insurance cover confirmed in writing.
7. Only then look for clients.

This page puts the questions in order. They are decided in five different places:

• the Ministry of the Economy: the business permit
• the administration responsible for animal welfare: boarding, breeding, shelters
• the Administration des contributions directes: income tax
• the Centre commun de la sécurité sociale: registration and exemption
• the Administration de l’enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA: VAT

Ask them before you start, not once money has already changed hands.

Frequently asked questions

I am a student and I walk a dog twice a week. Do I need an authorisation?

Dog walking does not appear in the list in Article 6, paragraph 2, of the animal welfare act. The real question is the other one: whether you need a business permit depends on whether the activity is carried out habitually. Twice a week over months, with regular clients and for payment, is regular. Ask the Ministry of the Economy before you start.

Everything up to 500 euros is tax-free, is that right?

Only for occasional services. As long as they stay under 500 euros net in a calendar year, they are not taxable. Once the activity becomes regular, it is no longer an occasional service but a trade, and then the line does not apply, not even to small amounts. The 500 euros protect the favour, not the sideline business.

Can I have dogs sleep at my place?

Once animals stay with you, you are moving towards a boarding establishment, and Article 6 of the animal welfare act of 2018 requires an authorisation from the minister for that. The act does not define the term itself, so the only reliable answer is the competent administration's. Get it before the first animal sleeps at your place.

Do I have to register with social security if I earn very little?

Self-employed people register with the CCSS as a rule. Where annual income does not exceed a third of the social minimum wage, you can apply for an exemption for insignificant income; it does not apply automatically. Factor in what the exemption costs you: you are not insured against a risk you pay no contribution for.

Who can I reach at night or at the weekend?

The on-call practices run a 24-hour service that starts at 08:00 and ends at 08:00 the next morning. To reach the vet on duty you can call 112 or Post Infotel on 26 77 12 34, and the on-call list is published by the Collège Vétérinaire and on amvl.lu under GARDES. Our own emergency page lists the ones on duty right now with their numbers. Call before you set off: the vet on duty may not be at the practice and has to get there too.