The fit-out is done, the equipment is bought, and the licence still is not granted
Premises and equipment stand idle while rent and salaries keep running and there is no revenue. For a clinic that means months of dead cost.
Typical mistake: The lease was signed and the fit-out carried out before the premises were checked against the licensing requirements. An applicant's failure to meet the requirements is a direct ground for refusal.
We are selling the business — and it turns out the licence will be lost
The buyer gets a legal entity with no right to operate: either the deal falls apart or the price drops by the cost of re-licensing and downtime.
Typical mistake: Nobody read article 33 of ZRU-701: where an activity ceases as a result of a reorganisation the licence is annulled, and the exception is made for a change of legal form. The deal structure has to be chosen with that in mind, not after the fact.
The pack was assembled from a checklist, and the act turned out to be repealed
A whole preparation cycle — charter fund, warehouse, contracts — was spent meeting the requirements of an act that is no longer in force.
Typical mistake: They worked from resolution No. 301 of 20 May 2020 on wholesale trade in alcohol. It has been repealed, and since 1 May 2025 resolution No. 45 of 29 January 2025 applies, which most articles online do not reflect.
A dispute with the tax authority over the levy on beer
Either the levy is overpaid where it is not charged at all, or an assessment follows if the business took the opposite view on spirits.
Typical mistake: Three different things get mixed up: the levy for the right to sell alcoholic products, which is charged with the exception of beer; the wholesale trade licence; and the requirements for a retail outlet.
The licence was suspended and the business is at a standstill
Every idle day is lost revenue and customers moving to a competitor; a drawn-out suspension gets lease agreements terminated.
Typical mistake: They do not know that suspension by the authorised body is limited to ten days, and that anything longer is for a court to decide. Instead of removing the ground and demanding reinstatement, the business waits passively.
Not knowing whether a licence is required or a notification is enough
Either a fee was paid and weeks spent waiting where the notification regime would have done, or — the costlier version — the business operated on a notification where a licence was required.
Typical mistake: Nobody checked which regime the specific activity falls under. The licensing law expressly separates licences, permit documents and notifications, and the 2024 reform took part of the activities out of licensing.