GEZ in Germany: Radio Tax Costs, Exemptions, and Registration

The GEZ fee in Germany, officially the Rundfunkbeitrag, is a flat €18.36 per month that every household owes to fund public broadcasters ARD, ZDF, and Deutschlandradio, whether or not anyone in the home owns a television, radio, or computer. One apartment pays one fee, and the obligation begins the moment you move in.¹

How Much You Pay and How Often

The current fee is €18.36 per month. A 58-cent increase was planned for January 2025, but Germany’s state governments did not pass the necessary legislation, so ARD and ZDF filed a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court. Until that court rules, the fee stays at €18.36.²

Billing is not monthly. The Beitragsservice charges quarterly at €55.08, with due dates on February 15, May 15, August 15, and November 15, and payment is due within four weeks of each date. You can also pay every six months (€110.16) or once a year (€220.32). Most residents authorize a SEPA direct debit so the amount is withdrawn automatically, but manual bank transfers after a payment request are allowed.³

Who Has to Pay

The fee is tied to the dwelling, not the person or the devices inside it. One payment covers everyone living in an apartment, whether that’s a family, a couple, or a shared flat (Wohngemeinschaft). The person on the rental contract, or the owner, is usually the account holder, and every adult resident must register if no one else in the household already has.¹

An “apartment” here means a self-contained living space with its own entrance that you can reach without passing through someone else’s home. A room in a shared house with a private entrance from a hallway or from outside counts as a separate apartment and triggers its own fee.¹

Second Homes

A second home, vacation house, or caravan at a fixed location normally counts as an extra apartment with its own fee.⁴ If you already pay for your main residence, you can file a secondary-residence exemption (Befreiung für Nebenwohnung) with the Beitragsservice, providing both contribution numbers and proof of which address is your primary one.⁵ This is not automatic. Without the application, both properties are billed.

Freelancers Working from Home

If you’re a freelancer or sole proprietor working from home with no separate business premises and no employees, your household fee already covers the work. You do not owe a separate business contribution. A vehicle used for business rather than exclusively private purposes must be registered separately at €6.12 per month. Companies with staff or dedicated premises pay under a separate business schedule based on locations, employees, and vehicles.⁶

Registering When You Move In

You’re expected to register with the Beitragsservice as soon as you move into an apartment, and your obligation runs from the first day of the month you moved in.⁷ The registration form on the official Rundfunkbeitrag website asks for your name, address, and tenancy start date, and can be submitted online or by mail. Once it’s processed, you receive a confirmation letter with a nine-digit Beitragsnummer. Keep that number. You’ll need it for every payment, exemption request, or address change.⁸

Skipping registration rarely works. When you register your address at the local residents’ registration office (Einwohnermeldeamt), that office notifies the Beitragsservice. On top of that, every registration office in Germany periodically sends adult resident data to the Beitragsservice for matching against existing accounts. If your address has no contribution account, a letter will arrive asking you to clarify your situation.⁵

Exemptions and Reduced Rates

Certain residents can be fully exempted based on the social benefits they receive. Qualifying benefits include:

Bürgergeld (formerly Arbeitslosengeld II)
Grundsicherung (basic income support in old age or for reduced earning capacity)
BAföG (federal student financial aid), only if you live away from your parents
Berufsausbildungsbeihilfe or Ausbildungsgeld (vocational training grants), again only when living independently
Blindenhilfe (blind person’s allowance) or certain nursing care benefits under social welfare law

You submit proof of the benefit to the Beitragsservice. The exemption runs only as long as the benefit approval, so when your BAföG or Bürgergeld notice expires, you have to reapply with updated documentation.⁹

People whose disability pass carries the “RF” designation pay a reduced rate of €6.12 per month, one-third of the standard fee. This typically applies to individuals who are deaf, severely hearing-impaired, or blind and cannot participate in public events.⁹

If your income exceeds the threshold for social benefits by less than €18.36 per month, you can apply for a hardship exemption even without receiving any of the listed benefits.¹⁰ Exemptions can also be granted retroactively for up to three years from the date you apply, as long as you met the requirements during that earlier period.¹¹ If you qualified in the past but never applied, that back window is worth checking.

Deregistering When You Leave

You can close your apartment’s contribution account in specific situations: moving abroad permanently, moving into a household where someone else already pays, or giving up a residence entirely. Deregistration needs your Beitragsnummer and supporting documentation. For a move abroad, that’s your official deregistration certificate (Abmeldung eines Wohnsitzes) from your local city hall. For a move within Germany, confirmation that another resident at the new address is already paying the fee is enough. Submit the form on the Rundfunkbeitrag website or by mail, and keep a copy along with your Beitragsnummer in case a billing dispute surfaces later.¹²

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

Non-payment escalates on a defined path. If the fee isn’t paid within four weeks of a due date, the Beitragsservice sends a Festsetzungsbescheid, a formal assessment notice that is an enforceable legal title. It adds a late surcharge of 1 percent of the outstanding balance, with a minimum of €8.³

If nothing is paid after that, a Mahnung (formal reminder) follows, and the case then goes to enforcement authorities for compulsory collection. Two things can happen at that stage:¹³

Bank account seizure (Kontopfändung). Your account is frozen until the debt is paid. Transfers and withdrawals are blocked, and any balance above the legally protected minimum goes to the creditor.
Wage garnishment (Lohnpfändung). Your employer receives a garnishment order and must forward the seizable portion of your pay to the creditor. You keep only the amount below the protected threshold.

A seizure remains in place until the full amount, including all surcharges, is settled, and agreeing to a payment plan does not automatically lift an active seizure.¹³ Unpaid fees fall under the standard three-year limitation period in Germany’s Civil Code, so the Beitragsservice can pursue debts going back several years before they expire.

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