Rundfunkbeitrag: How to Register, Pay, Get Exempt or Deregister

Soon after you move to Germany, a letter from the Beitragsservice arrives about the Rundfunkbeitrag. What the fee is and why it exists is in our plain-English explainer. This guide is the practical part: how to register, how to pay, who can get out of it, and how to deregister when you move or leave.

Who pays: one fee per flat

The Rundfunkbeitrag is charged per home, the Wohnung, not per person or device. Every adult living there counts as a holder, and the law presumes this for anyone registered at the address or named on the lease. Only one of them has to pay.

As of 19 October 2026, the fee is €18.36 a month per flat, the amount in force since 2021. An increase to €18.64 from January 2027 has been recommended, but it has not been decided yet, so check rundfunkbeitrag.de for the current figure.

How to register

You owe the fee from the first day of the month you move in, and the law says to register without delay. After your Anmeldung at the Bürgeramt, the registration office passes your new address to the Beitragsservice, which then writes to you.

If nobody in your flat pays yet, register online at rundfunkbeitrag.de with the form "Wohnung anmelden". You then get a 9-digit Beitragsnummer, your contribution number. If someone in the flat already pays, answer the letter with their Beitragsnummer instead. If you do not reply, the Beitragsservice can register you itself, backdated to the day you moved in.

How to pay

By law the fee is due in the middle of each three-month period, for three months at a time. You can also choose to pay in advance:

The easiest way is a SEPA direct debit, the Lastschrift: you get no payment letters, and your bank statement is your proof. If you pay by transfer, always put your Beitragsnummer in the reference line. Cash is only allowed if you can show you cannot open a bank account.

Flatmates, couples and student halls

In a shared flat, the WG, you decide among yourselves who registers. Anyone else who already has an account can deregister by naming the payer's Beitragsnummer. How you split the cost is up to you. But if the fee goes unpaid, every adult in the flat is liable, not just the account holder.

If you move in with your partner and you both have accounts, keep one and deregister the other. In student halls, a room that opens onto a shared corridor counts as its own flat, so each room pays. A group of rooms behind its own front door counts as one WG.

Exemption and reduction

You can be exempt (Befreiung) if you receive certain benefits, but only on application. The list includes:

• basic income support: Grundsicherungsgeld (formerly Bürgergeld), Sozialhilfe, or Grundsicherung im Alter und bei Erwerbsminderung
• benefits for asylum seekers (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz)
• student or trainee grants (BAföG, Berufsausbildungsbeihilfe, Ausbildungsgeld), if you do not live with your parents
• Blindenhilfe, Hilfe zur Pflege, or care allowance paid under state law

Arbeitslosengeld I, Wohngeld and a normal trainee salary do not count. People with the Merkzeichen RF on their disability card can apply for a reduction (Ermäßigung) to a third, €6.12 a month. If your income is above a benefit limit by less than the fee, you can apply as a hardship case, a Härtefall.

Apply in writing with a copy of your benefit notice, the Bescheid. An exemption can be backdated up to three years and lasts as long as the notice. It covers your spouse, registered partner and children under 25 in the flat, but not other flatmates.

Moving house or leaving Germany: the Abmeldung

Moving within Germany is a change of address, not a deregistration. Use the form "Daten ändern" and keep your Beitragsnummer.

You deregister, the Abmeldung, when you stop holding a flat: you move in with someone who already pays, you move abroad for good, or you move into full-time residential care. Give the date you moved out, the reason and, if you move in with a payer, their Beitragsnummer. For a permanent move abroad, you need proof that you deregistered at the registration office. If others stay in the flat, one of them has to register it.

Timing matters. Payment ends at the end of the month you move out, but never before the end of the month in which you tell the Beitragsservice. Deregister late and you pay for the extra months. Any credit is refunded once the account is closed.

If you don't pay

You have to pay without being asked, within four weeks of each due date, and the Beitragsservice does not have to remind you. If you don't, you get a Festsetzungsbescheid, a formal assessment notice. It adds a late fee, the Säumniszuschlag, of 1 percent of the debt, at least €8.

You can object, the Widerspruch, within one month. Otherwise the notice becomes final. Unpaid amounts then go to enforcement, the Vollstreckung, by local authorities or a bailiff, who can seize money from your bank account or wages and add their own costs. If you cannot pay in one go, ask the Beitragsservice about instalments early.

Why the Rundfunkbeitrag belongs on your household list

The fee is small. The trouble comes from a missed letter, a direct debit on an old account, or an Abmeldung sent months late. New here? Our first 90 days checklist shows where it fits.

Notenz is one place for your household's contracts, insurance, bills, documents and dates, shared with your partner. Tick "Rundfunkbeitrag" in the list of common German dates and enter your next payment date. Notenz emails you before it is due, and your short Sunday email shows it in the week it comes up.

This article describes the general rules for private households. It is not legal advice.