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HOLIDAYS

Here’s how to make the most of the public holidays in 2018

With summer drawing to a close most of us are back in the office and feeling a bit gloomy. But help is at hand - we tell you everything you need to know to make the most of your vacation time next year.

Published: 7 September 2017 12:48 CEST
Here’s how to make the most of the public holidays in 2018
Photo: DPA

Germany gives you a fairly generous dose of public holidays, especially if you live in the Catholic south. But, annoyingly, they aren’t replaced if they fall on the weekend. That means that it pays to book your days off around the public holidays that fall on work days. Here’s how.

January

We all remember the festive season last year when Christmas and New Year fell on the weekend. It really wasn't such a happy time of year at all. Well good tidings are on the way.

Christmas and Boxing Day fall on a Monday and a Tuesday at the end of this year, meaning a bumper four days of holiday without you having to sacrifice a single vacation day.

And the merriment continues into the new year, with January 1st falling on a Monday. So anyone who has a multi-day hangover could choose to use up four vacation days here and keep the party going until January 7th. That would be a nine day break at the cost of only four vacation days.

For the people of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg the year doesn't start quite as perfectly as it could, though. Three Kings Day, which is celebrated in the two southern states every January 6th, falls on a Saturday.

March/April

February is a cold and unforgiving time indeed, there are no public holidays in that (mercifully) short month.

So we have to wait patiently for the end of March, which brings with it Good Friday (March 30th), the first day of Easter. Wise heads among us will certainly consider asking the boss for a couple of days off before or after the Easter weekend (although flights and hotels are often prohibitively expensive.)

May

Public holidays, you are indeed as welcome as the flowers of May.

Labour Day (May 1st) falls on a Tuesday next year, while Ascension Day is on a Thursday (May 10th). Germans like to call the piece of luck when a public holiday falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday a Brückentag (bridge day) – meaning they can book their vacation on a Monday or Friday and get a four day break.

Indeed many of us will have an unlikely three Brückentage in May. If you work in Baden-Württmberg, Bavaria, Hessen, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Rhineland-Palatinate or Saarland you will also get the day off on Thursday May 31st for Fronleichnam.

SEE ALSO: Why Germany comes alive with religious bombast on Fronleichnam

Not only that, we all get a long weekend in the middle of the month with Pentecost Monday falling on May 21st.

So for those who like mini breaks, it really doesn’t get much better than May 2018.

August-November

The Christian calendar front-loads most public holidays in the early months of the year, so things always look distinctly more gloomy from July onward. But even the few holidays we do get are poorly placed in the second half of 2018.

Catholic parts of Bavaria and Saarland get August 15th off for Mariä Himmelfahrt, but it falls on a Wednesday, meaning no Brückentag possibilities there.

READ ALSO: Why Bavarians are busy hanging out bouquets on Mariä Himmelfahrt

Reunification day (October 1st) will also fall on a Wednesday, as does Reformation Day (October 31st), which is celebrated in the five states of former East Germany. And similar to countries like the US and Canada, Halloween (October 31st) unfortunately isn't a public holiday in Germany.

Catholics have something to cheer about in November with All Saints’ Day (November 1st) falling on a Thursday. In Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, NRW, Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate that is a public holiday.

December

The end of the year brings cheer back to the whole country, with the two Christmas holidays landing on a Tuesday and a Wednesday – so a Brückentag on Christmas Eve will give you a five day break.

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TAXES

EXPLAINED: How do you close down a freelance business in Germany?

Leaving the country? Got a steady job offer you can’t say no to? Winding down your self-employment activities in Germany still requires taking a few bureaucratic steps.

Published: 15 May 2024 09:07 CEST
Updated: 15 May 2024 10:57 CEST
EXPLAINED: How do you close down a freelance business in Germany?

Striking out on your own as self-employed is one of the scariest – and potentially most rewarding things – you can do. In Germany, it also comes with its own set of rules around tax and social insurance.

But there are times when – for whatever reason – it may be time to move on.

Whether it’s because you have an exciting new opportunity or things haven’t quite worked out the way you hoped due to economic pressures – winding down self-employment the right way is crucial to avoid gaps in your health and social insurance coverage in Germany.

The steps you have to take are also a bit different depending on if you are new self-employed (Freiberufler) or have a trade licence (Gewerbe) – with some steps not being necessary for new self-employed.

Trade licences are automatically cancelled if the licenced person dies or the company ceases to have financial assets.

Resigning the trade licence or declaring it dormant

New self-employed people like writers or speakers don’t need to go through this step, as they don’t need a trade licence.

Those who have a trade licence will need to contact their competent local authority and resign it, or declare it dormant (withdrawing the licence). If you’re only winding down temporarily, declaring your trade licence dormant instead of de-registering completely may save you a few headaches later.

You may have to do this in person at your local trade office – or Gewerbeamt – depending on whether your local authority allows online de-registration or not. You’ll need to bring your official ID, trade licence, confirmation of registration and possibly an extract from the trade register. Fees are dependent on your local authority and can range from being free to €25.

You can declare the date you intend to resign the licence – which can be in the future. To ensure no gaps in your social insurance protections, including health insurance, set this date for the day before whatever comes next. For example, if you’re starting a new job on January 1st set the date for your trade licence to expire as December 31st.

The trade office will typically notify your local tax office, so you won’t need to do this yourself.

Notifying your tax office

If you’ve had to resign your trade licence, you can skip this step as your trade office will do it for you. If you’re a Freiberufler without a trade licence you need to resign, you’ll have to notify your local Finanzamt, or tax office, yourself.

Luckily, this is a pretty easy step.

First, you need to decide whether you’re ceasing operations completely or wanting to continue them part-time. If you’re ceasing completely, you’ll end up surrendering your self-employed tax number.

You don’t have to do this though. If you think you may still carry on some self-employed business as a side gig, you can inform the tax office that you intend to do so and keep your number.

At that point, the tax office should treat you as a Kleinunternehmer – or a small business making less than €22,000 a year. Having this status means that you will not need to pre-pay taxes or charge VAT on your invoices for freelance side projects.

If you derive any income from your side gig in the future though, you’ll still have to file a tax return.

READ ALSO: Can I have a freelance side gig as an employee in Germany?

Notifying your health insurance

While different private plans in Germany may have different notification requirements, if you have public health insurance in Germany, you should notify them that you’re winding up your self-employed business. Specifically, advise them exactly what date you’re wrapping up.

Again, this should be right before you start your new job or leave the country, to ensure no gaps in your coverage.

If ending your self-employment in Germany, take care to ensure that there’s no gaps in your health insurance coverage, by giving the right date for when you’re ceasing activity. You don’t want to be caught without coverage. Photo by Stephen Andrews on Unsplash

If you are in an artistic profession and thus pay pension, health, and nursing insurance through the Artist Social Insurance Fund (KSK), you should also advise them as well. If you’re leaving self-employment completely, you can typically give notice to KSK as to when it’s ending.

If you’re not, and intend to still make money freelancing as a side gig, they should know this as well. In this event, you’ll no longer pay health or care insurance through KSK, as this is covered through your main job.

You may need to continue to pay pension contributions through KSK based on the amount of money you still make from self-employed activities — depending on how much of them you continue.

KSK: How creative freelancers can pay less for German health insurance

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