Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

WAGES

Everything that changes in April 2019 in Germany

From higher wages to new tax deductions, a lot of changes are in store from April 1st - and that's no joke.

Published: 1 April 2019 14:34 CEST
Updated: 1 April 2019 16:59 CEST
Everything that changes in April 2019 in Germany
A flower clock in Bernburg, Saxony-Anhalt. Photo: DPA

Minimum wage rises for temporary workers

From April 1st, the minimum wage for temporary workers in the West German states will rise by 3.2 percent to €9.79 – a slight increase from the previous €9.49. It remains the same throughout east Germany.

By October 1st, 2019, the industry minimum wage will rise to €9.96 in west Germany, and €9.66 in east Germany.

This means that the minimum wage for temporary workers will be higher than the legal minimum wage. Introduced in the summer of 2014, the statutory minimum wage has climbed from €8.50 in 2015 to €9.19 today. In 2020, it’s slated to rise even higher to €9.35.

Higher wages for civil servants

Civil servants can also look forward to higher wages starting in April 2019: their salary will increase by a full 3.09 percent. The pay for civil servants in Germany will rise again in 2020, this time by 1.06 percent.

Hamburg holiday housing

Hamburgers who want to rent out their flat as holiday accommodation need a special registration permit from April 1st. The apartment will then be provided with a housing protection number.

SEE ALSO: The places in Germany where rents are rising rapidly

Anyone who rents out holiday accommodation without prior notice is thus in breach of the new Housing Protection Act – and can expect fines of up to €500,000. The regulation was put in place to relieve the increasingly competitive housing market.

New tax deduction

If you have to move for professional reasons, you can save taxes. In addition to brokerage, travel or shipping costs, taxpayers can now also deduct an amount for “other moving costs”. On April 1st, the amount increases from €1622 for married couples and €811 for single people.

SEE ALSO: These are the 8 German tax breaks you need to know about

Photo: DPA

If children or other relatives live with you in the new apartment, the lump sum increases by €357. If the children need extra attention – for example, in the form of tutoring – because the new school has more material than the old one, up to €2045 can be claimed.

Revised driving licence test

Planning on taking a test for a German driving license soon? If so, be aware that the official list of questions will include 32 new ones, and 38 others which have been revised – including new video and image questions.

SEE ALSO: What you need to know about getting a German driver's license 

Animal welfare transparency

Animal protection – though shopping – is becoming easier on Monday. The major German supermarket chains such as Edeka, Rewe, Aldi, Lidl, Netto, Penny and Kaufland are introducing a uniform seal on sales packaging starting April 1st to inform consumers at first glance about the conditions under which animals are kept for slaughter.

They range from a first stage “keeping animals indoors”, which meets the legal requirements to level 4, in which animals are guaranteed outdoor space to roam around. Organic meat is also to be classified in this level.

Don’t be foiled by Aldi’s pickles

On a lighter note about grocery store changes, Aldi stores throughout Germany will sell all of their pickles without their former foil wrap.

Tests have shown that the vegetables are not damaged during transport without plastic film. In addition, the discounter wants to introduce a new system of returnable bags for fruit and vegetables as part of a push to cut back on its plastic waste.

End of 500-euro bills

Germany is known for being a cash-friendly nation, with most baristas barely flinching if you hand them a €50 note for a small coffee, and quickly producing the change. A €500 one would likely be another story. That’s just as well as Europe's central banks no longer want to produce the €500 note.

SEE ALSO: Mixed emotions in Germany as 500-euro bill bows out

The purple banknote will be available from the Bundesbank and the Austrian National Bank until April 26th. The other 17 national central banks in the euro zone stopped issuing the note on January 26th.

Soon the 500-euro bill will no longer be among this collection. Photo: DPA

A Congstar Change

Around 4.5 million Congstar customers will receive a new contract partner from April 1st. According to the mobile communications provider, the contracts that were once concluded with Congstar GmbH will be transferred to the parent company Telekom. Although Congstar has always been a subsidiary of Telekom, the “organizational affiliation” within the company is now changing.

According to the provider, apart from this purely legal change for customers, everything should remain the same for the time being. A special right of termination does not exist due to the adjustment.

More cities join diesel driving ban

The diesel driving ban continues: Several administrative courts have ruled that, from April 1st, the Euro 1-4 classes will be banned in Cologne, Bonn and Stuttgart.

In Cologne and Bonn the driving ban also applies to petrol engines: In Cologne petrol engines of classes 1 and 2 will be banned and in Bonn the driving ban for classes 1-3 will apply.

Around 10 million of the 15 million diesel cars registered in Germany fall short of the latest Euro 6 EU emissions regulation, potentially making them eligible for a ban, as well as two million diesel trucks.

SEE ALSO: Here's how you can be affected by diesel bans in German cities

In Bonn, the driving ban only applies to individual streets. In Cologne and Stuttgart, on the other hand, it applies to the entire environmental zone around the city centre and the districts east of the Rhine.

In Stuttgart, the diesel driving ban no longer only applies to foreign drivers, but from April onwards to all motorists. From September 2019, a driving ban for Euro 5 diesel vehicles is also planned.

An end to Google+

Google introduced its Google+ as an alternative to Facebook, but relatively few users joined. The social media giant is now recommending that users shut down their accounts before April 2nd.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

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

SHOW COMMENTS