What's changing with Germany's Rundfunkbeitrag this June?

You may loathe it, but Germany’s Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting fee) of €18,36 is due every month. However, a major change is coming in June that you should be aware of if you manually transfer your radio tax to the Beitragsservice. 

Beitragsservice will no longer send out Rundfunkbeitrag payment reminders

The Beitragsservice - the company responsible for collecting the Rundfunkbeitrag - announced in a press release on its website earlier this month that a big part of the standard payment procedure is changing in June, affecting millions of households in Germany. 

People have two options when it comes to paying the Rundfunkbeitrag: setting up a direct debit, or regularly paying it by bank transfer. If you belong to the latter group, you should take note. 

Up until now, the Beitragsservice has sent out a regular invoice to people who pay the radio tax via bank transfer. For many people, this invoice also functions as a helpful payment reminder. 

Starting from June, however, the regular invoices will be replaced with just one letter (the so-called “Einmalzahlungsaufforderung” or one-time payment request). The letter lays out the annual Rundfunkbeitrag payment deadlines. 

After that, there will be no more reminders. As the Beitragsservice states: “These deadlines apply continuously and therefore also for all subsequent years without further reminders.”

The Beitragsservice justified the change by saying that the one-off payment request “leads to significant savings in postage and shipping costs”. 

You could be fined for missing radio tax payments

It’s a big deal because anyone who misses the payment deadlines will be hit with an immediate fine. According to the Beitragsservice, a late payment penalty of 1 percent of the outstanding amount will be applied - a minimum of €8! 

If the fee and the fine are not paid within four weeks, the Beitragsservice is entitled to add additional reminder fees, pursue enforcement measures, and even initiate administrative offence proceedings. Anyone who fails to pay for more than six months could receive a fine of up to €1.000.

I pay radio tax by bank transfer; what should I do now?

If you pay your Rundfunkbeitrag by bank transfer rather than direct debit, you will at some point receive your one-time payment request from the Beitragsservice. Only after you have received this letter will your regular payment notifications stop being sent. 

If you receive the letter, you should note the dates it specifies (and perhaps add a reminder on your mobile phone to send the money on the appropriate date). The date your Rundfunkbeitrag is due depends on the date that you first moved into your accommodation, as follows:

• If you moved in during January, April, July or October: Your Rundfunkbeitrag is due on February, May, August and November 15 each year. 
• If you moved in during February, May, August or November: Your Rundfunkbeitrag is due on March, June, September and December 15 each year. 
• If you moved in during March, June, September or December: Your Rundfunkbeitrag is due on April, July, October or January 15 each year. 

Alternatively, you can choose to prepay your contribution, in one of the following formats:

• Annually on January 1
• Every six months on January 1 and July 1
• Every quarter on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 

If this all sounds like too much hassle, you could also set up to pay your contributions by direct debit by filling out this form online.