Who Must Pay the Broadcasting Fee (Rundfunkbeitrag)?

Ivan Relja

17.01.2025

– Update:

04.07.2025

Good to know

• The monthly broadcasting fee in Germany is 18.36 €

Content

• Who in Germany Has to Pay the Broadcasting Fee?
• Broadcasting Fee (Rundfunkbeitrag) for Citizens
  1. Shared Apartments, Families and Singles
  2. Students, Trainees and Pupils
  3. Pensioners
  4. Recipients of Social Benefits
  5. Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Their Helpers
  6. People with Disabilities
  7. Owners of Additional Apartments
  8. Owners of Vacant Apartments
• Broadcasting Fee for Companies and Institutions
• Broadcasting Fees Scale for Companies and Institutions

Who in Germany Has to Pay the Broadcasting Fee?

Citizens, companies, institutions, and public welfare organizations must pay the broadcasting fee (Rundfunkbeitrag) in Germany.

Broadcasting Fee (Rundfunkbeitrag) for Citizens

The monthly broadcasting fee per household in Germany is 18.36 €, which is 220.32 € per year. However, depending on the specific situation, different regulations may apply, so the broadcasting fee may be different. See below which conditions apply to individual groups of citizens.

1. People in Shared Apartments, Families and Singles

It doesn’t matter how many people (subtenants included) live in a household, only one broadcasting fee must be paid per household. The same rule is valid for shared apartments (WG or Wohngemeinschaft): only one broadcasting fee must be paid per shared apartment. You decide who will be the registered person for a broadcast fee payment.

If you move in together and each of you already has your own german broadcasting contribution account, you can decide under which contribution account the shared apartment should be managed. This will be an broadcasting contribution account holder. All other broadcasting contribution holders can be deregistered by specifying the number of this person contribution account.

If the broadcasting contribution account holder moves out of the shared apartment, then someone else in that shared apartment needs to register as a new account holder for that shared apartment.

2. Students, Trainees, and Pupils

For students who are not entitled to state funding and do not live with their parents, the same applies to all adult citizens in Germany: a monthly broadcasting fee of 18.36 € must be paid per apartment. If several people live together, only one person pays the 18.36 € broadcasting fee per month.

When you live in a student residence and your room leads off a publicly accessible hallway, it is counted as an apartment. It does not matter whether you have your own bathroom or kitchen, you must pay a monthly fee of 18.36 € per room.

When several rooms are separated from a publicly accessible hallway or stairwell by their own apartment door, this is a shared apartment. Then 18.36 € per month is due per that shared apartment.

Erasmus students and other scholarship holders in Germany generally also have to pay a monthly broadcasting fee.

3. Pensioners

Pensioners in Germany also contribute to the financing of the broadcasting fee. But if they receive a social benefit in addition to their pension, they can apply for an exemption from the broadcasting fee.

4. Recipients of Social Benefits

You can be exempted from the german broadcasting fee when you receive certain social benefits such as Basic Income Support (Grundsicherung) and citizen’s allowance (Bürgergeld). Recipients of Unemployment Benefit I (Arbeitslosengeld I), Housing Benefit (Wohngeld), or Transitional Allowance (Übergangsgeld) are not entitled to an exemption from the broadcasting fee.

5. Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Their Helpers

Special conditions apply to refugees and asylum seekers for broadcasting fees, especially in the initial phase.

6. People with Disabilities

People with disabilities RF (Merkzeihnen RF) can apply for a reduction in the broadcasting fee. The monthly fee for people with disabilities is 6.12 €, but if they receive certain social benefits, they can apply for an exemption from the broadcasting fee. The RF mark (Merkzeichen RF) translated from German means “exemption from broadcasting fees” (Rundfunkgebührenbefreiung).

7. Owners of Additional Apartments

Under certain conditions, persons who own an additional apartment may be exempted from the broadcasting fee for that apartment.

8. Owners of Vacant Apartments

A vacant apartment does not need to be registered as long as all of the following conditions are met:

• The apartment is unoccupied
• There is no rental agreement for this apartment
• No person is registered as living in this apartment

Broadcasting Fee for Companies and Institutions in Germany

An entrepreneur is a natural or legal person or a partnership with a legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of their commercial or independent professional activity. Freelancers, craftsmen, farmers, and small business owners who do not have to be entered in the commercial register, are also considered companies within the meaning of Section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB). It does not matter whether they are a sole proprietor or have employees.

When a business owner, self-employed person, or freelancer uses a room or area in a private home for professional activities and this room is directly accessible, this is considered a permanent establishment that must be registered and pay the German broadcasting fee.

Motor vehicles that are not used exclusively for private purposes must also be registered with ARD ZDF. A monthly broadcasting fee of €6.12 is charged per motor vehicle.

Broadcasting Fees Scale for Companies and Institutions in Germany

Broadcasting fee for companies and institutions in Germany depends on the number of employees.