Freelance Self-Employment ("Freiberufler")

Anyone who wants to work as a freelancer must offer a scientific, artistic, teaching or writing service.

The following professions are considered ‘liberal professions’ (if they are carried out as self-employed activities):

1. Doctor, veterinarian, dentist, lawyer, tax advisor, notary, engineer, architect, interpreter (these professions are also referred to as ‘catalogue professions’ or „Katalogberufe“.

2. Teachers, lecturers, journalists, musicians, writers, designers, artists, and other scientific, literary, artistic or teaching professions (these professions are also referred to as ‘activity professions’ or „Tätigkeitsberufe“.

3. Designer, structural engineer, photographer, graphic designer or similar technical or creative professions (these professions are referred to as ‘similar professions’ or „Ähnliche Berufe“.

The Tax Office will make an initial decision as to whether you are considered a freelancer when you register there. If you are unsure whether you are a freelancer, simply ask your local Tax Office directly. The staff there will help you with the correct classification. You can find your local Tax Office at Behördenwegweiser. Simply select ‘Finanzamt’ on the left and enter your postcode on the right.

Please note: If you register as a freelancer but are actually running a business, you will be required to pay back trade tax. 

You can find out more about trade tax on our topic page ‘trade-based self-employment’.

In order to become self-employed as a freelancer, you need a residence permit in accordance with Section 21 (5) of the Residence Act. Other requirements must also be met. You can find out more on our topic page ‘Can I become self-employed?’.

The business plan is the foundation of your path to self-employment– you need it to make any progress with authorities and banks. You can find out how to write a good and convincing business plan on the website wir-gruenden-in-deutschland.de. Free business plan templates are available at unternehmenswelt.de.

It must also be clear whether your profession is actually considered a ‘liberal profession’. You can find more information in the section ‘What is a liberal profession?’

Don't forget: for many liberal professions, you need official professional certification and recognition of your qualifications. This is particularly important if you obtained your degree abroad. Some professions, such as doctor or lawyer, may only be practised if you have official permission. You can find out more about this on our topic page ‘Can I become self-employed?’

• Your first point of contact is ‘Wir gründen in Deutschland’ (Starting a business in Germany). This multilingual website is specifically designed for migrants who want to start their own business in Germany. Here you will find lots of useful information in more than 10 languages. There is also a network of free advice centres in your federal state.
• You can get a free initial consultation at the Institute for Liberal Professions. The staff can answer all your questions about starting a business as a freelancer.
• The start-up portal of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy offers a wealth of knowledge and tips on self-employment. It also offers free advice via its information hotline.
• Detailed start-up advice from a management consultancy or start-up advisor usually comes with a fee. However, in some federal states, you can receive subsidies to cover the costs of consulting. You can find out what services are available in your federal state on the website deutschland-startet.de.
• Online start-up seminars can be found at gruenderplattform.de
• If you are unemployed and want to become self-employed, you can apply for an AVGS (§45 SGB III) at the employment agency. This entitles you to free advice, e.g. on marketing, accounting or the preparation of a business plan and financial concept. You are eligible if you have been receiving ALG I for at least six weeks. You can apply in person or informally in writing, stating your unemployment number and the start date of your unemployment. Important: The AVGS must be redeemed before you start your self-employment.

The German Federal Agency for Female Entrepreneurs (bga) supports women in starting, managing and developing their businesses. It is active in all federal states and connects female entrepreneurs with over 500 counselling centres, 1,300 experts and 350 networks. The services range from initial advice to specialised consulting across all industries. Topics include business succession, skilled trades and household-related services.

You can find further services for women on our topic page ‘Can I become self-employed?’.

Start-up grant

If you have been unemployed for at least one day and are still entitled to Unemployment Benefit I for at least 150 days and would like to be self-employed as your primary occupation, you can apply for the so-called ‘start-up grant’ or "Gründungszuschuss" from the employment agency. You can do this directly at your local Employment Agency.

To receive the start-up grant, you must submit a good business plan, a copy of your registration with the Tax Office and a so-called ‘viability certificate’ or “Tragfähigkeitsbescheinigung”– this is a confirmation from business consultants or experts from a start-up centre that your business plan is well thought out. You must also submit a CV and all your certificates and evidence proving your qualifications to the Employment Agency.

If you receive the start-up grant, you will continue to receive your unemployment benefit I every month for six months and an additional €300 for your health insurance and pension. You will also have the opportunity to participate in seminars and workshops on various topics (accounting, marketing, etc.) free of charge. After the first six months, you have the option of receiving a monthly subsidy of €300 for a further nine months. Whether you receive the start-up grant depends on your caseworker. It is their decision as you are not entitled to the start-up grant.

Start-up allowance

If you receive basic income support (“Grundsicherung”) from the Jobcenter and would like to become self-employed on a full-time basis, you can apply for the so-called ‘start-up allowance’ or “Einstiegsgeld”. To receive the start-up allowance, you must submit a sound business plan, your CV and a copy of your registration with the Tax Office. The caseworkers at the Jobcenter may also request an expert opinion on your business plan.

The amount of the entry allowance depends on the duration of your previous unemployment and the size of your household and is usually assessed on an individual basis. You also have the option of applying for additional money for essential purchases (e.g. a computer) that you need for your work. You can receive support for up to 24 months in total. Whether you receive the entry allowance depends on your caseworker– it is their decision, as you are not entitled to the entry allowance. 

Subsidised loans from a development bank

A loan from a development bank such as KfW-Förderbank is usually cheaper than a standard loan. Development banks charge lower interest rates. In addition, you can usually agree on a grace period, which means you don't have to start repaying the loan right at the start of your business. You must apply for these low-interest loans in advance. However, you cannot apply for them directly through the development bank, but must contact your regular bank. Your bank will then forward the loan application to the development bank.

Guarantees for loans from a so-called “Bürgschaftsbank”

Here, a so-called “Bürgschaftsbank” assumes liability for the loans you apply for. In order to obtain a loan, you usually have to prove that you can repay the loan even if you fail. If you do not have any collateral yourself, a guarantee bank can take over for you. This increases your chances of being approved for a loan. You cannot apply for this guarantee directly through the “Bürgschaftsbank”, but must contact your regular bank.

You can search for funding for your business idea on the websites deutschland-startet.de and fuer-gruender.de. Depending on which federal state you live in and your personal situation, various funding programmes may be suitable for you. Both websites feature a short questionnaire. Once you have completed the questionnaire, you will receive information about suitable funding programmes free of charge.

Further information on the various financial support options available from banks or the state can be found at unternehmenswelt.de.

• Tips and funding opportunities specifically for women can be found on the ‘Perspektiven schaffen’ (Creating Perspectives) portal of the Federal Ministry for Gender Equality.
• In addition to general funding, there are special programmes for women, e.g. the Gründerinnenbonus (Founders' Bonus) in Berlin. Other regional offers are also available – e.g. via Trading Twins.
• Founderland supports BIPoC women with financing – e.g. with training in pitching and negotiation to attract investors or business angels. Good to know: Business angels are wealthy individuals who invest money, knowledge and contacts in young companies.

As a freelancer, you must register directly with your local Tax Office, which you can find on Behördenwegweiser. Simply select ‘Finanzamt’ on the left and enter your postcode on the right. Once you have found your Tax Office, you can register there informally with a short letter. You must do so no later than four weeks after starting your self-employment. The Tax Office will then send you a ‘tax registration questionnaire’ (“Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung”) which you must complete. There you also indicate whether you wish to take advantage of the small business regulation or “Kleinunternehmerregelung” (more on this in the section ‘What is the small business regulation?’). You can also pick up the questionnaire directly from the Tax Office and then return it to them once you have completed it. This saves you time. Once you have completed the questionnaire and sent it to the Tax Office, they will issue you a tax number. Help with completing the questionnaire can be found, for example, on the website www.fuer-gruender.de. You can also ask a tax advisor for help. However, tax advisors’ services come with a fee. You can find tax advisors, for example, on the website steuerberater.de.

You will need your personal tax identification number (IdNr.) to complete the tax registration questionnaire. You will automatically receive your IdNr. by post when you register your place of residence in Germany for the first time. This number is valid for life. Every child born in Germany is also automatically sent an IdNr. If you have lost your IdNr, you can request a new one from the Federal Central Tax Office.

Please note: Unlike tradespeople, you do not need to register your business with the Trade Licensing Office.

You must specify the legal form of your business when registering. The legal form has a major impact on liability and taxation. Most freelancers who work alone choose sole proprietorship (“Einzelunternehmen”) as their legal form. Freelancers who set up a company together with other freelancers usually form a GbR (civil law partnership). If you want to become self-employed together with one or more other freelancers, a partnership company (“Partnerschaftsgesellschaft”) may be the right legal form for you. If you set up a partnership company, you must register with the partnership register. To do so, you will need the help of a notary. You can find notaries in your area at notar.de. All of the legal forms mentioned above are partnerships. In partnerships, you are liable for debts not only with your business assets, but also with your private assets.

As a freelancer, you can also choose the legal form of a corporation or “Kapitalgesellschaft” (GmbH, KG, OHG, AG, etc.). In this case, you are not liable with your private assets. However, you are then no longer considered a freelancer and must pay trade tax.

You can find more information on the various legal forms on the websites gruenderplattform.de and ‘Wir gründen in Deutschland’.

If your annual turnover in the previous year is not expected to exceed €25,000(since 01.01.2025) and your turnover in the current year is not expected to exceed €100,000, you can take advantage of the so-called small business regulation. As a small business owner, you do not have to pay VAT to the Tax Office. This also exempts you from the advance VAT return. In addition, simple bookkeeping and profit determination are usually sufficient.

When registering with the Tax Office, you can indicate on the tax registration questionnaire that you wish to take advantage of the small business regulation. Please note: As a small business owner, you are not allowed to include VAT on your invoices, but you must indicate it, e.g. as follows: ‘In accordance with § 19 UStG, no VAT is charged’ (Gemäß § 19 UStG wird keine Umsatzsteuer berechnet.) And, of course, you cannot deduct input tax.

As soon as your turnover increases or you wish to opt out of the small business regulation for other reasons, you can inform the Tax Office informally and switch to standard taxation.

Please note: If you earn more than €100,000 as a freelancer in the current year, the small business regulation ends immediately and you must calculate and pay VAT from that point onwards.

You can find out more about the small business regulation on the website fuer-gruender.de.

Some freelance professions are known as ‘chamber-regulated freelance professions’ (“kammerpflichtige Freie Berufe”). A chamber is an official organisation that monitors certain professions, sets rules and represents its members.This applies to doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists, notaries, lawyers, patent attorneys, tax consultants, auditors, architects and consulting engineers. You can find out whether your profession is subject to chamber membership in the profession encyclopaedia of ‘Wir gründen in Deutschland’.

If you want to become self-employed in one of these professions, you must register with the chamber responsible for your profession. You can find out which chamber this is in the Behördenwegweise. Simply select “Kammern” on the left and enter your postcode on the right. When registering, you must prove that you are qualified for your profession. This means you must submit your certificates. You can find out how to have foreign certificates recognised on our topic page ‘Recognition of foreign qualifications’.

All non-medical healthcare professions, such as physiotherapists, must register with the public health department and provide proof of their qualifications. You can find your local public health department in Behördenwegweiser. Simply select ‘Gesundheitsämter’ (public health departments) on the left and enter your postcode on the right.

Health insurance:

As a self-employed person, you can choose between the so-called "voluntary statutory health insurances" ("freiwilligen gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung") and private health insurances. You can read more in this regard in our chapter "Health Insurance". In Germany, having health insurance is mandatory. For artists and publicists, in addition to the statutory and private health insurance, there is a third option: the Artists' Social Insurance or "Künstlersozialkasse" (for short: KSK). As a member of KSK, half of the amount you should contribute to health, long-term care and pension insurance is covered by the tax money and other companies. You cannot, however, register and automatically become a member of KSK: the KSK will first check to verify if you are, in fact, self-employed.

Pension insurance:

Some liberal professions (so-called "Freien Berufe") are obliged to register for pension insurance. For others, pension insurance is voluntary. If the job you practice is subject to insurance or "Kammerpflichtig" (see section "Where do I have to register?"), You will need to join the pension insurance in the appropriate chamber's so-called pension scheme ("Vorsorgungswerk"). If you practice a so-called "particularly vulnerable" profession ("besonders schutzbedürftigen Berufe") -e.g. self-employed teacher, self-employed midwife or self-employed maternity nurse, self-employed carer or nurse- you are also obliged to have pension insurance. You can read more in this regard on the website of the German Pension Insurance. Others can all voluntarily contribute to pension insurance or obtain private provision. In any case, you should make due plans to secure your retirement.

Unemployment insurance:

Under certain conditions, you can also voluntarily contribute to and benefit from unemployment insurance. You can do so within three months of starting your self-employment at the Employment Agency at your place of residence. To learn more, visit existenzgruendungsportal.de.

Occupational accident insurance:

In principle, you must have occupational accident insurance ("Berufsunfallversicherung") as well. To obtain one, you must register at the professional association ("Berufsgenossenschaft") responsible for your profession. If you contract an occupational disease or in case of an occupational accident, you will be supported by your professional association. If you have employees, you must have them insured as well. You can also seek advice from your professional association regarding occupational safety.

Occupational disability insurance:

It is not compulsory, but it may make sense to consider occupational disability insurance ("berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung"). If you are no longer able to work because of an accident or illness, the occupational disability insurance will pay you a monthly pension. To compare different occupational disability insurances, visit Portal Check24.

Additional insurance:

Depending on your profession and the services or products you offer, professional liability insurance, public liability insurance or property insurance may also be advisable.

• Professional liability insurance covers you if your incorrect advice results in financial loss, property damage or personal injury to your customer. This is particularly important for lawyers, tax advisors, architects, engineers, doctors and interpreters.
• Public liability insurance covers you if your mistakes result in personal injury or property damage. This protects your business.
• With property insurance (e.g. equipment insurance), you can insure the items you need for your work, such as electrical appliances, against damage. If something breaks, the insurance company will pay for a replacement.

On the website finanzchef24.de, you can compare the services and costs of different insurance providers.

Whenever you, as a freelancer, provide a service to a person or company, you must issue an invoice within six months. All invoices you issue must be kept for ten years. The Tax Office can request these invoices at any time to check if your taxation has taken place correctly. 

The invoices you issue must contain certain information. These are:

• your name and address
• name and address of the invoice recipient
• the date of invoice
• performance Period, i.e. the period during which you've provided the service
• type, extent and date of the service provided
• your tax ID number ("Steuernummer") or sales tax ID number ("Umsatzsteueridentifikationsnummer")
• the invoice number
• the sales tax rate as well as the net and gross amount (or if you are a small business: the amount to be paid and a sentence that indicates you do not charge sales tax in accordance with § 19 Sales Tax Act)

It is also useful if your invoice contains the customer number associated with the invoice recipient, the payment deadline and your bank details. You can find more information regarding invoices on fuer-gruender.de. On rechnungsvorlagen.de you can find generic invoice templates you can use.

As a self-employed professional, you can usually do the bookkeeping in the basic EÜR framework ("Einnahmen-Überschuss-Rechnung" or "Revenue-Surplus-Calculation"). Only if you have chosen "Corporation" as legal form, you have to create a so-called "double-entry bookkeeping" (i.e. "doppelte Buchführung"). With the EÜR as a framework, you have to record all incomes and expenditures in an analogue or digital cash book. For more information in this regard, visit fuer-gruender.de.

Important: You must keep all invoices that you issue and receive for ten years. If the Tax Office decides to check your bookkeeping, they may ask you to submit all your invoices and other documents.

As self-employed, you pay income tax ("Einkommenssteuer") and usually also the so-called pre-tax ("Vorsteuer") and sales tax ("Umsatzsteuer "), which colloquially is called "Mehrwertsteuer" (or VAT). For each of these taxes, there are specific dates on which you must pre-pay or pre-register.

• The amount of your income tax depends on the profit you make — the higher your profit, the higher your due income tax. You can deduct business expenses such as the costs of a company car and an office or advertising expenses from your payable tax. As self-employed, you usually have to pay your income tax in advance. You will be exempt from advance payment only if your estimated annual income tax is lower than € 400. Also, you do not need to make advance payments if your income is below the basic exemption level of €11.604 (as of 2025) or €12.348 (from 2026). The prepayment is due on 10 March, 10 June, 10 September and 10 December. You will receive, in due time, a notification from the tax office about the amount of the advance payment. The amount of this advance payment depends on the level of income you have estimated in the "Tax Collection Questionnaire" ("Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung")- that is if you've just started- or past earnings, in the case have been working as self-employed for at least one year. As soon as you submit your tax return for the whole year, it will be calculated whether you have paid more or less than what you should have paid in advance. If you have paid too much, you will be paid back. If you have paid too little, you will have to pay the remnants of your taxes within a month. If your profit is below €11.604 (for 2025) and €12.348 (for 2026), you do not have to pay any income tax; however, you must still submit a tax return. You can learn more in our chapter Tax Declaration.
• Anyone who gains a financial turnover with their work in principle has to pay taxes. This type of tax is called the Sales Tax or "Umsatzsteuer". If the small business regulation does not apply to you, you will, in principle, have to pay 19% of the revenues you make in Germany as sales tax. People in some liberal professions such as writers, artists and similar jobs pay only 7% sales tax (§12 Sales Tax Act). Some services in the field of human medicine are entirely exempt from sales tax (§ 4 Sales Tax Act). You usually must pre-register your sales tax with the Tax Office by the 10th of each month. To do so, you must calculate your sales tax liability. You can calculate your payable sales tax by deducting the sales tax you have paid for goods or services to other companies from the sales tax you've paid in advance for your self-employed job (this is called the input tax or "Vorsteuer") and transmitting the resulted amount to the Tax Office. That's called sales tax pre-registration ("Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung"), and it must be made via www.elster.de. If the sales tax you charge for your service is higher than the sales tax you have paid, it means you must pay the Tax Office. If your input tax is higher than your sales tax, you will be reimbursed by the Tax Office. The annual tax statement then must be submitted, along with the annual sales tax return, in the following year by 31 July. Please note: Small companies can be exempted from sales tax (small business regulation or "Kleinunternehmerreglung"), which means as the owner of a small business, you do not have to do sales tax pre-registrations. Keep in mind that You still have to file a sales tax return.
• In contrast to businesspeople ("Gewerbetreibenden"), the self-employed, in principle, do not have to pay trade taxes ("Gewerbesteuer"). To learn more, read the section "Which legal form should I choose?"

Seek advice from a tax consultant (at the latest) before filing your first tax return. Their service costs money, but without the help of an expert, doing your taxes correctly could be a real challenge. You can find a tax consultant in your area on  steuerberater.de.

Please note: During the coronavirus pandemic, the German government has extended some deadlines. An extended deadline currently applies: tax returns for the year 2024 can be submitted until 30 April 2026. However, this only applies if you have your tax return prepared by a tax advisor.

The tax declaration can only be submitted electronically. You can do so either on www.elster.de free of charge or by using other paid tools such as Smartsteuer, taxfix, wundertax. Although what you need to do is explained on the official portal (elster.de), it is sometimes difficult to understand- but paid tools are more user-friendly. Of course, you can also do your tax return with the help of a tax consultant. You have to pay for a consultant's service, but seeking advice from a professional can potentially save you taxes. You can find a tax consultant, for instance, on steuerberater.de. You can learn more in our chapter Tax Declaration.

If you are officially working as a self-employed person, but, in fact, you only have a single employer and do not work independently, your work is categorised as "Scheinselbständigkeit" or "bogus self-employment"- which means that you are self-employed only on paper but actually treated like an employee. In this case, the company would actually have to hire you regularly and pay social security contributions and payroll tax ("Lohnsteuer"). "Scheinselbständigkeit" or "bogus self-employment" is punishable in German law both for employee and employer. You can learn more about the differences between bogus self-employment and genuine self-employment on the website of the Industry and Trade Chamber.

Yes. However, you must observe the regulations applicable to your profession regarding the kind and number of employees. Keep in mind that you are considered self-employed only if you handle all orders on your own responsibility. If your employees have professional responsibilities, you may lose your status as self-employed, and your venture may be considered a trade ("Gewerbe"). You would then have to pay appropriate trade tax ("Gewerbesteuer").

Whether you hire your staff full-time, part-time or for a mini-job (a so-called "450 € Job") is your decision. Of course, you can also pay another self-employed professional for specific services. Please note that you must pay social security contributions for employees earning more than € 450 per month. These contributions amount to approximately 21.9% (2025) of the gross salary you pay to the employee. For a mini jobber, you do not need to make social security contributions, but you must pay a lump-sum tax of about 31% (2025) of the wage to the Mini-job Centre ("Minijobzentrale").

When you hire employees, you must note the following:

• You must apply for a company number ("Betriebsnummer") for each employee at the company number service ("Betriebsnummern-Service" or BMS) of the Employment Agency. You will need this number for registering your employees at Social insurances or the Minijob Center.
• You need a written employment contract. It is only with a written agreement that you can avoid misunderstandings and legal conflicts. There are specific rules that you must follow when writing a contract of employment. For more information in this regard, check the website of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. You can also find an employment contract template on the website of the IHK.
• You need to register your employees at Social insurances or Minijob Central and make appropriate contributions- even if your employee is a  family member. Not doing so is considered to be an offence. Registration must be done electronically via sv.net.
• You must register your employees at the statutory accident insurance ("Unfallversicherung").
• You must pay your employees at least the statutory minimum wage. For 2025, this amounts to €12.41 per hour. An increase to €12.82 per hour is planned for 2026. If you have any questions in this regard, you can call the citizen line of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The staff can be reached at 030-60280028. The service is free of charge.
• You must deduct income tax and, if applicable, the church tax at source every month and transfer it to the Tax Office's account. To learn more, visit fuer-gruender.de.

Yes. In addition to your job as an employee, you can also work independently as a part-time self-employed professional. No matter you work as self-employed on a part-time or full-time basis, the same rules apply to you. Please note that you have to pay taxes both for your salary as an employee and for the profit you make as a self-employed professional.

If you want to give up freelance work, you need to deregister at the Tax Office- you can usually find the necessary form on their website. Please fill out the form and send it to the Tax Office. If you cannot find the form, send your Tax Office an (informal) letter/email. Keep in mind that you need to provide your tax number. The Tax Office will then send you the deregistration form. You can find your local tax office on Local Search under your federal state.

Please note: If you deregister during the calendar year, you still have to submit your tax return for the year in question.

If you would like to work as a freelancer part-time (rather than full-time), there is no need to deregister from the Tax Office. However, if doing so make you fall under the "small business regulation" category ("Kleinunternehmerregelung"), you should inform the Tax Office so that you no longer pay the input tax ("Vorsteuer").

Please note: If you are employed and also work as a freelancer on a part-time basis, you are required to file a tax return.