Submit annual declaration for artists' social security contributions

Procedure

As a rule, you will receive a letter from the Künstlersozialkasse at the beginning of the year. In this letter, you will be asked to submit your annual registration for the artists' social security contribution for the previous year.

Exception: You have been exempted by the Künstlersozialkasse from the obligation to submit annual zero returns. In this case, you will not receive a letter from the Künstlersozialkasse at the beginning of the year. As soon as you start making payments for artistic or journalistic works or services to self-employed persons again, you must send a remuneration report to the Künstlersozialkasse on your own initiative.

Please determine the total amount of remuneration and state it in full euro amounts.

You can submit your notification online or by post.

Online notification:

• Call up the online form on the federal portal verwaltung.bund.de. This will guide you step by step through the necessary information, which you can enter electronically.
• Note: You will need a valid ELSTER certificate to log in to the online form.
• It will take you about 5 minutes to complete the online form.
• First enter your personal details, including your tax number. You will find this on the letter from the Künstlersozialkasse in the top right-hand corner.
• On the next page you can then enter the amount of remuneration to be reported.

Notification by post:

• If you received a letter from the Künstlersozialkasse at the beginning of the year, a registration form will be enclosed.
• Otherwise, the Künstlersozialkasse will also make the registration form available on its website in the Media Center for Companies and Users.
• Please complete the registration form in full.
• Please send the signed registration form to the Künstlersozialkasse.
• The Künstlersozialkasse will not confirm receipt of the written notification.

Regardless of whether you have submitted the notification online or by post:

• After receiving your notification, the Künstlersozialkasse will check your details. If there are any queries or further documents are required, the Künstlersozialkasse will contact you by post.
• As soon as your notification has been processed by the Künstlersozialkasse, you will receive a statement of account.
• The statement shows the amount you have to pay to the Künstlersozialkasse.
• If the statement results in a credit balance for you, the Künstlersozialkasse will usually refund this amount automatically to your account.
• The statement also shows the amount you have to pay monthly as an advance payment for the current calendar year.
  
  • You do not have to make advance payments that do not exceed EUR 40.00 per month.
  • The advance payments for a year are offset against the actual artists' social security contribution for the year in question.

Legal bases

• § 27 Absatz 1 Künstlersozialversicherungsgesetz (KSVG)
• § 31 Künstlersozialversicherungsgesetz (KSVG)
• § 33 Künstlersozialversicherungsgesetz (KSVG)

More information

Remuneration to be reported is everything you spend in order to obtain or use the artistic or journalistic work or service, for example

• fees
• purchase prices
• royalties
• licenses
• benefits in kind
• Expenses such as costs for telephone and similar as well as incidental costs for materials and similar

The chargeable remuneration does not include

• Value added tax shown separately on an invoice
• Payments to copyright collecting societies
• Payments to a KG and OHG, legal entities and to a GmbH & Co. KG, insofar as they act in their own name
• Profit allocations to shareholders
• Travel expenses that are reimbursed within the tax exemption limits
• tax-free expense allowances
• the so-called "practice leader allowance"
• subsequent duplication costs

legal remedy: Appeal. Detailed information on how to lodge an appeal can be found in the notice from the Künstlersozialkasse.