Rundfunkbeitrag: the mysterious €18.36 letter every expat gets

What this letter actually is

A few weeks after your Anmeldung in Germany, a letter arrives from the Beitragsservice von ARD, ZDF und Deutschlandradio - and every newcomer's first instinct is "scam?" It isn't. The Rundfunkbeitrag funds Germany's public broadcasters (ARD, ZDF, Deutschlandradio - think BBC-licence-fee logic), and it's:

• €18.36 per month (€220.32/year, unchanged into 2026, per rundfunkbeitrag.de)
• Mandatory - no opt-out for "I don't own a TV" or "I only watch Netflix"; the fee attaches to the dwelling, not to devices.
• Automatic - the registration office passes your Anmeldung data on, which is why the letter finds you without you doing anything.

It's one of the fixed costs of a German address, and the Your first 30 days in Germany checklist slots it in week 3.

The rule that saves you money: per dwelling, not per person

The single most important mechanic: one dwelling = one fee, no matter how many people live in it.

• Living alone: you pay €18.36/month. That's it.
• Couple/family: one payment covers the household.
• WG (shared flat): only one flatmate registers and pays. Everyone else responds to their own letter with the payer's Beitragsnummer (contribution number), and their account closes. Splitting the €18.36 internally is your WG's business (WG life).

The classic expat mistake is every flatmate paying separately - if that happened, reclaim the duplicates by writing to the Beitragsservice with both numbers.

How to register (or point to the payer)

The letter contains a form/QR code; the online route at rundfunkbeitrag.de takes minutes:

1. If you're the payer: register the dwelling, set up SEPA direct debit (quarterly is the default rhythm - €55.08 per quarter).
2. If someone already pays for your dwelling: respond with their Beitragsnummer - online form "Wohnung abmelden/jemand zahlt bereits".
3. Keep the Beitragsnummer somewhere findable - moves, disputes, and WG changes all want it.

Who can get exempt (Befreiung)

Exemptions are real but narrow - tied to benefit receipt, not to income level or student status alone:

Apply via the official exemption portal with your benefit certificate. Retroactive exemption up to 3 years is possible - and already-paid contributions come back. One WG subtlety: the exemption is personal; if the exempted person was the household's payer, a non-exempt flatmate must take over the registration.

Second home? You don't pay twice (but must apply)

A rule that saves commuters and dual-city couples real money: if you have a second home (Nebenwohnung) and already pay the Rundfunkbeitrag for your main home, you don't owe a second fee for the second dwelling - but it's not automatic, you must claim it.

• Apply for a Nebenwohnung-Befreiung on rundfunkbeitrag.de, proving (via a Meldebescheinigung showing both registered addresses, or a Zweitwohnungsteuer notice) that you already pay for your Hauptwohnsitz.
• Deadline for backdating: apply within 3 months of moving in to be exempt from the move-in date; later, and it only applies from the month after you apply.
• Without the application, the Beitragsservice will bill the second dwelling as a separate account - so register the exemption promptly.

Note this is separate from the Zweitwohnungsteuer (a municipal second-home *tax*, e.g. 20% of net cold rent in Berlin, 18% in Munich) that many cities levy on a Nebenwohnsitz - see Anmeldung in Berlin and Anmeldung in Munich.

The WG payer moves out: don't lose the account

A common WG mess: the flatmate registered as the dwelling's payer moves away, and the fee either double-registers or lapses into arrears. When your household's payer leaves:

• A remaining flatmate takes over the dwelling's registration (re-register the same dwelling under their name/Beitragsnummer) - the dwelling still owes exactly one fee, just under a new payer.
• The departing payer deregisters their old address (or transfers the account to their new home).
• Sort this the week someone moves - gaps here create confusing back-bills for the whole flat.

What happens if you ignore it

The tempting move - bin the letters - fails predictably:

1. Reminders escalate to a Festsetzungsbescheid (formal assessment) with late fees.
2. Unpaid assessments go to enforcement (Vollstreckung) - bank account garnishment is routine, and the debt doesn't expire quickly.
3. Moving doesn't reset it; the Beitragsservice re-finds you at each Anmeldung.

The fee survives every legal challenge thrown at it. Paying €18.36 beats fighting €300 of accumulated assessments; if you object to a specific bill, the letter's Widerspruch route (Surviving German bureaucracy) is the mechanism - not silence.

Moving out, moving abroad

• Moving within Germany: update the address; the fee follows your new dwelling (or closes if you join a dwelling that already pays).
• Leaving Germany: deregister (abmelden) with the Beitragsservice, attaching your Abmeldung from the registration office - otherwise the fee keeps accruing at your old address. It's a standard item on the leaving checklist (Leaving Germany).
• Cancellation logistics and proof-of-delivery habits are the same as any German contract - How to cancel any contract in Germany (r/germany's eternal question).

Frequently asked questions