Becoming self-employed or freelance in Germany (with Berlin specifics)

Before you start

• For non-EU nationals: a residence permit that allows self-employment (read the supplementary sheet)
• A registered address in Germany
• A clear description of what you will do, for whom, and a realistic estimate of your income for the first year
• Health insurance that covers you as a self-employed person

Documents you need

• Passport or national ID card

  required

• Residence permit allowing self-employment

  Required for non-EU nationals, including for the trade registration in Berlin.

  optional

• Registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung)

  required

• Tax ID (steuerliche Identifikationsnummer)

  Makes ELSTER registration easier; without it you can register with an email address only for the questionnaire.

  optional

• Proof of health insurance

  required

• Professional qualifications and licences

  Needed for regulated professions and some trades, and useful for a freelance residence permit.

  optional

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Check that your residence status allows self-employment

   EU, EEA and Swiss citizens may work self-employed without any permit.

   Non-EU nationals need a residence title that allows self-employment (selbständige Tätigkeit erlaubt). Look at the supplementary sheet (Zusatzblatt) of your permit. The main routes under § 21 of the Residence Act are:

   • Self-employment in a business: possible if there is an economic interest or regional need, the activity is expected to have a positive economic effect, and the financing is secured by your own capital or a loan commitment. The business plan, your experience and the capital invested are assessed, and the chamber of commerce or other bodies are consulted.
   • Freelance work: a separate route for liberal professions, without the economic-interest test. Any licence required for the profession must have been granted or promised.
   • Graduates of German universities, and researchers and EU Blue Card holders: should be granted a permit for self-employment related to their studies or research.
   • Other permits: if you hold a permit for another purpose (for example family), the immigration office can allow self-employment in addition.

   If you are over 45, you usually need to show adequate provision for old age. Berlin's immigration office (LEA) states for 2026 either an expected monthly pension of €1,612.53 after at least 12 years or assets of €232,204, with exemptions for some nationalities.

   Important: the Opportunity Card only allows employment, not self-employment. Student residence permits generally do not allow self-employment without separate permission from the immigration office. Working self-employed without permission can lead to fines and to your permit being withdrawn.

   In Berlin, freelance permits are applied for online through the service portal. The LEA asks among other things for a CV, a revenue forecast, letters of intent or fee agreements from clients, any professional licences, proof of health insurance, and your lease. It reviews the application and invites successful applicants to an appointment. An electronic permit card costs €100 (2026) and takes about 4 to 6 weeks to produce after the appointment.

2. 2

   Step 2: Find out whether you are a freelancer or a trader

   The Income Tax Act (§ 18 EStG) lists the liberal professions: independent scientific, artistic, literary, teaching and educational work, and professions such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, tax advisers, journalists, interpreters and translators, as well as "similar professions". The IHK Berlin describes freelance work as the personal, independent and professionally autonomous provision of higher-level services based on special qualifications or creative talent.

   What it means in practice:

   • Freelancer: no trade registration, no trade tax, no chamber of commerce (IHK) membership. Some regulated professions belong to their own professional chamber instead.
   • Trader: trade registration is required, the business is a member of the IHK (or of the chamber of crafts, HWK, for crafts), and trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) applies. Sole traders and partnerships have an allowance of €24,500 of trade income per year before trade tax is due. New IHK members who are sole traders not entered in the commercial register pay no IHK contribution in their first two years if their trade income stays at or below €25,000.

   Who decides? The tax office (Finanzamt) decides whether your activity is freelance or commercial, based on what you declare. Borderline cases are common, for example in IT, consulting, marketing or design. If you are unsure, describe your activity precisely in the tax questionnaire and ask the IHK Berlin or a tax adviser.

3. 3

   Step 3: Register your trade in Berlin (traders only)

   If your activity is commercial, register it (Gewerbeanmeldung) when you start operating.

   • Online: through Berlin's business registration portal, run by the Einheitlicher Ansprechpartner (single point of contact). The fee is €15 (2026), payable by credit card.
   • In person: at the trade office of your district's public order office (Ordnungsamt). The fee is €26 per sole trader (2026).

   You need the trade registration form, an identity document (not needed for the online procedure), and if you are not an EU citizen, your residence permit. Some activities need an additional licence before you start, for example security services or insurance brokerage.

   The trade office forwards your registration to other bodies, including the tax office and the IHK or chamber of crafts. You will usually hear from them afterwards. The tax office does not replace the next step: you still have to submit the tax questionnaire yourself.

4. 4

   Step 4: Register with the tax office through ELSTER

   Every freelancer and trader must submit the questionnaire for tax registration (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) electronically through Mein ELSTER, the tax authorities' online portal, within one month of starting.

   1. Create a free Mein ELSTER account. If you already have a tax ID or tax number, use it. If you have neither, you can register with your email address only; that certificate initially allows you to send the questionnaire and nothing else.
   2. Choose the questionnaire for sole proprietors (Einzelunternehmen, including freelance work) and fill it in. You will be asked about your activity, start date, expected turnover and profit for this year and next, your bank account, and whether you want to use the small-business VAT scheme.
   3. If you will work for business clients in other EU countries, request a VAT identification number in the questionnaire as well.

   In Berlin, individuals are handled by one of 17 regional tax offices, depending on where you live or have your business. The tax office then sends your tax number (Steuernummer) by post. Use it on your invoices and for all later tax filings. Your income estimate determines whether you have to make quarterly income tax prepayments; according to Berlin's finance administration, these are set if the expected annual tax is at least €400.

5. 5

   Step 5: Decide how to handle VAT

   Since 2025, you can use the small-business scheme (Kleinunternehmerregelung, § 19 UStG) if your turnover was no more than €25,000 in the previous year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year. In the year you start, the €25,000 limit applies to that year's turnover. Small businesses do not charge VAT, show no VAT on invoices and generally do not have to file VAT returns.

   Points to watch:

   • If your turnover in the current year exceeds €100,000, the scheme ends immediately, from the transaction that crosses the limit.
   • Showing VAT on an invoice by mistake makes you liable to pay it.
   • You can opt out of the scheme to charge VAT and reclaim input VAT on your business costs. This binds you for at least five calendar years.

   If you do not use the scheme, you charge VAT (the standard rate is 19 %; 7 % applies to some goods and services) and file VAT advance returns (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung) through ELSTER. Berlin's finance administration explains that these are due monthly if your annual VAT exceeds €9,000 and otherwise quarterly. For services to business clients abroad, special rules on where VAT is due apply; ask a tax adviser.

6. 6

   Step 6: Arrange health and long-term care insurance

   Health insurance is compulsory in Germany. As a self-employed person you are not automatically insured, so you choose between:

   • Statutory insurance as a voluntary member (freiwillige Versicherung): contributions are a percentage of your income, calculated on at least €1,318.33 a month in 2026 and at most €5,812.50. The general rate is 14.6 % plus the fund's additional contribution, which averages 2.9 % in 2026, and long-term care insurance comes on top. Even with low income, health insurance alone therefore costs at least about €230 a month in 2026 if you insure entitlement to sickness benefit.
   • Private health insurance: premiums depend on age, health and the tariff, not on income.

   Access to statutory insurance is not automatic. Voluntary membership is generally open to people who were previously insured in the German statutory system for a minimum period (for example 12 months immediately before, or 24 months in the last five years). If you come to Germany and start self-employed straight away, you may not meet this, and private insurance may be the main option. Insurance periods in another EU or EEA country can count in some cases. Ask a public health insurer before you decide, because switching from private back to statutory insurance later can be difficult. See the health insurance guide.

   Artists and publicists may be insured through the Künstlersozialkasse instead (see the next step).

7. 7

   Step 7: Check pension obligations and the Künstlersozialkasse

   Most self-employed people are free to decide whether to pay into the statutory pension scheme. Some groups are compulsorily insured, according to Deutsche Rentenversicherung, including:

   • self-employed teachers, trainers and educators earning more than €603 a month and not employing an insured employee;
   • self-employed carers working mainly on doctors' orders, and midwives;
   • craftspeople entered in the register of crafts;
   • self-employed people who work mainly for a single client and do not employ an insured employee.

   If you are in one of these groups, you must register with Deutsche Rentenversicherung within three months of starting, to avoid back-payment demands. Others can pay voluntary contributions; in 2026 the minimum voluntary contribution is €112.16 a month.

   Künstlersozialkasse (KSK): self-employed artists and publicists (for example musicians, visual artists, designers, writers, journalists) can be insured in statutory health, long-term care and pension insurance through the KSK. You pay about half of the contributions, like an employee; the other half comes from a levy on companies that use artistic work and from a federal subsidy. Conditions include working artistically or journalistically on a professional and not merely temporary basis, employing no more than one employee (trainees and minijobbers excepted), and expected income from this work of more than €3,900 a year. The minimum income does not apply during the first three years after you start. You apply to the KSK with its questionnaire and evidence of your work.

8. 8

   Step 8: Set up invoicing, records and tax payments

   • Invoices: include your name and address, the client's name and address, your tax number or VAT ID, the date, a consecutive invoice number, a description and the date of the service, and the amount. Small businesses add a note that no VAT is charged under the small-business scheme; regular businesses show the VAT separately.
   • Records: keep all receipts and invoices. Freelancers and small traders who are not required to keep full books can calculate their profit as business income minus business expenses (Einnahmenüberschussrechnung, EÜR) and submit it with their annual tax return through ELSTER.
   • Separate account: a separate bank account for business transactions makes bookkeeping and later tax checks much easier.
   • Set money aside: income tax, any VAT, insurance contributions and possible trade tax are paid from your income. Many self-employed people set aside a fixed share of every payment.

Avoiding false self-employment

Watch out

Common mistakes

• Registering a trade for an activity that the tax office would treat as freelance, or the reverse, without checking first.
• Assuming the trade office's notification to the tax office replaces the ELSTER questionnaire.
• Showing VAT on invoices while using the small-business scheme.
• Underestimating income in the questionnaire to keep prepayments low, which leads to large back payments later.
• Choosing private health insurance only because it is cheaper at the start, without considering the cost in later years or for family members.

Tips

• The IHK Berlin offers start-up advice and can help you decide whether your activity counts as a trade.
• Keep your residence permit, trade registration and tax number letter together; you will need them for banks, clients and later permit renewals.
• For a freelance permit in Berlin, letters of intent from real clients carry weight. Collect them before you apply.
• Check your Mein ELSTER mailbox regularly as well as your post.
• If you combine a job and freelance work, tell your employer if your contract requires it, and check that your permit allows both.

Frequently asked questions

Editorial answers written by our team, based on the sources below.

Official links

In your plan

• Register your self-employment with the tax officeAdd to plan
• Check that your permit will allow self-employmentAdd to plan
• Check whether you must pay into the state pension as a self-employed personAdd to plan
• Apply for your residence permit online at the SZEAdd to plan
• Find the residence route that fits your moveAdd to plan
• Join a German health insurerAdd to plan
• Make sure you are insured from the day you arriveAdd to plan
• Check that working remotely from Munich is allowed and set up correctlyAdd to plan

Sources

Written and checked by HomiStart editorial against the official sources below. Next scheduled check: 2 Feb 2027.