Freelancing in Berlin: tax numbers and the KSK

Half of Berlin seems to be a freelance designer, translator or developer. Getting set up is mostly a question of which box you fall into, and doing the forms in the right order.

The short version

Germany splits the self-employed into Freiberufler (liberal professions such as writers, artists, translators, journalists, engineers and teachers) and Gewerbetreibende (traders), and the difference matters for registration and trade tax [3].
Every freelancer must tell the Finanzamt within one month of starting, online, to get a tax number (Steuernummer) [4].
Traders also register a Gewerbe with the district office, which costs EUR 15 online or EUR 26 in person (about £12.50 or £21.65) [5].
If your turnover was no more than EUR 25,000 last year and stays under EUR 100,000 this year, you can use the small business rule and skip charging VAT [7].
Self-employed artists and writers can join the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK), which pays roughly half their pension, health and care insurance [8][9].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002).

Freiberufler or Gewerbe?

This is the first fork in the road, and it isn't about how much you earn but what you do. § 18 of the Income Tax Act lists the liberal professions: doctors, lawyers, tax advisers, architects and engineers, journalists, photographers, interpreters and translators, plus independent scientific, artistic, writing, teaching and educational work, and "similar" jobs [3]. Everything else that's commercial, from running a café in Neukölln to selling on Etsy or most consulting that isn't a listed profession, is a trade (Gewerbe).

	Freiberufler	Gewerbe
Who	Listed liberal professions and similar work [3]	Trading and most other businesses
Register a trade?	No, exempt [5]	Yes, at the district Ordnungsamt or online [5]
Tell the Finanzamt	Yes, within one month [4]	Yes; the trade office also passes your details on [5]
Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer)	No	Yes, on profit above EUR 24,500 (about £20,400) [6]
Chamber membership	Usually no	IHK or the craft chamber [5]

Trade tax is calculated as 3.5% of profit above the EUR 24,500 allowance, multiplied by the local council's multiplier [6]. For a sole trader, much of it can usually be offset against income tax, so it bites less than it sounds. A software developer or a consultant can be either, depending on what exactly they do, and the Finanzamt has the final word. If you're borderline, a tax adviser can check before you register.

Your residence permit comes first

Newcomers since 2021 need a residence permit that allows self-employment, often the freelancer permit, before taking on clients. See German residence permits for Brits. Brits covered by the Withdrawal Agreement who've lived here since before 2021 can work for themselves without a new permit [1].

Getting your tax number, step by step

Do your Anmeldung and wait for your Steuer-ID to arrive by post. See Anmeldung: registering your address in Berlin.
Register a Gewerbe if you need one. In Berlin you can do it online with a BundID account for EUR 15, paid by credit card, or in person at your district's Ordnungsamt for EUR 26 [5]. Freiberufler skip this step.
Register with ELSTER, the tax office's online portal. The activation letter comes by post, so start early.
Fill in the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) in ELSTER within one month of starting work. The law requires it to be sent electronically; paper is only allowed on request in hardship cases [4].
Wait for your Steuernummer. The Finanzamt posts it, along with any advance tax payments (Vorauszahlungen) it sets from the profit you estimated. Estimate honestly: too high and you tie up cash, too low and you get a big bill later.
Ask for a VAT ID (USt-IdNr) on the same questionnaire if you'll invoice businesses elsewhere in the EU.

Your tax number goes on every invoice. Then keep receipts, open a separate bank account for the business (see banking in Germany) and put money aside every month.

VAT and the small business rule

German VAT (Umsatzsteuer) is charged at a standard rate of 19%, with a reduced rate of 7% for some goods and services such as books. But many new freelancers never charge it, thanks to the small business rule (Kleinunternehmerregelung). It applies if your total turnover was no more than EUR 25,000 (about £20,830) last year and doesn't go over EUR 100,000 (about £83,320) in the current year [7].

Under the rule you don't add VAT to invoices, but you also can't reclaim VAT on your laptop or software. If you mostly work for businesses that reclaim VAT anyway, opting in can make sense. Once you're over the limit, or opt in, you file regular VAT returns through ELSTER.

UK clients are a separate puzzle. Services you sell to a business in the UK usually fall outside German VAT under the place of supply rules, but the invoice wording matters. This is exactly where a tax adviser earns their fee.

Health insurance and the Künstlersozialkasse

Health insurance is compulsory for everyone living in Germany [1]. As a freelancer you choose between voluntary membership of a public insurer (Krankenkasse) and, in some cases, private cover [1]. Either way, without an employer you normally pay the whole contribution yourself, and you also decide whether to pay into the state pension. For many freelancers that's the biggest shock after the move: the monthly bill can feel steeper than a London rent rise.

Artists and writers have a better deal. The Künstlersozialkasse, the artists' social insurance fund, treats self-employed artists and publicists almost like employees: you pay roughly half the contributions [9], and the fund covers the other half, financed by a levy on companies that use creative work and a federal subsidy.

Who can join

You work self-employed in an artistic or publishing field (music, visual arts, performing arts, writing, journalism) on a lasting basis, not just as a sideline [8].
You expect to earn at least EUR 3,900 a year (about £3,250), or EUR 325 a month (about £270) [8].
Newcomers get leeway. In your first three years, you're insured even if you earn less than that [8].
You employ no more than one person subject to social insurance; trainees and mini-jobbers don't count [8].

What you pay in 2026

Contributions are based on your own estimate of the year's profit from creative work [9]:

Insurance	Total rate	Your share
Pension	18.6%	9.3% [9]
Health	14.6% plus your Krankenkasse's extra contribution	7.3% plus half the extra [9]
Long-term care	3.6% with one child	1.8% [9]

On EUR 10,000 of profit (about £8,330), the KSK's own example works out at EUR 77.50 a month for pension and EUR 60.83 for health, plus care insurance and half your insurer's extra contribution [9]. Childless members over 23 pay a little more for care.

To apply, fill in the KSK's registration form and questionnaire with proof of your work: contracts, invoices, a portfolio or published pieces [8]. Applications can take a while, so apply as soon as you start. A translator, a photographer or a web developer may or may not qualify; the KSK looks at what you actually produce.

The UK side

If you keep earning from UK clients, you're taxed in Germany as a Berlin resident, not in the UK, provided you've left the UK tax system properly [2]. Tell HMRC with form P85, or the SA109 pages if you're still in Self Assessment [2]. Social security is a separate question; if you're still on a UK payroll, see working abroad for a UK employer.

The British Chamber of Commerce in Germany, based in Berlin, runs events for British–German businesses if you fancy a bit of networking over something stronger than a cuppa. For the day-to-day questions, such as which ELSTER box your first invoice goes in, try our community group for Brits in Germany. This is general information; a tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case.

Freelancing in Berlin: Freiberufler or Gewerbe, your tax number and the Künstlersozialkasse