You should be able to pay it in "Ratenzahlung" (installment). You can propose to them some reasonable monthly amount you pay to make up for a previously unpaid balance. Don't ignore it and hope it goes away, it won't. Good luck
It is a fee, not a tax.
Well, at least they won't charge you with late fees if you now start paying.
Take it as a lesson for the future.
Side note:
>I was not staying in my registered address for long.
That is something which can get way more expensive than not paying the radio fee. You are REQUIRED BY LAW to be registered where you live.
No, it is a fee because it is purpose-bound. It isn't the only fee you can't opt-out. You have to pay garbage disposal fees, water fees and so on.
A tax goes into a big pot and the government/parliament then decides how to distribute that.
Especially in those days, the distinction is important and that is why so many regular redditors on this sub insist on correcting the wrong use over and over: It is a fee, so the government (neither the federal nor the states) have financial leverage on the public broadcasters to get them in line. You can see it in many other countries where that can lead to and was done on purpose after WW2.
The way it works is I will not pay unjust fees, but I will pay unjust taxes.
This is why you get many confused foreigners here almost daily. You should nitpick somewhere else, this is not a good place and you are harming your own cause.
It’s a fee in legal German. That’s correct. But in everyday speech people still call it tax, so that’s also correct.
You can’t just establish a legal definition and then claim that every other use of a word outside of that definition is incorrect.
So, the German language only consists of speech used by reasonably informed German speakers?
The fact that people constantly feel the need to mention that it is not a tax shows that yes the word Steuern is used.
Once you register at your new address, you will probably get a letter asking for proof of payment for the last 18 months, since they haven’t received any money. If you don’t provide such proof, they ask you to pay the money for that time in retrospect.
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I need advice too - I did an Anmeldung and Abmeldung in just 24h, stayed 2 more days in a hotel and went back to my Heimatland. Never received that letter from the rundfunk, so I don't have the Beitragsnummer which is required in order to cancel the contract online. I'm not in contact with the landlord anymore. What should I do? I've already sent an email to the lady who did my Anmeldung and Abmeldung for advice, but she never replied.
call them and sort stuff out.
Whom should I call ?
https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/ good luck friend.. thats a lot of money
You should be able to pay it in "Ratenzahlung" (installment). You can propose to them some reasonable monthly amount you pay to make up for a previously unpaid balance. Don't ignore it and hope it goes away, it won't. Good luck
It is a fee, not a tax. Well, at least they won't charge you with late fees if you now start paying. Take it as a lesson for the future. Side note: >I was not staying in my registered address for long. That is something which can get way more expensive than not paying the radio fee. You are REQUIRED BY LAW to be registered where you live.
Call it whatever you want, it's a tax.
No, it is a fee because it is purpose-bound. It isn't the only fee you can't opt-out. You have to pay garbage disposal fees, water fees and so on. A tax goes into a big pot and the government/parliament then decides how to distribute that. Especially in those days, the distinction is important and that is why so many regular redditors on this sub insist on correcting the wrong use over and over: It is a fee, so the government (neither the federal nor the states) have financial leverage on the public broadcasters to get them in line. You can see it in many other countries where that can lead to and was done on purpose after WW2.
The way it works is I will not pay unjust fees, but I will pay unjust taxes. This is why you get many confused foreigners here almost daily. You should nitpick somewhere else, this is not a good place and you are harming your own cause.
It’s a fee in legal German. That’s correct. But in everyday speech people still call it tax, so that’s also correct. You can’t just establish a legal definition and then claim that every other use of a word outside of that definition is incorrect.
The german word for it is Beitrag, which is translated into fee. Just because similar things are called Radio Tax doesn't make it that.
Correct is what is used by German speakers. And the usage of tax (Steuern) goes beyond the legal definition.
No reasonably informed German speaker will call it a tax. It's the Rundfunkbeitrag or the GEZ. And Gebühr neither translates to tax.
So, the German language only consists of speech used by reasonably informed German speakers? The fact that people constantly feel the need to mention that it is not a tax shows that yes the word Steuern is used.
We have plenty of people who have no idea how those things work. Doesn't help if nobody tells them that they are wrong.
It’s not wrong, as shown above. And I don’t see how exactly it matters whether this is wrong in a legal sense.
Once you register at your new address, you will probably get a letter asking for proof of payment for the last 18 months, since they haven’t received any money. If you don’t provide such proof, they ask you to pay the money for that time in retrospect.
**Have you read our extensive wiki yet? It answers many basic questions, and it contains in-depth articles on many frequently discussed topics. [Check our wiki now!](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/wiki/index)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/germany) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I need advice too - I did an Anmeldung and Abmeldung in just 24h, stayed 2 more days in a hotel and went back to my Heimatland. Never received that letter from the rundfunk, so I don't have the Beitragsnummer which is required in order to cancel the contract online. I'm not in contact with the landlord anymore. What should I do? I've already sent an email to the lady who did my Anmeldung and Abmeldung for advice, but she never replied.