Broadcasting contribution: Important change in GEZ payment - consumers face penalties
Created: 05/11/2022, 13:55
By: Patricia Huber
Almost every household in Germany has to pay the license fee.
Anyone who transfers the contribution should keep an important change in mind - otherwise it could be expensive.
Munich/Cologne – 220 euros and 32 cents: That’s how much around 46 million (as of 2020) German households pay for radio and television every year.
The so-called broadcasting contribution - formerly known as GEZ - finances the offers of public broadcasting and has to be paid by almost all households.
Exceptions are, for example, Hartz IV recipients, recipients of basic security or students who receive student loans.
Broadcasting fee: Cash payment is no longer possible for everyone
Everyone else has to pay 55.08 euros to the so-called contribution service every quarter.
So far, consumers have largely been free to choose how they pay.
However, a recent ruling by the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) on April 27 (Az. 6 C 2.21, 6 C 3.21) now restricts the payment options.
Accordingly, paying the contribution with cash is no longer possible for everyone.
"Only those who are liable to pay contributions and who can prove that they cannot open a current account should be able to pay their contribution in cash and without additional costs in the future," explains Esther Jontofsohn-Birnbaum from the Bavarian Consumer Advice Center.
But there is also an important change for another large part of the contributors.
Anyone who has always transferred the money independently in the past has received a payment request by post every quarter.
That's enough of that.
In the future, there will only be a one-off request listing all four payment dates.
On these dates, always in the middle of the quarter, you have to transfer the money punctually.
Broadcasting fee: If you transfer too late, you have to pay more
As long as the contribution amount does not change, the payment dates will remain the same in the coming years.
If you do not want to take care of the punctual payment yourself, you can also have the contribution collected by direct debit.
This also ensures that no payment is forgotten.
According to the Bavarian Consumer Center, 73 percent of all contributors are already using this option.
The remaining 23 percent, i.e. around 10.5 million households, still take care of the payment themselves.
But be careful: If you pay too late, you have to reckon with a late payment surcharge.
After the due date, contributors have four weeks to transfer the money.
"If the outstanding amount is not paid within this time, a notice of assessment will be sent," explains Jontofsohn-Birnbaum to
Merkur.de
.
The amounts owed and the late payment penalties are set out therein.
The late payment surcharge is one percent of the outstanding contribution debt, but at least eight euros, Jontofsohn-Birnbaum makes clear.
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Broadcasting fee: This is what happens when it cannot be paid for
If a consumer is unable to pay the fees, there are a number of options.
On request there is the possibility of payment in installments or deferral.
A comparison is also an option.
This enables people in financially difficult situations to have part of their arrears waived.
If you can present documents about your inability to pay, you can even apply for a waiver of the arrears.
However, if the contributions are not paid and none of the above options are used, the worst case scenario is enforcement.
However, this is a matter for the federal states, municipalities or municipalities.
