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You are self-employed, often for few clients

Social security cover as a self-employed person

Understand disguised employment and the pension insurance duty of certain self-employed people, compute pension and health insurance contributions, clarify your status, report the insurance duty, and apply for exemption or for compulsory insurance on request where appropriate: 7 steps.

Start here: Bogus self-employment and pension insurance in Germany

Understand: disguised employment and pension insurance for the self-employed

  1. Step 1 of 7
    CoursePaid individually43 min

    Bogus self-employment and pension insurance in Germany

    Instructions and integration are the two indicators of employment named in § 7 SGB IV. The first module walks through the status determination procedure, shows when an application within one month postpones the start of compulsory insurance, and puts a figure on a back-payment with a four-year limitation period and only three pay runs for recourse. The second covers self-employed people who are still compulsorily insured, the 2026 standard contribution of €735.63 and the artists' social levy of 4.9 percent.

Compute: pension contribution and health and long-term care insurance

  1. Step 2 of 7
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    German pension contributions for the self-employed — standard, half-rate or income-based

    Without proof of income, the reference amount (Bezugsgröße) is treated as your earnings — EUR 3,955 a month in 2026, for a contribution of EUR 735.63. Until the end of the third calendar year after you started, half of it applies. If you prove your income with a tax assessment, you pay on that income — uprated, no lower than twelve times the marginal-employment threshold and no higher than the contribution ceiling.
  2. Step 3 of 7
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    German health and long-term care insurance for the self-employed — voluntary member contributions

    Voluntarily insured self-employed people pay on their total income, at least on one ninetieth of the monthly reference amount per calendar day (2026: EUR 1,318.33 a month) and at most up to the contribution ceiling. Without opting in to sick pay the reduced 14.0% rate applies, with it 14.6%, plus the fund's additional rate in both cases. There is no employer share.

Apply: status determination, report of insurance duty, exemption, compulsory insurance on request

  1. Step 4 of 7
    FormFree45 min

    German status determination procedure (Statusfeststellung) — freelancer or employee?

    Client and freelancer have the Clearingstelle of the German Pension Insurance decide with binding effect whether the engagement is employment or self-employment (§ 7a SGB IV, form V0027). Applying within one month of the start can defer the start of employment to the decision date. Guide and worked example.
  2. Step 5 of 7
    FormFree30 min

    Compulsory pension insurance for the self-employed in Germany — registering with V0020

    Teachers, trainers, carers, midwives and self-employed people with a single client are compulsorily insured in the German pension scheme by law and must register themselves with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung within three months (§ 190a SGB VI). Who is affected, which exemptions exist, step-by-step guide and worked example.
  3. Step 6 of 7
    FormFree35 min

    Exemption from German pension insurance for single-client self-employed — form V0050

    Self-employed people with no staff who work essentially for one client are subject to German pension insurance (§ 2 sentence 1 no. 9 SGB VI), but can be exempted for three years as founders or from age 58 (§ 6(1a) SGB VI) — backdated only if they apply within three months. Who, when, and what applies afterwards. Guide and worked example.
  4. Step 7 of 7
    FormFree25 min

    Opting into German statutory pension insurance as a self-employed person

    Not compulsorily insured by law? Self-employed people can apply for compulsory insurance within five years of starting (§ 4(2) SGB VI). Unlike voluntary insurance, it counts towards the reduced earning capacity pension — and § 4 SGB VI provides for no withdrawal. Guide and worked example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in German