New petition - Rundfunkbeitrag, formerly known as GEZ

[alex98uk 49]

Excellent, thank you for that Yorkshire... very useful

 

I'm going to discuss it tonight and try to sign up via the page you gave me. One assumes they would then send a "bill" since last October for me to pay. I don't want to end up 3 years down the road having no paid it... with a large cost hanging over my head and the worry that it affects my schufa...

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

They may try to backdate it to January 1st, 2013 when the fee first began, but clearly, assuming your first residential registration in Germany was in October then that is when you should begin paying it and when it should be backdated to.

[alex98uk 49]

I only registered to live in the country October and actually, thinking about it, only got into this flat at the start of November. The letters only started from then, so hopefully they have enough sense to only back date it realistically.

 

I see a lot of people "boycotting" or refusing to pay these things. I don't like these licenses, but I always feel, I knew such taxes and fees existed when I moved country and I still chose to. Whilst I watch no German TV, I still feel it's my duty as a "good citizen" (that sounds awful doesn't it?) to abide by local laws.

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

If you do plan on signing up, then simply use the date of your registration at the current address...

[geordie986 8]

So, today I got the second advice claiming for TV fee. Granted that:

- I live in a flat where the main tenant pays the fee.

- I already sent two times the letter declaring who is actually paying for the flat and related Beitragsnummer

- I also filled the this form declaring again the same information.

- I still don't speak enough German to do a call and explain the problem.

 

What else can I do to solve?

[Uncle Nick 6,245]

Get a friend/colleague who can speak German to make the call.

[oxymoron 13]

Reading the other thread from Editor Bob, I would not like to get my bank accounts frozen. So,I want to now register for this TV fee. Does anyone know if I will be billed back to January 2013 or can I now simply register from August 2014 ? Is there any way to avoid back payments?

[MarcoGT 48]

I am going to pay the GEZ (also with back payments); I got the form to fill in and also the Beitragsnummer.

I would like to pay with money transfer (Überweisung).

On the back of the letter I have checkboxes to tick:

 

- in der Mitte eines Dreimonatszeitraum

- vierteljährlich im Voraus

- halbjährlich im Voraus

- jährlich im Voraus

- durch Lastschrift

- durch Überweisung

 

From my understanding, I have to tick at least two boxes, right?

One for the way to pay (one of the last two) and one to say when to pay

 

Am I wrong?

 

I think I have to send the form back (it is not enough to pay it) because the will send me a reminder when I have to pay, right?

 

Thanks

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

 

Reading the other thread from Editor Bob, I would not like to get my bank accounts frozen. So,I want to now register for this TV fee. Does anyone know if I will be billed back to January 2013 or can I now simply register from August 2014 ? Is there any way to avoid back payments?

 

You can try and set your own starting date, but I guess they will pre-date it themselves back to January 2013, unless you can show/prove that you moved in later

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

When you want to pay it:

 

- in der Mitte eines Dreimonatszeitraum - in the middle of the quarter

- vierteljährlich im Voraus - at the beginning of a quarter (in advance)

- halbjährlich im Voraus - at the beginning of a half-year for 6 months

- jährlich im Voraus - at the beginning of the year for a full year

 

How you want to pay it:

 

- durch Lastschrift - Direct debit - they take the money from your bank

- durch Überweisung - manual payment - you transfer the money to them

[MarcoGT 48]

Yes, I understood the meaning of every sentece, but the layout of the page was not so clear

 

But thanks, of course :)

[Route66 6]

If I keep a 2nd bank account apart from the main one which I use everyday and where my salary is paid...will they be able to block it also?

 

I remember having read somewhere in this forum that having 2 bank accounts can be helpful in cases like this...but can you please confirm me this?

 

Thanks

[Editor Bob 3,378]

When you say "blocked" I think you mean the German term "Kontopfändung".

 

When a Kontopfändung happens, either the amount owed will be simply deducted from your bank account, or the account will be frozen until you agree to pay. Exactly which of these happens will vary from bank to bank. In general though, I think it works as follows... say the AZD Beitragsservice thinks you owe them €300, and you have €400 on your regular bank account, then the €300 will likely simply be deducted. If, on the other hand, you have a balance of only €200, then they will freeze your account until you deposit the extra €100 and authorise payment, or until you send payment via another means and request an unfreezing.

 

As for your question of two bank accounts, again, this will vary from case to case and bank to bank. In theory though, if the debt collectors can determine which banks you have accounts with, then yes, I suppose they could freeze them all. The way a freeze works is that the debt collector sends off a letter to your bank, states your name and address, and requests a Kontopfändung. So if they know you have accounts with two different banks, they might well send off letters to both.

 

The identity of your bank can be determined through various means. They can ask the tax office, the pensions office, or the car registration office, for example. They can also ask the SCHUFA agency. Almost everyone who has been financially active in Germany has a SCHUFA account, whether you know it or not. And in this account is a list of the banks you are with, but not all banks. For example Comdirect bank accounts are SCHUFA registered, Fidor accounts are not. I've heard that debt collectors, even without knowing your bank, can sometimes send off speculative letters to banks that they guess you might have an account with. If they miss, the letters just disappear into the void, but if they strike a lucky hit, then your account is blocked. This is just something I read on another forum though, it may or may not be true, sounds plausible though.

 

I plan to test this. I'm expecting Kontopfändung probably late 2014 or early 2015. I have accounts with Comdirect and Fidor among others. Most likely my Comdirect will have the money deducted (I've got it sitting there ready) and Fidor will be untouched. But we'll see. I'll report back on the full details when it happens.

[Route66 6]

Thanks for the detailed answer...DKB should also be Schufa-registered, right?

[Editor Bob 3,378]

I guess probably, but you'd have to ask DKB.

 

Their Datenschutz page, under the "Auskunftseien" section, suggests they might.

 

Alternatively, pay the €18.50 to check your meinschufa.de records yourself (don't forget to cancel the UpdateService).

[YorkshireLad6 7,152]

SCHUFA doesn't always list your bank details and certainly may not have details on all your accounts if you have multiples. If you open a new account then most banks will make an enquiry to SCHUFA. This enquiry will remain on your record for a year. If you have any form of credit, including an overdraft, mortgage or credit card, then that "debt facility" might be listed on SCHUFA but not all are as not every bank does it and some banks don't do it for every account. I specifically ask my bank NOT to enter debts onto SCHUFA which they agreed to do, but you need to have a good relationship with your bank to do this.

 

In most cases, as EB points out, other public offices (tax, pensions, etc) have your bank details which can be accessed with sufficient legal backing. It's also possible to tell your employers to hold back salary in lieu of your debt.

 

Note that it's not allowed to sequest funds that you would otherwise need to survive from, so if you can show that your income is 1000€/month and that you need precisely that to live on (rent, food, etc) then they can't get their hands on the money.

[sneaker 871]

 

Note that it's not allowed to sequest funds that you would otherwise need to survive from, so if you can show that your income is 1000€/month and that you need precisely that to live on (rent, food, etc) then they can't get their hands on the money.

They have made that less bureaucratic a few years ago, btw. Everyone has the right to convert one of his Girokontos (maybe other types as well) into an "Pfändungsschutzkonto". Currently this protects at least 1,045.04 Euro. The bank will then simply deny any seizure that would bring the account's balance below that limit without any need for interaction. It's also impossible to freeze said account.

[dim_tz 0]

Hi all,

 

Since September 2013 I pay the Beitragsservice for an apartment in Bonn, where I study and work.

Previously I was studying at Max Planck Institute (MPI) in Tuebingen, where I spent almost one year, and it was only then when I moved to Germany.

I registered with the Buergeramt in Tuebingen only once in the very beginning, when I was living at the MPI guesthouse.

In order to avoid missing mails etc I gave my office address as my permanent address.

It was a stupid decision, but back then seemed reasonable, being in a new country and in a city that typically involves a lot of moving in new rooms/apartments.

A few days ago, I received a letter from ARD, saying that the address they associate my name with is unregistered and they ask me to register and pay the fee.

However, this is the address of the Max Planck Institute.

Moreover, it is weird that I receive this mail only now, since I've been registered in Bonn for the past 12 months.

(I guess that de-registering from city A happens automatically when you register in city B )

Any ideas about what steps I can take?

Is it enough to say that the correspondence address is wrong, or this affects just the correspondence and not the apartment-address related to the fee?

Also, should I assume they know that I don't live in Tuebingen any more, so they cannot continue claiming money since the date I moved to Bonn?

[Route66 6]

 

They have made that less bureaucratic a few years ago, btw. Everyone has the right to convert one of his Girokontos (maybe other types as well) into an "Pfändungsschutzkonto". Currently this protects at least 1,045.04 Euro. The bank will then simply deny any seizure that would bring the account's balance below that limit without any need for interaction. It's also impossible to freeze said account.

 

Please everybody keep in mind that this might make you Girokonto unusable. I did this for my comdirect account, thinking that this "Pfändungsschutzkonto" is some kind of optional free protection that you can add to your account (my mistake, ok...), so I filled out a form that you can download on the comdirect.de account, sent it...and a few days later, suddenly my girocard and VISA card were blocked (for now the only way to withdraw cash is to do it in a CommerzBank filiale during their opening times), because my Girokonto has been converted into a "Verrechnungskonto" (not sure what this actually is).

 

So I quickly sent a letter asking to remove the "Pfändungsschutzung" from my account, and convert it back to a standard Girokonto. This will take a week...

 

From what I understood this "Pfändungsschutzkonto" is some kind of emergency measure to take after somebody tries to seize money from your account, NOT some kind of option to add for any "potential future troubles".

[pippiloti 12]

We live two people in the rented hous, and we both got "decisions" to pay (each) the full amount!. If it is a tax per property, shouldn´t the letter address however, not us, but the property owner? He owes the apartment, he/she must pay for it. I only have to pay for what I contracted in my name, for my own service.

 

How could I address that to the houseverwaltung or whoever I can speak with for the rent?