Guides

Basics

• KSK income estimate (Einkommensschätzung): the deadline is 1 December

  Insured members report their projected income from work for the following year to the Künstlersozialkasse by 1 December. What the Meldebogen asks for, and why the report is due even when nothing has changed.

• Filling in the KSK Meldebogen

  How insured members file their annual report to the Künstlersozialkasse: online with insurance number and authentication code or on the paper form, which figure is reported and what happens afterwards.

• KSK sample audit (Stichprobenprüfung): what it is and what the letter asks for

  The Künstlersozialkasse audits at least 5 % of its insured members every year by random sample. The September 2026 letter asks for four years of actual income from work and requires the tax assessments (Einkommensteuerbescheide). What the letter says.

• KSK letter „Meldung des tatsächlichen Arbeitseinkommens für Vorjahre“: what to do? The form step by step

  The audit questionnaire (BÜVO Fragebogen) step by step: per year the line „Einkünfte aus selbständiger Arbeit“ from the tax assessment, losses as 0,00, the signature and which evidence to attach.

• Profit is reported, not turnover

  The income estimate (Einkommensschätzung) for the Künstlersozialkasse is business income minus business expenses under income tax law. Why the expense side has to be kept as well.

• Changing the income estimate during the current year

  §12(3) KSVG allows the reported income estimate to be changed during the current year on application (auf Antrag). What the form „Änderung der Einkommensschätzung“ is, when the change takes effect — and why there is no threshold.

• The four areas of the Künstlersozialkasse

  Wort, bildende Kunst, Musik and darstellende Kunst — how the Künstlersozialkasse divides its insured members, how many people are insured in each area, and why the law allows an audit to ask about it.

• Collecting societies' reporting deadlines 2026 and 2027

  VG Bild-Kunst moves its reporting deadline earlier from 2026, VG Wort changes METIS from 2027, GEMA expects the setlist six weeks after a gig. The dates as the societies publish them.

Dates, contributions and records

• Every date in the year — also as a calendar

  The income estimate by 1 December, the first contribution on 5 February, the VG Wort and VG Bild-Kunst cut-offs and the income-tax prepayments, in one table and as a calendar to subscribe to.

• KSK contribution rates 2026 (Beitragssätze)

  Pension, health and care insurance: the 2026 rates, the member's share and when the new contribution is due — sourced, and as an open dataset.

• E-invoices (E-Rechnung) for artists and freelancers

  Receiving since 2025, issuing from 2028 at the latest: what the Federal Ministry of Finance says about e-invoices, what XRechnung is and where Kleinunternehmer stand.

• Record retention periods for freelancers and artists

  What §147 AO requires for vouchers, books and business letters, and how far back a Künstlersozialkasse audit may reach.

• The KSK authentication code and filing online

  When the code arrives, why it works only once and is not resent, and the three ways to file the annual report by 1 December.

• KSK fine: up to €5,000 under §36 KSVG

  What §36 KSVG says about the fine for insured members: what the wording names, how high it can be — and where interpretation begins.

• Are KSK contributions corrected retroactively?

  The estimate produces binding monthly contributions that are not corrected retroactively. What a change under §12(3) KSVG does, and from when.

• Income-tax prepayments: the four dates

  10 March, 10 June, 10 September, 10 December (§37 EStG) — with the 2027 dates and who sets the prepayment amount.

• GEMA setlist: 6 weeks after the performance

  When GEMA needs the setlist, who normally submits it — the organiser, who can delegate it to the musicians — and where in the online portal.

• The activity code (Tätigkeitsschlüssel) in the KSK report

  What the activity code encodes, why it is pre-filled and when the KSK asks for it to be overwritten — with a pointer to the KSK's own list.

• Which tax assessment figure the KSK means

  The line „Einkünfte aus selbständiger Arbeit“ — not taxable income. What the KSK says about it, and what is entered for a loss.

• DATEV Buchungsstapel: the EXTF format

  Header line, column names, a voucher date without a year, debit/credit and encoding — how a DATEV file is built, with its sources named openly.

• Reporting changes to the KSK: the forms

  Which forms the Künstlersozialkasse offers for changes — address, parenthood, studies, time abroad, pension —, how they are sent and why the signature matters.

• Proving parenthood to the KSK

  How the KSK takes parenthood into account for the care contribution: which proofs it names, what applies to further children under 25 and from when a proof takes effect.

• Paying the KSK contribution: due date, direct debit, contribution notice (Beitragsmitteilung)

  When the monthly contribution falls due under §15 and §16 KSVG, how it is paid — direct debit or transfer — and what the January contribution notice contains.

• VG Wort METIS: reporting texts on the internet and e-books

  What METIS is at VG Wort, what the counting mark counts, how the access and circulation distributions differ and which reporting deadlines VG Wort names.

• Sick pay (Krankengeld) for KSK members: start, amount, optional tariff

  Who pays sick pay, from which week the claim arises under §46 SGB V, what an optional tariff changes and what happens to KSK contributions meanwhile.

• Exemption from pension insurance in the KSK: what the law provides

  Why the KSVG, according to the Künstlersozialkasse, provides no exemption from pension insurance, which cases §4 KSVG lists as free of it and what applies with an old-age pension.

• Maternity pay (Mutterschaftsgeld) and parental allowance (Elterngeld) in the KSK

  Who pays maternity pay (§24i SGB V), which protection periods apply, what happens to contributions during maternity pay and parental allowance, and the KSK’s forms.

Data

We publish the Künstlersozialkasse's contribution rates as an open dataset (page in German) — as JSON and CSV, with a source for every row, under CC BY 4.0.

Where these pages do not help

Whether a particular activity or a particular client counts for the Künstlersozialkasse is a question of interpretation under §2 KSVG. So is whether your insurance continues. Both are answered by the Künstlersozialkasse or an adviser of your choice — not by these pages and not by Künstlerfinanzen.

How these pages are made

Where every statement comes from and when it was checked is in the verification log.