Why Kleinunternehmer does not mean tax-free
The small-business rule is in the VAT Act, and it regulates exactly that: VAT. Your turnover is exempt if total turnover did not exceed 25,000 euros in the previous calendar year and does not exceed 100,000 euros in the current one. That is not an application and not a status, but a consequence of your figures — and total turnover is everything you take in, not only the fees.
About income tax the section says nothing, and the Income Tax Act is clear on this point: income from self-employed work is taxable even if the activity is only temporary, and a trade exists even if making a profit is only a secondary purpose. One paid night a year is therefore income — whichever of the two sections it falls under.
The four rules that touch your first booking
Each sits in a different act, and each answers a different question. The fourth asks one it does not answer.
| Rule | What it regulates | What it means for your first booking |
|---|---|---|
| Small business (VAT Act) | Whether you have to charge VAT | No, as long as your total turnover did not exceed 25,000 euros last year and does not exceed 100,000 euros this year. The fee you name is then what the promoter pays — without „plus VAT“. |
| Invoice (VAT Act) | What has to be on the invoice | Name and address of both parties, tax number, date, consecutive number, nature and extent of the service, when it was performed, the fee — and in place of the tax amount, the note on the exemption. What the document is called does not matter; what is in it does. |
| Trade notification (GewO) | When a trade has to be notified | At the same time as you begin, to the competent authority — and again on relocation, change of object, change of name and closure. Applies only if your DJing IS a trade; see the fourth row. |
| Income (Income Tax Act) | Whether it is income — and which kind | Income it is in any case: from self-employed work even if temporary, from a trade even if profit is only secondary. Which of the two kinds DJing is, neither section says — you settle that with the tax office before the first booking. |
The question this page does not answer
Is a DJ a freelancer or a trader? Section 18 of the Income Tax Act counts „self-employed artistic activity“ among the liberal professions. Section 15 defines a trade as a self-employed, sustained activity with the intention of profit, taking part in general economic dealings — which is not a liberal profession. The two sections sit side by side, and neither says which side DJing belongs on.
The tax office decides that case by case, and everything else hangs on it: the trade notification, trade tax, chamber membership. We could write an opinion here — it would be exactly the kind of claim that does the most damage on a page about money. So instead this page sends you to the tax office or a tax adviser, once, before the first booking. After that you know which of the four rules applies to you.
From the first paid gig to the first invoice in 5 steps
Four of the five steps are in the law. The second is in none — and it is the one most people skip.
Check the two thresholds
Previous year at most 25,000 euros total turnover, current year at most 100,000 euros — then your turnover is exempt from VAT. Total turnover means all fees received added together, not only the ones from DJing.
Settle freelance or trade — not on your own
This is the one question on this page you cannot answer yourself, and the next step depends on it. Tax office or tax adviser, once, before the first booking. After that you know which authority has to know you.
If it is a trade: notify when you start
The Trade Regulation Act requires notifying the competent authority at the same time as the business begins — and again if you relocate it, change its object, change your name or give it up.
Write the invoice with every mandatory detail
Name and address of you and the promoter, your tax number, date of issue, a consecutive invoice number, nature and extent of the service, the date of the gig, the fee — and in place of tax rate and tax amount, the note that a tax exemption applies. That is section 14(4), and a slip saying „fee 400 euros“ does not meet it.
Record the income for income tax
Kleinunternehmer status exempts you from VAT only. Income from self-employed work is taxable under the Act even if the activity is only temporary; and a trade exists even if profit is only a secondary purpose. A single paid night is therefore income — note the date, the promoter and the amount.
Mistakes that cost money or trouble
Confusing Kleinunternehmer with tax-free
The rule is in the VAT Act and exempts you from VAT. The Income Tax Act expressly calls income from self-employed work taxable even if the activity is only temporary. One night a year is income.
Putting a tax rate and amount on the invoice although the exemption applies
The mandatory detail requires, where an exemption applies, a note on it — not a tax amount. Show 19 percent anyway and you have an invoice that contradicts the Act, and a promoter who takes the figure at face value.
Signing the waiver without knowing about the five years
Anyone waiving the small-business rule does so, according to the Act, irrevocably and for at least five calendar years. The input-tax deduction on one controller is a one-year calculation; the commitment runs for five.
Planning to notify the trade later
The Act says „at the same time“ as you begin — not after the third gig, once it is clear this will continue. Anyone who does not yet know whether they have a trade settles that BEFORE the first booking, not after.
Declaring yourself an artist
That DJing is artistic and therefore freelance is an assessment — and not yours to make. Both sections are in the Act; the classification is not. A tax office that decides otherwise decides retroactively.
Before the invoice goes out
The mandatory details from section 14(4), translated to a booking. If one is missing, the invoice comes back — in the best case.
Both names, both addresses
Yours and the promoter's — in full, not just the club's name.
Tax number, date, consecutive number
You assign the number once — the second invoice is not called 1 again.
Service, extent and date
„DJ set, four hours, on 21 November“ — not „performance“. The date of the gig is the time the service was performed.
Fee and the note on the exemption
The amount, and in place of tax rate and tax amount the sentence that a tax exemption applies to the service.
A copy for yourself
The amount is income and belongs in your records — date, promoter, sum.
⚠️ As of September 2026 — orientation, not legal advice. Every statement on this page comes from the wording of the section concerned, which we have read in full, or from the KSK's own description of itself. What does NOT follow from that and is therefore missing here: whether your DJing is artistic in the legal sense, what applies once the thresholds are crossed, how much trade tax or income tax you will owe, and whether the KSK will admit you. Those are questions for your tax office, a tax adviser or the KSK itself — and the amounts in the acts change; the date above says when we read them.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to register a trade as a DJ in Germany?
If your DJing is a trade, yes — and at the start, not later: the Trade Regulation Act requires notifying the competent authority „at the same time“ as you begin. Whether it is one turns on the line between a trade and a liberal profession, and that line is not drawn in this answer: the Income Tax Act counts artistic work among the liberal professions, but defines a trade precisely as what is not a liberal profession. Which side you fall on is something to settle with the tax office or a tax adviser — before answering the question yourself.
What exactly does „Kleinunternehmer“ mean?
That your turnover is exempt from VAT as long as your total turnover did not exceed 25,000 euros in the previous calendar year and does not exceed 100,000 euros in the current one — that is section 19 of the German VAT Act. It is not a legal form and not a status you apply for, but a consequence of your figures. And it concerns VAT only: the section says nothing about income tax.
Do I put VAT on the invoice as a Kleinunternehmer?
No — in place of the tax rate and the tax amount goes a note that the service is exempt from tax. That is item 8 of the mandatory details in section 14(4) of the German VAT Act. All the other mandatory details remain: name and address of both parties, your tax number, the date of issue, a consecutive invoice number, the nature and extent of the service, when it was performed and the fee.
What happens if I pass 25,000 euros during the year?
For the current year, nothing at first, as long as you stay under 100,000 euros — the exemption hangs on two thresholds: 25,000 euros for the previous year and 100,000 euros for the current one. What applies once either is crossed is regulated elsewhere in the Act, and we do not cover it here. Anyone getting close talks to the tax office beforehand, not afterwards.
Can I waive the small-business rule voluntarily?
Yes, by declaring it to the tax office — and the Act expressly calls that declaration irrevocable and binding for at least five calendar years. The deadline runs to the last day of February in the second year after the tax period. Anyone considering it for the input-tax deduction on a controller does the sums for five years first, not for one purchase.
What is the KSK, and does it apply to me?
The KSK, Germany's artists' social fund, implements the Artists' Social Insurance Act; its remit is that self-employed artists and writers enjoy protection under the statutory social insurance system similar to that of employees — that is how it describes itself. Whether YOU are admitted turns on whether your DJing counts as artistic work, and the fund answers that in its admission procedure, not this page. Do not count on it before the decision arrives.
Be able to play first
A clean invoice needs a night that was worth it
The invoice is the last step of a night, not the first. What comes before it — a set that makes the promoter call again — you learn here, for free.
Start for free