Being self-employed while studying is permitted. For health insurance, however, the activity must remain a side occupation. You register a business with the trade office (Gewerbeamt), or with the tax office for liberal professions (freie Berufe), and with small turnover you often use the small business rule (Kleinunternehmerregelung). Anyone who becomes self-employed full time loses their status as a compulsorily insured student.
Key points at a glance
- You register a trade with the trade office (Gewerbeamt), and liberal professions with the tax office.
- You remain a small business owner if your turnover was at most €25,000 in the previous year and does not exceed €100,000 in the current year.
- Family insurance ends once your total income exceeds €565 a month, and student health insurance requires self-employment to be a side occupation.
- A tax return can become compulsory for self-employment, even with small profits.
How do you register a business as a student?
You register a business with the trade office of your city or municipality. Liberal professions such as journalists or artists, on the other hand, register with the tax office. In case of doubt, the tax office decides whether your activity is a trade or a liberal profession.
Regardless of this, you must send the questionnaire for tax registration (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) to the tax office via ELSTER within four weeks of starting. It contains a turnover forecast for the year you start. Give a realistic figure, because estimates that are clearly too low can cause problems later.
Small business owner as a student: What applies in 2026?
The small business rule (§ 19 UStG) exempts you from VAT. Since 2025, the limits of €25,000 and €100,000 apply. Before that, they were €22,000 and €50,000.
| Feature | Value |
|---|---|
| Total turnover in the previous year | At most €25,000 |
| Total turnover in the current year | At most €100,000 |
| Decisive factor | Turnover, not profit |
| Several activities | Are added together |
| Consequence on the invoice | No VAT, but also no input VAT deduction |
| Waiving the rule | Binds you for at least five calendar years |
On your invoices, you include the mandatory note in German: “Gemäß § 19 UStG wird keine Umsatzsteuer berechnet.” (English: “No VAT is charged under § 19 UStG.”) Trade tax applies to traders with a profit allowance of €24,500. Liberal professionals do not pay trade tax.
What tax consequences does self-employment while studying have?
Your profits are subject to income tax. The basic allowance is €12,348 in 2026. If your total taxable income stays below this, no income tax is due. A tax return can still be compulsory. It may arise from self-employment, or from income without tax deduction above €410 a year.
Example: Lea, 24, builds websites for small businesses on the side and makes a profit of €6,000 in one year. She is below the basic allowance, but still files a return because she is self-employed. She can count expenses such as software or a laptop used for work as business expenses, only pro rata if it is also used privately, and she keeps the receipts.
For BAföG, your own income up to €603 gross a month is exempt from offset. How the BAföG office assesses profits from self-employment, you should clarify with them directly. More on the return itself is in the article Tax return for students: How to get money back (in German).
How does profit from self-employment affect BAföG?
Profit counts as income under the Income Tax Act for BAföG purposes (section 21(1) BAföG). For non-employees, the office deducts a flat rate for social security of 38.8%, to a maximum of €29,500 a year (section 21(2) No. 3 BAföG). A flat-rate allowance for income-related expenses does not apply, because business expenses already reduce the profit. The office then divides the remainder by the months of the funding period (section 22) and deducts the monthly allowance. Since 1 January 2026 this is €389 (source bafoeg.de, status December 2025). The statutory text in section 23 still names €353, subject to adjustment by notice.
The example uses assumed figures, without income tax, without other income and with a funding period of twelve months.
| Profit in the year | Flat rate 38.8% | Remainder | Monthly amount | After the €389 allowance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| €6,000 | €2,328 | €3,672 | €306 | €0 offset |
| €12,000 | €4,656 | €7,344 | €612 | €223 offset per month |
For mixed cases of employment and self-employment, the office assigns the income to different flat-rate groups, so the calculation cannot be stated generally. If higher profit triggers income tax, the office takes it into account under the BAföG rules, and the calculation changes. Ask the office before you apply. How BAföG treats earnings from a side job is explained in BAföG and side job (in German). The basics are in BAföG entitlement, amount and repayment (in German), and future changes in BAföG reform 2027 (in German).
Being self-employed while studying: How do you stay insured?
Whether you remain family insured, fall into student health insurance (KVdS) or must insure yourself voluntarily depends on your total income and on whether the self-employment is a full-time activity.
| Type of insurance | Requirement for self-employment |
|---|---|
| Family insurance | Total income at most €565 a month (2026), self-employment not full time, up to age 25 during studies. There is no flat-rate allowance for work-related expenses for self-employment. |
| Student health insurance (KVdS) | Enrolment at a state or state-recognised university, self-employment as a side occupation, until the end of the semester in which you turn 30. |
| Voluntary statutory insurance | If you are no longer compulsorily insured as a student, for example because you are self-employed full time. |
When does self-employment count as a full-time activity?
As a guide, 20 hours a week during term counts, with time spent self-employed and in employment added together. A full-time activity may also exist below that. If you regularly employ more than marginally employed staff, full-time self-employment is presumed. Report the start, scope and expected profit to your health insurance fund. From which profit your fund no longer treats an activity as a side occupation, you should ask them in your individual case.
Which criteria do health insurance funds use for full time?
Health insurance funds assess full-time work under the Basic Guidance of the GKV-Spitzenverband (version of 20 March 2019, applicable from 1 January 2019). An activity counts as more than half-time if the time spent exceeds 20 hours a week. Preparation, follow-up work and administration count too. Up to 20 hours, a full-time activity is not ruled out if the earnings are the main source of livelihood.
For self-employed people without other employment, the guidance gives reference values that link working time, income and the main source of livelihood. The amounts are calculated from the monthly reference income (Bezugsgröße), which is €3,955 in 2026.
| Working time per week | Rule under the Basic Guidance | Threshold as share of reference income | Amount 2026 per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 20 hours | In principle not full time, exception for high earned income that is the main source of livelihood | More than 75% | More than €2,966.25 |
| More than 20 to 30 hours | Full time if earned income is the main source of livelihood, usually where income is above the threshold | More than 50% | More than €1,977.50 |
| More than 30 hours | Full time if earned income is the main source of livelihood, usually where income is above the threshold | More than 25% | More than €988.75 |
Calculation: €3,955 times 25% gives €988.75, times 50% gives €1,977.50, and times 75% gives €2,966.25. The values are guidance from the Basic Guidance and do not replace the fund’s individual assessment. Earned income counts as the main source if it clearly exceeds the other income. As a guide, the Basic Guidance names a gap of at least 20%. The Basic Guidance does not single out students. Ask your fund before you start whether and how it applies these standards to an enrolled student.
In addition, the statutory presumption applies. Anyone who regularly employs at least one employee in more than marginal scope is presumed to be self-employed full time (section 5(5) sentence 2 SGB V). Several marginally employed persons whose pay together exceeds the marginal earnings limit lead to the same presumption. The presumption can be rebutted, for example if the activity does not shape your way of life.
What does the student health insurance (KVdS) cost?
The basic contribution in 2026 is €87.38 a month, plus your fund’s additional contribution and long-term care insurance. As an example, with the average additional contribution of 2.9 percent, this comes to around €143 a month under age 23 and around €148 for childless people from 23.
What applies if I am self-employed full time?
Then compulsory student insurance no longer applies, and you insure yourself voluntarily. For the statutory option, the minimum assessment basis in 2026 is €1,318.33 a month. The contribution rate and the additional contribution of your fund determine the minimum contribution for health and long-term care insurance, and the fund will give you the exact amount. Switching to private insurance is a far-reaching decision. The exemption from compulsory insurance, which opens the way to PKV for students, applies for the whole course of study and is irrevocable. A return to statutory insurance is only possible in narrow cases, and contributions can rise. Everything on this is in the article on health insurance for self-employed students (in German).
Is it sensible to be self-employed alongside your studies?
That depends on your time budget and business model. For health insurance, the scope and income of the activity count, not your impression of whether your studies come first. Even with just a few hours a week, a fund may treat the activity as full time, so it is worth asking before you start.
How to find orders and what everyday life as a freelancer looks like is covered in the article on earning money as a freelancer while studying (in German). An overview of all ways to earn money is in the article side jobs during studies (in German).
When does the insurance change, and what applies after studies?
Compulsory student insurance applies up to the age of 30, under administrative practice up to the end of the semester in which you turn 30, and only for enrolled students. An extension is possible only for special reasons. It ends with graduation or de-registration. If you are then self-employed full time, you insure yourself voluntarily under statutory or private insurance. The change happens at these points:
- The activity becomes full time, for example through more hours or higher income. Compulsory student insurance ends, and your status must be clarified with the fund.
- You turn 30 or your studies end. Student insurance ends, including when you are self-employed on the side.
- You are employed after your studies. Then the rules for employment apply, which are explained in First job: Statutory or private health insurance? (in German).
For voluntary statutory insurance, the minimum assessment basis in 2026 is €1,318.33 a month (one third of the reference income of €3,955, under section 240(4) SGB V, the 90th part per calendar day). With no entitlement to sickness benefit, this gives the following minimum contribution:
| Item | Calculation | Amount per month |
|---|---|---|
| Health insurance | €1,318.33 times (14.0% plus 2.9% average additional contribution) | €222.80 |
| Long-term care insurance without childless surcharge | €1,318.33 times 3.6% | €47.46 |
| Long-term care insurance with childless surcharge from 23 | €1,318.33 times 4.2% | €55.37 |
| Total with child | €222.80 plus €47.46 | €270.26 |
| Total childless from 23 | €222.80 plus €55.37 | €278.17 |
The reduced rate of 14.0% under section 243 SGB V applies only to members without entitlement to sickness benefit. With entitlement to sickness benefit, the general rate of 14.6% applies. Then it is 17.5% including the additional contribution, which arithmetically gives €230.71 for health insurance. For 2027, the draft ordinance names a reference income of €4,130 and therefore an arithmetic minimum assessment basis of €1,376.67. This has not yet been confirmed by the Bundesrat. On this basis, health insurance would come to roughly €232.67 (€1,376.67 times 16.9%), if the additional contribution stays at 2.9%. This value is an estimate. The additional contribution of your fund differs, and your fund confirms whether the reduced rate applies to your activity. Whether higher income triggers higher contributions is explained in Health insurance as a self-employed student (in German), and the exemption and its consequences in Exemption from compulsory insurance (in German).
Founding a business during your studies and working location-independently
As a self-employed person, you are not tied to a workplace. If you want to found a business while travelling, the article on living location-independently as a student (in German) explains the lifestyle. The forms of study for this, from distance learning to hybrid, are described in the article on studying from anywhere (in German).
Orders from abroad or a residence outside Germany can affect tax and health insurance. Clarify this in advance with the tax office and your health insurance fund.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to register a business as a student?
That depends on the type of your activity. A commercial activity is registered with the trade office. For a liberal profession, the trade office is not involved, and you contact the tax office instead. In case of doubt, clarify the classification with the tax office, ideally before your first order. Studying does not change this.
Can I be a small business owner as a student?
Yes. The rule applies regardless of your studies. What matters is turnover. It may be at most €25,000 in the previous year and at most €100,000 in the current year. Then you do not show VAT on your invoices, but you also cannot claim input VAT. All self-employed activities are added together.
How do I stay health insured as a self-employed student?
You remain family insured up to a total income of €565 a month and within the age limit (25 during studies), as long as the self-employment is not full time. Above that, student health insurance is an option as long as the activity remains a side occupation. If you are self-employed full time, you insure yourself voluntarily. Ask your health insurance fund before you start.
Do I have to file a tax return as a self-employed student?
An obligation can arise from self-employment, even if your profit is below the basic allowance of €12,348. It also applies to income without tax deduction above €410 a year, or on request from the tax office. Check your case with the tax office or a tax adviser.
Am I still a student for health insurance purposes if I work 15 hours a week self-employed?
As a rule, yes. Under the Basic Guidance of the GKV-Spitzenverband, an activity of up to 20 hours a week is in principle not full time, unless earned income exceeds 75% of the monthly reference income, which is €2,966.25 in 2026, and is the main source of livelihood. If you regularly employ staff in more than marginal scope, full-time activity is presumed.
What is the minimum contribution if the student insurance ends?
With voluntary statutory insurance, the minimum assessment basis in 2026 is €1,318.33 a month. This gives an arithmetic €222.80 for health insurance, with no entitlement to sickness benefit, and €47.46 or €55.37 for long-term care insurance, so €270.26 or €278.17 a month. Your fund’s additional contribution may differ from the average.
What to do now
- Clarify whether your activity is a trade or a liberal profession, and register it with the trade office or the tax office.
- Submit the tax registration questionnaire within four weeks and give a realistic turnover estimate.
- Decide whether the small business rule suits you.
- Speak to your health insurance fund before you start about the start, scope and expected profit of the activity.
- If you want to talk through your situation, you will find the way to advice on the Academycon homepage (in German).
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Related articles
- Exemption from compulsory insurance: How to apply (in German)
- Tax return for students: How to get money back (in German)
- Side jobs and tax: The rules for mini-jobs, working students and more (in German)
- Health insurance with a side job: Family insurance, KVdS or PKV (in German)
Last updated: October 2026. This guide is general information, not tax advice. The German version is authoritative.
