Why does this cost 90 euros? I was told that I have to pay around 18 euros. Has anyone had an experience?

by ecologist23

20 comments

  1. EDIT: [This is most likely the reason](https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/comments/1aoftl9/why_does_this_cost_90_euros_i_was_told_that_i/kpz2mkz/), you ended up being registered as a workplace instead of a private residence.

    * * *

    The Rundfunkbeitrag is at 18.36 Euro per month, but it can only be paid in 3-month (either at the start or the middle of a quarter), 6-month, or 12-month instalments. So, it should be a 55.08, 110.16 or 220.32 payment every three, six, or twelve months.

    That’s assuming that no reductions apply to you, or that you do not have to pay for a partial period in the past (e.g. a number of days months in the previous quarter that occurred before your first ever payment + 3 months of the current quarter).

    91.80 is a very unexpected amount, and paying monthly is also not something that should happen, unless you have old debt and you set up a payment plan. But you’d know if you did that.

    What’s inside that transaction details, when you open it up? The “Payment reference”/”Verwendungszweck” field has the format “Rundfunk xx.202x – xx.202x Beitragsnr. xxxxxxxx Aenderungen ganz bequem: http://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de“, so the dates included there can tell you what they think they are pulling money for. Also, you will see if they are all for the same payment account (Beitragsnr.) or if you somehow ended up with more than one account (do NOT post that number publicly, that number is secret to you).

    In any case, you’ll soon need to write them and take some action with them. If you are overpaying, they can send you the money back or credit it to your account to cover future payments that will be due.

  3. That’s weird. I honestly don’t know why it is like that. My first thought was maybe you pay just every 6 months or once a year, but they took it from your account every month. Don’t know tbh. I would call them and ask.

  5. 91,80 divided by 18,36€ ist exactly 5. So i assume, that something went Weinheim from their Side. Call them immediately.

  6. I looked at the rundfunkbeitrags site and it looks like you pay for a company. Are you paying for just yourself?

  7. Please check the account details number by number of you are really not getting scammed by someone there.

  8. One of the reasons I didn’t give them “SEPA Mandant” and instead do one yearly payment of around 220€
    But yes, this seems very odd, I’d contact them immediatly. Either you have a negative balance and they balance that out, or an error in their system. The first one would be rather odd without any form of letter (They usually instantly send out a “Festsetzungsbescheid”)

  9. It looks of. Did you checked if it is really the Rundfunk taking the money. Because my transaction is always on the 15 th (16th or 17 th if the 15 th is on a weekend.) .

  11. Looks like they are charging you a business fee and not the private one.

    Call them, they may be leeches, but they admit errors

  14. How many people live at your house? They count every adult registered at the adres.

  16. My native German colleague hid his TV and used blinds to prevent the Beitragsservice staff from peeking inside

  18. I was wondering for the past decade whether I should just give them a SEPA permission instead of manually transferring 4x a year. Hell no, I was right not to trust them. Even when you call them to solve an issue they never know what they’re doing.

  19. It is incredibly unwise to allow the ARD/ZDF any SEPA Lastschrift for exactly this reason. If they want more taxpayers money to hire more journalist and politicians to pretend to be fake interviewees, finance Patricia Schlesinger and their top crony managers’ private jets and luxury dinners they should make the effort to locate you and make you pay.

    Good luck getting the money back. These thieves are never reachable unless they want more money from you.

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