Red Tape Translation recently helped some clients leave their German lives behind and start anew. Though we’re always sad to see a friendly face move away, we were ready to take on the task of tying up all the loose ends before the family skipped the border and settled down in the Netherlands. It certainly wasn’t simple.
There were official letters to write, all sorts of forms to fill out, and plenty of proof and confirmations to gather and send. Lots of correspondence, back and forth, while plenty of companies demanded all sorts of complicated documents to prove they were leaving Germany for good. Not to mention plenty of errors – companies that didn’t observe the new address and sent confirmations to the old address, just as an example.
If you are leaving Berlin or Germany, take some or all of the following errands into consideration:
- Cancelling utilities and services: telephones, internet, electricity, gas, GEZ
- Ending contracts such as gym memberships, health insurance, etc.
- Notifying landlords and terminating rental contracts
- Finding new tenants for an existing apartment
- Requesting refunds for unused services
- Pension refunds
- Address de-registration
- Change of address notification
- Mail forwarding
- Closing bank accounts and transferring balances
- Vehicle de-registration
- Removalists
- Furniture and vehicle sales
If you’re facing an overseas move and you’d like some German language support, Lioba would be happy to coach you through it. We can help you letters, make phone calls, gather documents, and translate correspondence. Keep in mind, you’ll still be waiting for refunds, and chasing confirmation letters long after you’ve physically left the country, so having someone speedy and efficient in Germany to help you do it is a godsend.
Hi! I am a German-American citizen leaving Berlin to the US. I already de-registered with the Bürgeramt. I am currently registered here as a freelancer. My question is: do I need to also de-register with the Finanzamt, or will my Abmeldung cover everything?
Thanks!
Your Abmeldung should communicate to the Finanzamt that you’re de-registered as a resident for tax purposes, but you should write to your Finanzamt to cease your freelance business officially anyway. And you’ll still have to put in a profit and loss for 2019 – you’ll have until July 2020 to do that, or February 2021 if you use a German tax advisor. Auf Wiedersehen!
Hi Kathleen,
Just wondering what happens when you move to a new city as a freelancer — do you have to do a separate freelance business de-re-registration or does the Abmeldung and Anmeldung take care of that?
Many thanks
That is a fantastic question. Write to your current Finanzamt and share your new address with them. This will trigger them to send your file to the new Finanzamt, which will issue you with a new freelance tax number. However, this process takes a while, so continue to deal with your current Finanzamt until you get issued with the new number. Here’s my source. Cheers!
Hello Kathleen
Hope you are well.
If you are on an internet contract with 12 months remaining, will they accept leaving Germany and de-registration as grounds for termination of contract, do you know – have others faced this? The internet provider website (Vodafone) says only extraordinary circumstances such as death or care, no mention of exiting country.
It’s certainly worth a try. I have seen it work before.