Employment

Tax Liability

Visiting professors and lecturers who are paid a salary by the university are liable to pay taxes and need a tax card if they are to be employed for over six months. Tax cards may be obtained at the Resident Registration Office of the city of Freiburg or at the municipal authorities for your place of residence. Under certain circumstances, you may be declared entirely or partially exempt from tax liability (for example, in accordance with international agreements on double taxation). This decision must be made by the Freiburg Tax Office. Applications for (partial) exemption from tax liability should generally be filed by the institution you are to be employed by before the you begins work. To do this, the institution must be granted power of attorney. Visiting professors or lecturers who have been granted an exemption from tax liability do not need to obtain a tax card.

Social Security Tax

Visiting professors and lecturers who are employed by the university for more than two months (or more than 50 work days) or who have worked in the Federal Republic of Germany for a total of more than two months in the past two years must pay social security tax. You may apply for an exemption from social security tax before entering Germany at an agency of the German government in your home country. In exceptional cases, the application may be filed after you arrive at the German Liaison Office for Foreign Health Insurance (DVKA). Applications for a refund of social security contributions may be filed two years after the termination of your employment in Germany at the Federal Insurance Agency for Salaried Employees (Deutsche Rentenversicherung - Bund). However, the conditions of the refund depend on the your nationality.

Visiting professors and lecturers who pay social security tax are free to choose between any of the public health insurance agencies. However, some programs stipulate a particular public health insurance agency. The addresses of the health insurance agencies in Freiburg are available on the following website under “Krankenkassen” in Freiburg im Breisgau: http://www.gelbeseiten.de.

We strongly recommend for visiting professors and lecturers who are not liable to pay social security tax in Germany and do not have sufficient health insurance in their home country to obtain private health insurance at a private health insurance agency. Search for the key word “Versicherungen” in Freiburg im Breisgau at: http://www.gelbeseiten.de.

Payment of Salary

The Cashier’s Office of the university cannot pay the salaries of visiting professors lecturers in cash. To receive your salary, you must provide a German bank account number.