Maybe you came to Germany for love, for a job, or just for a change, and teaching English turned out to be the thing that pays the rent. You are good at it. Your students like you. And then a language school asks for your invoice, and suddenly you are reading words like Umsatzsteuerbefreiung at midnight, wondering if you have been doing it wrong all along.
Breathe. You are almost certainly doing better than you fear. This guide walks through it slowly: how to register, whether VAT applies to your lessons, and exactly what to put on your invoice. There is a real example at the end you can copy.
First, some good news
- Your invoices can be in English. German law does not require German. Fitting, for an English teacher.
- A lot of English teaching has no VAT at all. Teaching for schools and similar places is usually free of VAT. That means less maths, not more.
- No trade licence needed. Teaching counts as a "liberal profession", so you only deal with the tax office.
- It becomes routine fast. Once it is set up, invoicing is the same few minutes every month.
Step 1: Tell the tax office you have started
Before your first invoice, the tax office (in German: Finanzamt) needs to know you are self-employed. You do this once, with a form called the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung ("questionnaire for tax registration"), online on the government website ELSTER.
The form is in German, and some questions look intimidating. Go slowly, use a translator, and remember that your income estimate can be rough. When it asks what you do, "freelance English teacher" (freiberufliche Englischlehrerin or freiberuflicher Englischlehrer) is the honest and correct answer.
A few weeks later your tax number (Steuernummer) arrives by post. It goes on every invoice. Confused by the different German numbers? Our guide to German tax numbers sorts them out.
Step 2: Do your lessons have VAT? (the friendly version)
VAT (in German: Umsatzsteuer) is the tax added on top of a price, normally 19%. For teachers, there is a special rule: a lot of teaching is free of VAT. The rule lives in section 4 no. 21 of the German VAT Act (§ 4 Nr. 21 UStG), and it was rewritten in 2025 to make life easier for individual teachers.
Here is how it usually works out for English teachers:
| Who you teach for | VAT on your fee? |
|---|---|
| A language school, an adult education centre (Volkshochschule), a university | Usually no VAT, if the school is an exempt education provider |
| Integration or exam courses run by a recognised provider | Usually no VAT |
| Private lessons that count as school or university education (tutoring, exam prep) | Often no VAT since 2025 |
| Business English for a company, booked directly with you | Usually 19% VAT |
| Casual conversation classes, hobby courses | Usually 19% VAT |
The easiest way to find out: ask the school. Language schools deal with this every day. Most of them know whether they are an exempt education provider, and many write it into the freelance contract. One short email, and you know for good.
Two gentle things to know:
- Exempt is not optional. If your teaching is exempt, you leave VAT off. You do not get to choose to add it.
- The small business rule still exists. If you earn under €25,000 a year, you can use the small business rule (Kleinunternehmerregelung) for the work that would otherwise have 19%. Exempt teaching usually does not even count towards that limit. Our small business guide explains it calmly.
Step 3: What goes on your invoice
- Your full name and address.
- The school's (or client's) name and address. The company name, not your contact person.
- Your tax number (Steuernummer).
- A unique invoice number. Count up: 2026-001, 2026-002, and so on.
- The invoice date.
- When you taught. For example "1 to 31 August 2026".
- What you taught. For example: "English B1 course, 16 lessons of 45 minutes".
- Your fee. Lessons times your rate is perfect.
- The VAT, or the note explaining why there is none.
- The total, and how to pay. Your IBAN and a pay-by date.
That is everything. Ten lines, and you are done.
Meet Emma
Emma moved from Manchester to Berlin four years ago. She teaches evening classes at a language school, which has confirmed it is an exempt education provider, and she has a few private students on the side.
At the end of each month, Emma sends the school one invoice:
INVOICE 2026-012
From: Emma Taylor, Kastanienallee 7, 10435 Berlin
Tax number: 13/123/45678
To: Sprachschule Mitte GmbH, Torstraße 1, 10119 Berlin
Invoice date: 31 August 2026
Lessons taught: 1 to 31 August 2026
What Amount
-------------------------------------------------------
English B1 evening course,
16 lessons of 45 minutes x €40 €640.00
Steuerfreie Leistung gemäß § 4 Nr. 21 UStG.
(VAT-exempt educational service.)
Total: €640.00
Please pay by 14 September 2026 to:
IBAN DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00
No VAT line, and one short German sentence that says why. The English translation underneath is optional, but it is friendly. That is a complete, correct invoice.
And for the company course? When Emma teaches Business English directly for a company, that invoice gets 19% VAT on top (or the small business sentence, if she uses that rule). Different work, different invoice. That is completely normal.
Two things worth knowing (that are not on the invoice)
These two do not change what you write on your invoices. But they are what most often surprises freelance teachers in Germany, so we would rather you hear them calmly here first.
1. Pension insurance for teachers. Germany has a long-standing rule that self-employed teachers without employees usually pay into the state pension system (Rentenversicherung). It applies once your profit is above the mini-job limit, €603 a month in 2026. You register with the Deutsche Rentenversicherung and pay a monthly amount. It is your own pension, and beginners can usually pay a reduced amount in the first few years. The calm move is to register early: back payments only come from registering late.
2. Teaching mostly for one school. In 2022, a court looked closely at a teacher who worked almost only for one school, on its timetable, and decided she was really an employee. That is called Scheinselbständigkeit ("false self-employment"). Germany then added a temporary rule that protects schools and teachers until the end of 2026. If one school is most of your income, it is a good moment for a friendly conversation with them about how they plan to work with freelancers from 2027. Teaching for several schools and having your own private students also helps.
Neither of these is a reason to panic. Put them on your list, next to "renew residence permit".
The exact words to copy
For VAT-exempt teaching, this note goes on the invoice:
Steuerfreie Leistung gemäß § 4 Nr. 21 UStG.
(in English: VAT-exempt educational service under section 4 no. 21 of the German VAT Act.)
The law only asks for a clear reference to the exemption. This sentence is the common, safe way to say it.
Small slips, easy to avoid
Adding VAT out of habit. If the school is exempt and you add 19%, they cannot claim it back, and you owe that tax to the tax office. Ask first, invoice second.
Forgetting the note. An invoice without VAT and without the note looks like a mistake. One sentence fixes it.
Mixing exempt and taxed work on one invoice. Keep the school course and the company course on separate invoices. It keeps everything clear.
What this means for you
Invoicing as a freelance English teacher in Germany is much gentler than it first looks: register once, ask each school once whether your lessons are exempt, and then send one clear invoice a month. The German words were the scary part, and now you know them.
Kikiform makes this part easy. When you create an invoice for a school, tick "This is VAT-exempt teaching" and Kikiform sets VAT to 0% and adds the exemption note for you, in English or German. For your company clients, it adds the VAT or the small business sentence instead. You can try it for free.
German words in this guide
| German | What it means in plain English |
|---|---|
| Finanzamt | Your local tax office |
| Steuernummer | Your tax number, it goes on every invoice |
| Umsatzsteuer | VAT, the tax added on top of a price |
| § 4 Nr. 21 UStG | The part of the VAT law that makes teaching VAT-free |
| Volkshochschule | Adult education centre |
| Kleinunternehmerregelung | The small business rule: no VAT under €25,000 |
| Rentenversicherung | State pension insurance |
| Scheinselbständigkeit | "False self-employment", working like an employee |