Leaving
Plan ahead for contract notices, your pension and final bills. Deregistration has its own short deadline.
5 guides
Plan for deadlines and what you need first
- Check the notice periods for your lease and other contracts early; they may be months before you leave. Abmeldung does not cancel a contract. Your rights when moving a telecom contract depend on whether the service is available at your new address.
- Check your pension, insurance and final payments early. Keep an account you can use to pay final bills until you know what is still due.
- If you aren't moving into another home in Germany, you can deregister your address (Abmeldung) no earlier than one week before moving out, and you must do so within two weeks afterwards. Notify the broadcasting contribution service separately.
Your next steps
These guides can help you plan, but the right order depends on your deadlines and what you need to do first.
- Close contracts before you leaveStart contract notices before your move. Address deregistration does not cancel them. Lease notice has its own written form and clock; telecom cancellation depends on the initial term, renewal or availability at the new address.Kündigung
- The statutory pension, in outlineEmployees pay into the statutory pension. A standard old-age pension needs a five-year qualifying period. The standard age is 67 for people born in 1964 or later; people born earlier have a lower age that rises in steps. Contributions are refunded only in the cases the statute lists.Rente
- The broadcasting contributionOne fee per home, whether or not you watch TV, and exemptions.Rundfunkbeitrag
- Deregister when you leaveIf you move out and do not take a new home in Germany, deregister with the registration office within two weeks of moving out. You may file at the earliest one week before you leave.Abmeldung
- File the income-tax returnWage tax withheld from your pay is not always your final income tax. Find out when an employee must file a return, when filing is voluntary and which deadlines generally apply.Steuererklärung