Working Life > Social Insurance > Artists Social Insurance

Artists Social Insurance

Definition, Explanation

Self-employed are generally freed from the obligation to social insurance. An exception, however, are self-employed artists and publicists who, according to Künstlersozialversicherungsgesetz (artists social insurance law), are obligatorily insured in statutory health-, pension- and nursing-care- insurance. Therefore, that group of people are under the same social insurance protection as all employees are, just without unemployment- and accident-insurance. The insured pay half of the contributions, like employees do. The other half is paid by the companies that commission the artist/publicist, being called the artists social insurance contribution, and by a supportive payment by the government.

Functions of the artists social insurance:

• Determining of the amounts and collecting the contributions from artists and publicists
• Charging the commissioning companies their artists-social-insurance-contribution
• Determining of the government supportive share of the payment. Which covers that group of artists' clients who do not have to pay any artists social insurance contribution share, as being private art collectors, or associations, or clients hosting private events
• Passing the money on to pension-, health- and nursing-care- insurances
• Counselling the insured
• Verifying the obligation to get insured by evidence on the kind of occupation

The artists social insurance does not pay a specific benefit of its own, rather it collects and passes on the contributions from artists/publicists to the respective insurances. In the administrative order, it belongs to the federal statutory accident insurance.

Criteria for obligation to be insured in artists social insurance:

• The insured is a self-employed artist or publicist according to the artists catalogue of the artists social insurance
• The occupation is exerted as a commercial one, that is not as a free-time activity or hobby
• The occupation is meant for a longer duration and is the main occupation of the insured (more than 20 hours per week), that is no side-line job or temporary (holiday) replacement (fewer than 2 months or 50 work days per year)
• The minimum income per year amounts to more than 3,900 Euros. Within 6 years, this may be less, 2 times only. Beginners in the occupation may earn less than that in the first 3 years (possibly extended by child care periods, or military- or alternative service, or employment as a standard employee)
• The occupation is predominantly exerted inland
• The regular age limit of statutory pension insurance has not been reached yet
• The insured employs maximum 1 employee. Apprentices and minor employees (400 Euros) do not count as employees
• Obligation to be insured and insurance protection begin with the registering in the artists social insurance, and end with the cancellation/unregistering
• As a clerk or other freed from the obligation to be insured, as are people in military- and alternative service, students, handcrafts, pension recipients, you can not be insured in the artists social insurance if you are an artist or publicist

Contributions

• Depend on the income which is annually estimated. To subtract in advance from the remuneration sums are the operating expenses like rent, material, depreciations, wages
• Half of the contributions to pension-, health- and nursing care insurance
• Paid monthly
• For minimum annual income of 3,900 Euros
• Contributions increase maximally up to a contribution assessment ceiling
• Contribution assessment ceiling for health- and nursing care insurance: 45,050 Euros per year (2010)
• Contribution assessment ceiling for pension insurance: 66,000 Euros per year (former Eastern states: 55,800 Euros)

Benefits from the contributions to the artists social insurance

• Correspond to the benefits of statutory pension-, health- and nursing care insurance
• Sickness benefit starts with the 7th week of working-inability. If a respective increased contribution for advanced sickness benefit is paid to the health insurance, the sickness benefit will be paid at the latest starting with the 15th day of working-inability (amount depending on the individual agreement)
• Rehabilitation
• Pension
• All benefits have to be requested from the respective insurance, not from the artists social insurance

Side-line jobs

• There is generally no obligation to be insured in health- and nursing care insurance, if you are already insured as an employee
• If, additionally to your main artist/publicist occupation, you earn more than 31,000 Euros (former Eastern states 27,000 Euros), you can not be insured in the pension insurance via the artists social insurance

Beginners in the occupation and high-amount-earners can be insured in a private health insurance and be freed from the statutory health insurance. In such cases, the artists social insurance pays a support to the contributions. Mind though, that a return to the statutory health insurance is only possible at the very end of the occupational-beginners-period. Contributions that have been paid too much are to be paid back.

If you are receiving unemployment benefit 2, additionally to your income, your contributions to pay for artists social insurance are only those for the income. If you receive unemployment benefit 1, the labour agency pays the social insurance contributions directly to the respective insurances, not to the artists social insurance.

Tips, Checklist

• Register your activity as a self-employed artist or publicist in the artists social insurance. The required documents, the application form, questionnaires, certifications you can request from the artists social insurance or download on the internet
• Be counselled at the artists social insurance if you have questions respectively are not sure whether your activity is to be counted as artist/publicist
• Make your income-estimations realistic. The best way to estimate is by the last tax assessment note with the “income from self-employed activities”
• The artists social insurance is allowed to view income tax assessment notes and contract documents. Also, they randomly inspect at least 5 per cent of their insured
• If the estimation is by no means similar to the real income, contributions that have been paid so far will not be refunded, and contributions having been paid too little will not be requested to be compensated for in retrospect
• Correct the reports to the artists social insurance when your income changes
• Make sure the contributions are transferred in time. If they are not, you risk your insurance protection to be dropped

Last update: 12/28/2009