Self-employed artists and publicists are insured by obligation in the statutory pension, sickness and nursing care insurance schemes via the Artists’ Social Security Fund (KSK). In order to be included, you must register with the Artists’ Social Security Fund. 

According to the Artists’ Social Security Act (KSVG), you are an artist if you create, perform or teach music or performing or visual arts. You are classed as a publicist if you work as a writer or jour-nalist or in another area of publishing or if you teach journalism.

You must pay monthly contributions to the KSK. The following factors are used to calculate the contributions

• prospective earnings from work as a self-employed art-ist or publicist, and
• the contribution rates for individual classes of insurance.

Due to the fluctuating income levels inherent in self-employed work, monthly insurance contributions are not determined on the basis of monthly income. Instead, prospective annual earnings from work as a self-employed artist or publicist are used as the basis for the calculation. 

However, prospective earnings from work as a self-employed artist or publicist must exceed EUR 3 900 per year (marginal earnings threshold).

There are exceptions, for example, for people who have recently joined the profession: As such, you will be insured under the Artists’ Social Security Act, even if your earnings do not exceed the marginal earnings threshold. 

If you are insured with the KSK, you only pay the KSK 50 percent of the contribution for the statutory pension, sickness and nursing care insurance schemes. The other half of the contribution is paid by the federal government and by companies or clients (for example, galleries, publishing houses, broadcasting organisations or concert organisers) that use artistic and publishing services and are thus obliged to pay an artists’ social security tax.

A self-employed person, insured by obligation, who is unfit for work is entitled to the same benefits from the statutory sickness insurance fund as an employed person. A self-employed person will thus receive a sickness benefit from the sickness insurance fund from the seventh week of his unfitness for work.

The Artists’ Social Security Act sets out various exemptions from the insurance obligation. Further information is available from the KSK.