The contribution service of the public broadcaster recently received some data from the residents’ registration office and compared it with the number of contributors. Those who could not be assigned must expect post.
The contribution service, better known under the former abbreviation GEZ, started in November with the so-called registration data comparison 2022. The administrative community of the broadcasters ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio receives selected data from the residents’ registration offices on all adult citizens.
In order to clarify the broadcasting contribution obligation, this data is compared with the existing inventory data (46.1 million contribution accounts) of the GEZ. Since January 10, 2023, the contribution service has been writing to people who cannot be assigned to an apartment that has been registered for the broadcasting contribution. Under no circumstances should you ignore this so-called clarification letter.
The comparison of registration data is regulated by law (§ 11 Paragraph 5 of the Interstate Broadcasting Agreement) and is now taking place for the third time after 2013 and 2018. According to GEZ, those addressed should “react promptly to the clarification letter and send the contribution service the necessary information about their apartment”. This is also possible online. The deadline becomes more specific in the letter, and the persons concerned should report back within two weeks.
The people addressed simply scan the QR code on the clarification disc. Alternatively, the attached reply form can be filled out and sent back to the contribution service. If the persons contacted report back that a contribution has already been paid for the apartment and provide the corresponding contribution number, their data should be deleted immediately.
You should not ignore the letter from the GEZ. If the persons addressed do not react to the first letter, there is another reminder letter. If this is also ignored, the contribution service automatically registers the person concerned. The GEZ then assumes that the license fee has to be paid for the apartment in question. Even if you get feedback that no fee has been paid yet, you will be registered.
If no GEZ fee has been paid so far, this will also be calculated retroactively to the moving-in date. So there is a risk of additional payments. A retrospective registration will take place on January 1, 2020 at the earliest.
When comparing registration data, the following information is transmitted by the residents’ registration offices:
The clarification letters have been sent since January 10, 2023. But that doesn’t all work out at the beginning of the year. All letters should have been sent by the end of June 2023.
