(2022) Who is considered self-employed?

A self-employment is particularly common among freelancers. A freelancer is someone who works independently and is self-responsible, practising a specific professional activity or occupation listed in § 18 para. 1 EStG.

Freelance professions require an activity that does not necessarily have to be preceded by a university degree. It only needs to be a scientific type of training. This also includes self-study or knowledge acquired through employment. The knowledge must be equivalent to a university degree.

(1) Freelancers are, on the one hand, individuals who perform a specific activity (§ 18 para. 1 no. 1 EStG), namely a

• scientific, artistic, literary, teaching or educational activity.

(2) Freelancers are also individuals who practise a specific professional occupation explicitly mentioned in the Income Tax Act (§ 18 para. 1 no. 1 EStG):

• Medical professions: doctors, dentists, alternative practitioners, dental technicians, physiotherapists, nurses, hygiene specialist nurses.
• Legal and business consulting professions: lawyers, notaries, patent attorneys, auditors, tax consultants, consulting economists and business administrators, sworn accountants, tax agents.
• Technical and scientific professions: surveyors, engineers, architects, commercial chemists, pilots.
• Media professions: journalists, photojournalists, interpreters, translators.

(3) Freelancers can also be individuals who practise a similar profession comparable to the listed professional occupations in terms of activity and training. The list of freelance professions in § 18 para. 1 no. 1 EStG is not exhaustive. It is important that the activity is carried out in a leading and self-responsible manner based on one's own expertise. This applies, for example, to the following professions:

• Geriatric nurses, dieticians, occupational therapists, podiatrists, speech therapists, orthoptists, medical pedicurists, state-certified masseurs and therapeutic masseurs, medical bath attendants, paramedics, dental practitioners, midwives, psychological psychotherapists, child and adolescent psychotherapists, IT consultants, business consultants.
• Software engineering, work as a network or software administrator and supervisor (BFH rulings of 22.9.2009, VIII R 31/07, VIII R 63/06, VIII R 79/06).

(4) Activities that are not considered freelance work and do not constitute a business operation fall under other self-employment. A characteristic here is also personal work performance. However, other self-employment is usually carried out occasionally and only exceptionally on a sustainable basis (§ 18 para. 1 no. 3 EStG):

• Executors, asset managers, supervisory boards, property managers, insolvency administrators, trustees, carers, estate administrators, arbitrators, interviewers for state statistical offices, childminders, legal guardians, etc.

The distinction between a business and self-employment is often difficult, as freelance work is also generally not without the intention of making a profit. Many activities therefore fall under the characteristics of both freelance work and business. In these cases, the decisive criterion is the intellectual, creative work that is the focus of freelance work.