Whether it's taxes, broadcasting fees, telephone providers or housing entitlement certificates: There are a lot of ways for students to save money.
Study costs can lead to significant tax savings when entering professional life. This is particularly beneficial for students who have already completed at least 12 months of training prior to their studies, for master's students, for second degree students, for dual studies, for part-time students and for doctoral students.
You can find more information about saving taxes in our info sheet.
The International Student Identity Card - ISIC for short - as the only student ID card internationally supported by UNESCO, gives access to more than 150,000 discounts in over 130 countries - both online and in restaurants and stores worldwide. With ISIC, student status is also recognized abroad.
With the free ISIC app with virtual ISIC card on your smartphone, student status can be easily verified, making regional benefits convenient to use. This means that student status can now also be verified conveniently on a smartphone.
It is very easy to apply the ISIC online. A photo ID, student ID and a color passport photo are required. The virtual ISIC costs 18.00 euros and is valid for one year from the date of issue. The ISIC plastic card is available for an additional 4 euros.
A monthly broadcasting fee of 18,36 € is payable per flat, regardless of how many people live there and regardless of whether and how many broadcasting devices are present.
The fee is also due for rooms in student residences that lead off from a generally accessible corridor (regardless of whether they have their own bathroom or kitchen). If several rooms in the student housing complex are arranged like a flat and you live like in a shared flat, only one person per shared flat has to pay the fee. However, this only applies if the shared flat is separated from the generally accessible hallway or staircase by a flat door and only the residents of the shared flat have a key to it.
Shared flats, non-marital partnerships and families only pay one contribution. BAföG recipients who do not live with their parents can apply for exemption from the obligation to pay the broadcasting fee. Likewise, students with certain disabilities or as recipients of certain state social benefits can apply for exemption or reduction.
According to the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court of 19.01.2022 - 1 BvR 1089/18, students whose income does not exceed the minimum subsistence level under social law and who cannot fall back on assets can apply for an exemption as a case of hardship by submitting their proof of income, even without a rejection notice from a social benefit agency (e.g. BAföG office, Jobcenter). Advice on this is available at BeSI.
You can find out more about this here.
Publicly financed apartments (social housing) offer a very favorable housing option. For renting you need a "§ 5-Schein", which you can get for a fee at the district office if your annual income is below certain income limits. Students with a residence permit according to § 16b of the Residence Act are not entitled to receive a Housing Entitlement Certificate (Wohnberechtigungsschein). You can get more information at your district office.
