# Speaker fees and tax in Germany: Invoices, VAT and travel expenses explained

Author: Marin Niehues, Stage Starter · Published: 2026-08-06
Topic: Fees & Business (https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/topic/fees-and-business/)
Source: https://www.stage-starter.de/en/blog/speaker-fees-and-tax/

In Germany a speaker fee is taxed as income, and as a self-employed speaker you send the organiser an invoice with 19 per cent VAT, including on travel costs you pass on. If you use the small business scheme, you invoice without VAT, and with organisers abroad the tax generally shifts to the recipient. The costs of your talks, from the train ticket to a speaker agency, reduce your profit as business expenses. This article explains the process from contract to tax return.

**For tax purposes a talk is an ordinary service of your business: you issue an invoice, treat VAT according to where the organiser is based and deduct the costs of the appearance as business expenses. This also applies to talks without a fee where the organiser only reimburses travel.**

This article provides an overview and does not constitute legal advice. It is no substitute for tax advice either. It describes the legal position in Germany for speakers who live and run their business there.

## Do I have to issue an invoice as a speaker?

Yes, as a self-employed speaker you issue the organiser an invoice for every fee and every travel reimbursement whenever the organiser is a business or a legal entity. The invoice contains the mandatory details of the German VAT Act: your name and address and the organiser's, your tax number or VAT identification number, a sequential invoice number and the invoice date. It also needs a description of the service with the date of the talk, plus the net amount, tax rate and tax amount.

Describe the service so that a third party can recognise it, for example as a talk with its title, the conference and the date. General wording such as "consulting" is not enough for the organiser's tax office, and the organiser then risks losing the input tax deduction, the right to offset the VAT on your invoice against its own tax liability.
Businesses in Germany must be able to receive electronic invoices, and the obligation to issue e-invoices in a structured format is being introduced in stages. Small businesses are exempt from the obligation to issue them. What belongs in the contract before the invoice, namely the fee and the travel expense rule, is covered in the article on the [speaker contract](/en/blog/speaker-agreement/).

**Three figures for invoicing**
- 19 per cent | VAT on fees and on travel costs passed on
- 25,000 euros | prior-year turnover limit for small businesses
- 100,000 euros | current-year turnover as the second limit

## Do I have to charge VAT on a speaker fee?

You charge 19 per cent VAT on a speaker fee if you invoice as a business, the organiser is based in Germany and you do not use the small business scheme. The standard rate applies to the fee and to all costs you pass on to the organiser, because they form part of the consideration for your service.
The small business scheme under section 19 of the German VAT Act exempts you from VAT as long as your turnover was no more than 25,000 euros in the previous year and does not exceed 100,000 euros in the current year. If you cross the second limit during the year, you charge VAT from that transaction onwards. A small business invoice shows no VAT and contains a note on the exemption. The flip side is that small businesses cannot deduct input tax, so the VAT on travel and agency fees stays with them as a cost.

With organisers abroad, the organiser's location decides. For VAT purposes a talk for a business is treated as supplied where the recipient is based, regardless of the country in which the conference takes place. If the organiser is based in another EU member state, it owes the VAT itself under the reverse charge procedure. Your invoice then shows no German VAT, states both VAT identification numbers and includes the note that the recipient is liable for the tax, and you report the transaction in the EC sales list to the Federal Central Tax Office. If the organiser is based outside the EU, for example in Switzerland or the USA, the talk is not taxable in Germany, and the invoice says so.
**Two exceptions with clear criteria**
The rule based on the recipient's location applies to talks for businesses. If the organiser is a private individual or a body without business status, the place where the talk is given applies. Teaching talks at universities and state schools are exempt from VAT under section 4 no. 21 of the German VAT Act. For private educational institutions the exemption applies if the competent state authority has issued the institution a certificate.

## How do I charge travel expenses as a speaker?

As a speaker you charge travel expenses at their net amount and add 19 per cent VAT, just as on the fee. As a VAT-registered business you reclaim the input tax on those receipts from the tax office.

An example shows the mechanics. You agree a net fee of 2,000 euros, the train costs 107 euros gross including 7 per cent VAT, and the room without breakfast costs 160.50 euros gross, also at 7 per cent. Your invoice lists 2,000 euros fee and 250 euros net travel costs, 2,250 euros in total, plus 427.50 euros VAT, giving 2,677.50 euros. You deduct the 17.50 euros of input tax from train and hotel in your VAT return.

This also applies to talks without a fee. If a conference only reimburses travel and hotel, that reimbursement is consideration for your talk, and you invoice it with VAT unless you are a small business. If the organiser books and pays for travel and hotel directly, the invoices go to the organiser and you do not pass these costs on.

For your own profit calculation, travel costs count in full as business expenses, including the allowances for meals. In Germany the meal allowances are 14 euros for arrival and departure days and for days with more than eight hours away, and 28 euros for full days, with separate rates for each country when you travel abroad. If the organiser provides meals, the allowances are reduced. If you drive your own car, you claim 30 cents per kilometre driven. How the total cost of a conference appearance adds up is broken down in [what a conference appearance costs](/en/blog/what-a-conference-appearance-costs/).

## How is a speaker fee taxed as income?

A speaker fee is taxed as income in the category your activity belongs to. Talks of a scientific, teaching or literary nature count as freelance work under section 18 of the German Income Tax Act, as do talks that are part of a liberal profession, for example for engineers or business consultants. No trade tax is due on this income. If you give talks as part of a commercial business, for example as owner of an agency or a software company, the fees are business income, and sole proprietors have a trade tax allowance of 24,500 euros.

If you work through a limited company, the company issues the invoice and the fee is company turnover. If you are employed and give talks on the side, the fees are taxed as secondary income. If this exceeds 410 euros a year, you must file a tax return.
There is a tax-free allowance for talks given on the side, with narrow criteria. Since 2026, the trainer allowance under section 3 no. 26 of the German Income Tax Act makes up to 3,300 euros a year tax-free if the activity is part-time and educational and carried out for a non-profit organisation or a public body, such as an adult education centre or a university. It does not apply to talks at commercial conferences.

## Can I deduct the cost of a speaker agency?

Yes, the costs of a speaker agency are business expenses if you use the stages for your business, and winning new clients through industry conferences is a business purpose. They reduce your profit and therefore your income or corporation tax, and as a VAT-registered business you deduct the VAT on the agency's invoices as input tax. The same applies to speaker coaching and to travel for talks without a fee. Employees claim work-related costs as income-related expenses.

Stage Starter takes this work off your hands: we find the right calls, write the submission and submit it. We also develop your talk and abstracts, the short talk proposals a conference's programme committee reads, and follow up with organisers until you are on stage. Working with [Stage Starter](/en/) starts from €990 net per month, and every invoice shows the VAT you offset as input tax. What the monthly fee covers is described in [what a speaker agency costs](/en/blog/speaker-agency-cost/).

For the calculation that matters to your business, the fee counts for less than the client who follows. In the market, speaker fees range from €1,000 to €3,000 for newcomers, €3,000 to €6,000 for established experts, €6,000 to €15,000 for well-known keynote speakers and €15,000 to €50,000 and more for celebrities. At industry conferences where your clients sit, regular talks usually pay no fee. According to the fee study of the German Association of Management Consultants, consultants charge between around 1,350 and 1,950 euros per day, so an engagement of twenty days brings 27,000 to 39,000 euros in revenue, and a single client won from a talk is worth more than any fee. The fee levels are explained in detail in the guide to [speaker fees](/en/blog/speaker-fees-guide/).

**The costs of a speaker agency are business expenses, and VAT-registered businesses reclaim the VAT on them as input tax. Commercially, what counts is the client from the audience, who brings many times any fee.**

**As a self-employed speaker in Germany you invoice fee and travel costs with 19 per cent VAT, without VAT as a small business, and with organisers elsewhere in the EU the recipient owes the tax. You pass on travel costs at their net amount and deduct the costs of your talks, including a speaker agency, as business expenses.**

**Sources**
German Association of Management Consultants (BDU): fee study, 2022 edition, for consultants' daily rates. The legal bases are the German VAT Act and the German Income Tax Act. The ranges of the fee levels are cross-checked against published fee overviews from speaker bureaus and speakers in German-speaking countries.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do I have to issue an invoice as a speaker, and with VAT?

As a self-employed speaker you send the organiser an invoice with the mandatory details of the German VAT Act and show 19 per cent VAT, including on travel costs you pass on. As a small business with no more than 25,000 euros turnover in the previous year and no more than 100,000 euros in the current year, VAT does not apply and the invoice states the exemption. With businesses elsewhere in the EU, the recipient owes the tax under the reverse charge procedure.

### Do I have to pay tax on a speaker fee, and VAT?

You pay income tax on a speaker fee, whether you are self-employed or employed and give talks on the side. VAT applies as soon as you invoice as a business and do not use the small business scheme. A tax adviser is the right contact for the details of your situation.

### Can I deduct the cost of a speaker agency from my taxes?

The costs of a speaker agency are business expenses if you use the stages for your business, for example to win new clients. They reduce your profit, and as a VAT-registered business you deduct the input tax on the agency's invoices. Employees claim work-related costs as income-related expenses.

### Is VAT included in a speaker fee?

Speaker fees are usually agreed net, and VAT is added on the invoice. If a contract states an amount without qualification, it is treated as gross in case of doubt, so the word "net" belongs in every fee agreement. How to negotiate fee and travel costs is covered in [negotiating a speaker fee](/en/blog/negotiating-speaker-fees/).

### Do I have to charge VAT on a travel reimbursement?

Yes, a travel reimbursement is part of the consideration for your talk and carries 19 per cent VAT, even if no fee is paid. You pass the costs on at their net amount and reclaim the input tax on the receipts. Small businesses invoice the reimbursement without VAT.

### How do I invoice an organiser abroad?

For an organiser elsewhere in the EU you issue an invoice without German VAT, with both VAT identification numbers and the note that the recipient is liable for the tax. You report the transaction in the EC sales list. For organisers outside the EU, you state that the service is not taxable in Germany.

### Do I pay trade tax as a speaker?

You pay no trade tax on talks of a teaching nature or on talks that are part of a liberal profession. If you give talks as part of a commercial business, the fees belong to its trade income, for which sole proprietors have an allowance of 24,500 euros. Fees invoiced through a limited company are company turnover.

### Are unpaid conference talks tax-deductible?

Yes, the costs of unpaid talks are business expenses if the talk serves your business, for example to win new clients. They include travel costs with meal allowances and preparation by third parties. As a VAT-registered business you deduct the input tax on these receipts.

Which conferences are right for your offering and how working with Stage Starter runs is something we discuss in an [initial consultation](/en/erstgespraech/).