GuidesGermany

Meldeschein and Kurtaxe for holiday apartments in Germany (2026)

Which guests sign the Meldeschein (guest registration form), what it must hold, how long you keep it, and how local taxes such as the Kurtaxe (spa or resort tax) and Berlin's overnight tax work — from the Federal Registration Act and official city pages.

Updated September 22, 2026

In short

Every foreign guest signs a Meldeschein on the day of arrival. You keep it for one year — it is not sent to the police, only shown when an authority asks for it.
There is no national tourist tax: each town sets its own, as Kurtaxe in spa and resort towns or as an overnight tax in cities. Berlin charges 7.5% of the price of the stay, Cologne generally 5%.
In Berlin the host owes the tax and files a return electronically every quarter, by the 10th day after the quarter ends.

Guest registration: the Meldeschein

Who must sign

Foreign guests: under sections 29 and 30 of the Bundesmeldegesetz (BMG, Federal Registration Act), each one signs a Meldeschein and shows a valid passport or passport substitute. A travelling spouse or partner and minor children are only counted on the form; in a foreign group of more than 10, only the leader fills it in, giving the group's size and nationalities. Some places, such as youth hostels and mountain huts, are exempt.

When, and for how long

The guest signs by hand on the day of arrival. You keep the form for one year from the day the guest leaves, and must destroy it within three months after that year ends. Check-out is not reported to anyone.

Where it goes

It stays with you: there is no national portal or government API, and nothing is sent automatically. You show the forms or data only when the police or another authority named by state law asks for them.

What goes on the form

Arrival date and expected departure, surname, first names, date of birth, nationalities, address, the number of foreign fellow travellers and their nationality, and the serial number of the passport or passport substitute. Keep blank forms ready and check each completed one against the guest's document.

Software: the digital Meldeschein

Software may replace the paper form: you store the data electronically, secured as the GDPR requires, and provide it in machine-readable form on request. Instead of signing by hand, the guest can confirm, with consent, by a card payment with strong customer authentication, the German eID card's online function or an electronic residence permit.

Fines

Breaches are administrative offences under BMG section 54, with fines of up to €1,000 — for example not keeping forms ready, a guest not signing on time, not keeping forms or data for a year, or not showing them on request.

Local tourist taxes (Kurtaxe, Übernachtungsteuer)

What it is: There is no national tourist tax. Spa and resort towns levy a Kurtaxe, also called Kurbeitrag, Kurabgabe or Gästebeitrag; cities levy their own taxes, such as Berlin's Übernachtungsteuer (overnight tax, also known as City Tax or Bettensteuer), Cologne's Kulturförderabgabe (culture levy) and Hamburg's Kultur- und Tourismustaxe.
Who sets the amount: Each municipality or city-state, under its state's law on local levies; the rate, who pays and any exemptions are in the town's statute (Satzung). Many resort towns also collect guest data through their own Kurtaxe or guest-card systems, which differ from town to town.
Examples: Berlin and Cologne: Berlin (law in force from 1 January 2026): 7.5% of the price of the stay, without VAT and without charges for other services, on every paid stay shorter than six months. Cologne: generally 5% of what the guest pays for the stay including VAT, but not the levy itself or the VAT on it; holiday flats and private rooms are covered. Kurtaxe rates per person per night are set by each town — look them up in its statute.
Who pays less: Berlin's law in force from 2026 lists no exemptions — none for children and none for business travel. Cologne's official page names none either. Exemptions for children or other groups under a Kurtaxe statute vary by town, so check your town's Satzung.
How it is paid: Berlin: the host owes the tax, files a self-assessed return electronically for each calendar quarter (total and taxable nights) and pays by the 10th day after the quarter ends; you also tell the tax office within a week when you start or stop. Cologne: the guest pays, and the host collects it and passes it on to the city. Elsewhere, your town's statute sets how and when.

For every guest

Before arrival, collect each guest's name, date of birth, nationality, address and passport number — an online check-in does this for you.
On the day of arrival, have every foreign guest sign the Meldeschein — by hand or by one of the electronic routes the law allows — and check it against their passport.
Keep the forms for one year after departure, show them only to an authority that asks, and destroy them within three months after that.
Pay your town's local tax the way its statute sets — in Berlin, file and pay each quarter by the 10th day after it ends.

Every guest's details in one place, before arrival

Staywick's online check-in collects every guest's details — with a passport scan — before they arrive, so everything the Meldeschein asks for is collected in one place, ready for it.

Invoices & money

How Staywick's online check-in collects guest details →

Get early access Book a call

Questions

Do German guests have to sign a Meldeschein?

No. The current text of BMG section 29 covers only foreign guests. A foreign guest's travelling spouse, partner and minor children are counted on the form rather than signing their own.

Do I have to send the Meldeschein to the police?

No. You keep it and hand it over only when the police or another authority named by state law asks for it. There is no portal to send it to and no check-out report.

Can the Meldeschein be digital?

Yes. You may keep it electronically instead of on paper, secured as the GDPR requires. The guest then confirms, with consent, by a card payment with strong customer authentication, the German eID card or an electronic residence permit instead of a handwritten signature.

Do business travellers pay Berlin's Übernachtungsteuer?

Yes. Business stays have been taxed since 1 April 2024, and since 2025 there is no 21-day exemption either: the tax covers every paid stay shorter than six months.

Official sources

Checked against the Federal Registration Act (Bundesmeldegesetz, sections 29, 30 and 54), Berlin's Übernachtungsteuergesetz in force from 2026 and the City of Cologne's Kulturförderabgabe page on 22 September 2026. Local taxes are set town by town and can change — check your town's statute (Satzung); Kurtaxe and Hamburg rates are not given here because we could not confirm them from an official source. This guide is not legal advice.

Ready to run it from one place?

Set up your first apartment in minutes. Free for 14 days, and we will not ask for a card.

Get early access Book a call