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Flexible work at trade fairs and events — on your own invoices, with your own taxes and your own responsibility.
As a freelancer, you are not employed — you work self-employed on your own account. For trade fair, promotion and product-consulting jobs you usually need a trade license (Gewerbeschein), a tax number from the tax office and a correct invoice after every assignment.
Self-employment is an alternative to short-term employment — more freedom, but also more obligations: you take care of taxes, health insurance and pension provision yourself. Whether a particular assignment counts as self-employment or as employment always depends on how that specific assignment is actually carried out — regardless of the client it is for.
Important: a trade license alone does not make you self-employed. What counts is how you actually work — see section 03.
| Aspect | Freelancer with trade license | Short-term employment |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Self-employed. You issue invoices. | Temporarily employed. You receive a payslip. |
| Time limit | None. | Max. 3 months or 70 working days per calendar year. |
| Taxes | You pay tax on your profit yourself via your income tax return. | Wage tax is deducted directly from your pay. |
| Social security | You arrange health and long-term care insurance yourself. Pension insurance is only mandatory in certain cases. | Exempt from social security as long as the requirements are met. |
| Effort | Trade registration, tax number, invoices, bookkeeping. | Fill in the personnel form — the employer handles payroll. |
As of September 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice. This table compares the two employment forms without recommending either for a specific role — what actually decides the status is always the concrete facts of the individual case (see section 03).
Whether you are genuinely self-employed is not decided by your trade license, but by how the collaboration actually works in practice. If day-to-day reality differs from the contract, reality counts. These criteria are a guide — the overall picture is always assessed.
You work for different agencies or clients — not just one.
You decide yourself which jobs you accept and which you decline.
You negotiate your fee and invoice it.
You bear your own costs, e.g. travel or insurance, and your income varies with demand.
You also offer your services on the market yourself, e.g. via your own profile or website.
You decide how to deliver the agreed service within the scope of the assignment.
You must follow all of the client’s instructions without restriction.
You must keep specific working hours set by the client.
You must deliver detailed reports at short, regular intervals.
You work on the client’s premises or at locations the client determines.
You work permanently and essentially for a single client only.
You are integrated into the client’s work organisation like permanent staff.
If you are unsure, you or your client can apply for a status determination procedure (Statusfeststellungsverfahren) at the clearing office of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund. It decides bindingly whether the work is self-employment or employment.
If supposedly self-employed work later turns out to be employment, social security contributions are claimed retroactively.
Usually yes. Promotion, trade fair service and product-consulting activities are generally considered commercial rather than a liberal profession. Registering a trade is then a prerequisite for invoicing as a self-employed person.
Yes, also on the side. If you are covered by family health insurance, your regular total income in 2026 may not exceed €565 per month — otherwise family insurance ends. Full-time self-employment rules it out.
If you are employed, check your employment contract: some employers want to be informed about side activities.
Generally not. It becomes mandatory if you work permanently and essentially for only one client — five sixths of your income is used as a guideline — and do not employ any staff subject to insurance yourself.
If your earned income regularly does not exceed the marginal earnings threshold of €603 per month (2026), you remain exempt. Business founders can, under certain conditions, be exempted for up to three years.
You take care of your health insurance yourself. If you freelance on the side, you usually stay in your existing insurance — e.g. through your main job, as a student or through family insurance, as long as the limits are met. Full-time self-employed people insure themselves voluntarily with a statutory or a private insurer.
Among other things: your full name and address, the client’s name and address, your tax number, the invoice date and a sequential invoice number, the service period, the type of service and the amount.
As a small business you do not charge VAT, but you need a note on the tax exemption under Section 19 UStG. For eventas assignments, our invoice generator helps you.
Only if your trade income exceeds the allowance of €24,500 per year. For most part-time freelancers, no trade tax is therefore due.
That depends on your total annual income. Up to the basic tax-free allowance of €12,348 (2026) no income tax is due; above that the rate rises progressively. Income from self-employment and from employment is added together.
Since nobody deducts tax in advance, you should set aside part of every payment. The tax office can also set quarterly advance payments.
Income minus business expenses equals your profit. You usually calculate it with a simple income statement (EÜR) and report it in your income tax return.
Business expenses include, for example, travel to assignments, typical work clothing or the business share of your phone and laptop.
If your total taxable income in 2026 does not exceed the basic allowance of €12,348, you pay no income tax — including on your freelance income.
As a small business you issue invoices without VAT. Trade tax only applies once your trade income exceeds the allowance.
For your freelance assignments you send eventas an invoice. With the eventas invoice generator this takes just a few minutes: enter your details, check the preview, download as PDF — with or without VAT, depending on whether you use the small business scheme.
Create invoiceWhether your invoice shows VAT depends on your turnover — and on your choice in the tax registration questionnaire.
Before you invoice your first assignment as a freelancer:
This page provides a general overview (as of September 2026) and does not replace tax or legal advice. It is not a binding offer by eventas for a particular billing arrangement, and not a guarantee that a given assignment for eventas or any other client qualifies as self-employment. Binding information is available from your tax office, your health insurer, the Deutsche Rentenversicherung or a tax advisor.
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