Compulsory contribution period
Compulsory contribution periods are in German pension law according to § 55 SGB VI contribution periods for which compulsory contributions have been paid according to federal law. The legal term serves to differentiate between periods for which voluntary contributions were paid.
Compulsory contributions can actually or only fictitiously have been paid.
Actual contribution times
They essentially result from two types of employment. On the one hand from the so-called "dependent insurable employment" (e.g. as an employee) on the other hand from so-called "insurable self-employed activities". In the second case, a distinction is again made between two types: Either the compulsory insurance comes into effect by law (e.g. self-employed midwives, artists, publicists) or by virtue of a voluntary decision to apply for compulsory insurance within the period of 5 years after starting self-employment (theoretically every self-employed person ) or after the start-up grant has ended . The voluntary decision to apply for compulsory insurance must not be confused with the payment of voluntary contributions to meet (full) contribution periods.
The compulsory contribution periods also include certain periods of insurable receipt of wage replacement benefits , such as sick pay , unemployment benefit , unemployment benefit II (Hartz IV) or transition benefit .
The low-wage employment (so-called € 450 jobs) is a special case when the employer's lump-sum pension insurance contribution (currently: 15% commercial, 5% private) is increased by the employee (since 2015: to 18.7%). For this employment relationship there is then compulsory insurance for part-time employees.
Fictitious contribution times
There may also be compulsory contribution periods even though no insurance contributions have been paid by the insured himself. This applies, for example, to the child-rearing period . Since 1992, the parent providing care (not just the mother!) Has received compulsory contribution credit for a period of 3 years (equal treatment despite missing contributions).
Compulsory contribution rate
The contribution rate to the general statutory pension insurance amounted in 2015 to 18.7% of the up to the income threshold relevant gross income. Employers and employees have an equal share in the volume with 9.35%. The contribution rate to the miners' pension insurance is 24.80%, whereby the employee only has to pay the share corresponding to the statutory pension insurance (9.35%) and the employer has to pay 15.45%.
See also
- Pension law periods : voluntary contributions , time taken into account , child-rearing time , additional time , replacement time
