Registering worker accommodation: Anmeldung and second-home tax 2026

Do I have to register at all for an assignment in Germany?

In most cases, no. Anyone already registered with a dwelling in Germany who moves into worker accommodation for no more than six months does not have to register or deregister it under § 27 (2) Bundesmeldegesetz (BMG — the German Federal Registration Act). Only once the stay exceeds six months does a registration duty arise.

The basic rule is set out in § 17 (1) BMG: whoever moves into a dwelling registers with the registration office (Meldebehörde) within two weeks. For short work-related stays, however, the exception in § 27 BMG applies. That is the paragraph that actually matters for fitters and installers, because a typical assignment almost always falls below the six-month threshold.

The six-month rule in detail

Under § 27 (2) BMG, the registration duty does not apply to people who are already registered in Germany under § 17 or § 28 BMG and who move into a dwelling for a stay lasting no longer than six months. No registration or deregistration is needed for this secondary accommodation.

In practice that means: a fitter with his main residence in Leipzig who lives in a worker room on a Stuttgart site for four months does not have to register in Stuttgart. His main residence remains unchanged, and the stay counts as temporary under registration law.

The deadline matters as a limit: if the person concerned continues to occupy the accommodation after six months have elapsed, they must register within two weeks of that date (§ 27 (2) sentence 2 BMG). The clock therefore does not start on the day of moving in, but on the day the six months are exceeded.

Special case: residence abroad

Anyone not registered in Germany under § 17 (1) BMG, because their actual residence is abroad, has a shorter deadline. For this group, the registration duty arises after just three months. This affects many foreign installation crews — from Poland, Romania or the Czech Republic, for instance — who work on German sites without a German main residence.

An Eastern European fitter without a German residence who lives continuously in the same accommodation for more than three months must therefore register with the local registration office within two weeks of the three months elapsing. If the stay remains below that, no registration duty arises. This distinction under § 27 (2) BMG matters for schedulers who plan crews over longer periods.

Who registers — the guest or the landlord?

Registration is the responsibility of the person subject to the duty, that is, the fitter. The landlord — the provider of the worker accommodation — is nevertheless obliged to cooperate: they issue the Wohnungsgeberbestätigung (landlord's confirmation of move-in) under § 19 BMG. Without this confirmation, registration at the registration office is not possible.

This landlord duty applies only where a registration duty actually exists — that is, for stays over six (or three) months, or where the accommodation becomes the main residence. For short, registration-free assignments, the landlord does not have to issue a confirmation.

A second, quite separate duty needs to be distinguished from this, and many people confuse the two: the special registration duty in commercial accommodation establishments.

Hotel registration form: abolished for German guests since 2025

Commercial accommodation businesses were previously subject to their own registration duty: guests had to complete and sign a registration form (Meldeschein) on the day of arrival (§ 29 ff. BMG). For guests with German citizenship, this special duty ceased on 1 January 2025. The legal basis is the Vierte Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz (Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act) of 29 October 2024.

For worker accommodation run commercially as an accommodation business, this means: German guests no longer have to complete a registration form, and the business no longer has to archive it.

For guests without German citizenship, the registration form duty remains in place. They must still complete and sign a Meldeschein by hand on the day of arrival, and the business keeps it on file. Completed forms must be retained for at least one year under § 30 (4) BMG and then destroyed in a data-protection-compliant way. This accommodation registration duty has nothing to do with registration at the registration office — it is purely an obligation of the accommodation business.

Second-home tax: when it becomes due

Zweitwohnungsteuer (second-home tax) is a municipal tax that only becomes due if you register a further dwelling as a secondary residence alongside your main residence. Without a registered secondary residence there is no second-home tax. On short, registration-free assignments it therefore does not usually arise.

The tax is tied to the registration of a secondary residence under registration law. Since an assignment of under six months requires no registration (§ 27 (2) BMG), no second dwelling is registered — and so no second-home tax is due.

The picture changes if the stay exceeds the threshold and a secondary residence is registered. The municipality may then levy second-home tax. Each municipality sets the rate itself in its own by-law; rates of roughly 5 to 15 per cent of the annual net cold rent are common. Not every municipality levies the tax at all. Whether and at what level it applies is answered most reliably by the relevant municipal by-law. A second dwelling maintained for work reasons may be treated differently depending on the by-law — it is worth checking the local rules.

What companies and fitters should do in practice

Clear guard rails follow from this for everyday practice. Anyone planning an assignment should keep an eye on the length of the stay: below six months (or three months without a German residence), nothing needs to be done under registration law. If the threshold is exceeded, registration within two weeks of that date is mandatory.

Schedulers should document the deadlines on continuous long-term assignments so that the two-week period after the threshold is exceeded is not overlooked. Breaching the registration duty is a regulatory offence and can be punished with a fine (§ 54 BMG). For foreign installation crews, the shorter three-month deadline is the decisive point.