Introduction
Fees for the European Payment Order Procedure are determined according to the ‘Court Fees Act’ (Gerichtskostengesetz – GKG). Court fees can be paid either directly when submitting the application or by paying a court invoice.
What fees are applicable?
A European Payment Order will only be issued after payment of the fee in question. The exact fees are set out in the index of fees (Kostenverzeichnis, KV) in an annex to the Court Costs Act. Point 1100 of the index of fees sets a fee rate of 0.5 for the European Payment Order Procedure.
The amount of the fee is determined by the value of the dispute, which is normally identical to the amount of the claim. If, in addition to the main claim, interest or costs are also involved as ancillary claims, these ancillary claims are not taken into account when determining the value of the dispute.
How much must I pay?
The court fee to be paid for the issue of a European Payment Order is:
| Value of the dispute up to | Fee in EUR | Value of the dispute up to | Fee in EUR |
| 500 | 40,00 | 50 000 | 638,00 |
| 1 000 | 61,00 | 65 000 | 778,00 |
| 1 500 | 82,00 | 80 000 | 918,00 |
| 2 000 | 103,00 | 95 000 | 1058,00 |
| 3 000 | 125,50 | 110 000 | 1198,00 |
| 4 000 | 148,00 | 125 000 | 1338,00 |
| 5 000 | 170,50 | 140 000 | 1478,00 |
| 6 000 | 193,00 | 155 000 | 1618,00 |
| 7 000 | 215,50 | 170 000 | 1758,00 |
| 8 000 | 238,00 | 185 000 | 1898,00 |
| 9 000 | 260,50 | 200 000 | 2038,00 |
| 10 000 | 283,00 | 230 000 | 2248,00 |
| 13 000 | 313,50 | 260 000 | 2458,00 |
| 16 000 | 344,00 | 290 000 | 2668,00 |
| 19 000 | 374,50 | 320 000 | 2878,00 |
| 22 000 | 405,00 | 350 000 | 3088,00 |
| 25 000 | 435,50 | 380 000 | 3298,00 |
| 30 000 | 476,00 | 410 000 | 3508,00 |
| 35 000 | 516,50 | 440 000 | 3718,00 |
| 40 000 | 557,00 | 470 000 | 3928,00 |
| 45 000 | 597,50 | 500 000 | 4138,00 |
What happens if I do not pay the court fees on time?
If the advance payment on court fees is not made, the court will not issue a payment order and the proceedings will not be taken any further.
In order for the payment to be assigned to the corresponding file number by the court, it is imperative that the applicant also specifies the file number when making the bank transfer.
How can I pay the court fees?
The advance on court fees can be paid directly when filing the application. Where this advance has not been paid, the court will send the applicant a court fees invoice. Payments may be made by bank transfer. Payment by credit card is not possible, nor can the fees be collected from the applicant’s bank account by the court.
If the applicant has been granted legal aid, no legal costs or advance payments are due. The application for legal aid may be submitted to the same court as the application for a European Payment Order.
No other payment methods are available.
What should I do after paying the fees?
After successful payment, the court will assign the payment to the application and process the application.