# How to Check Your Nebenkostenabrechnung Before You Pay

> Before you pay a Nachzahlung, check the deadline, the four required parts and the cost types. You have 12 months to object in writing and can ask to see the receipts.

- URL: https://hsalem.com/check-nebenkostenabrechnung-before-you-pay/
- Author: Hassan Salem (https://hsalem.com/about/)
- Published: 2026-11-13
- Topics: Expat, Finance, Germany

The yearly Nebenkostenabrechnung (utility and service cost statement) from your landlord arrives, and it asks for a few hundred euros more. Many expats just pay it. These statements often contain mistakes, so check it first. It takes about 30 minutes.

## What you need

1. The Nebenkostenabrechnung itself, and the envelope or email so you know when it reached you.
2. Your Mietvertrag (rental contract).
3. Last year's statement, if you have one.

## The steps

1. **Check the deadline.** Your landlord must send the statement within 12 months after the end of the billing period. For the calendar year 2025, it must reach you by 31 December 2026. What counts is when you receive it, not when it was sent. If it comes too late and the delay is the landlord's fault, they cannot ask you for a Nachzahlung (extra payment). A Guthaben (refund to you) does not expire.
2. **Check the four basic parts.** According to the ADAC, a valid statement must show the total costs, the Umlageschlüssel (how costs are split, for example by square metres or number of people), how your share was calculated, and your advance payments (Vorauszahlungen). If one of these is missing, the statement is formally invalid.
3. **Check the cost types.** Only Betriebskosten (operating costs) can be passed to you, and your rental contract must allow it. The Betriebskostenverordnung lists them, for example property tax, water, heating, rubbish, cleaning, garden, caretaker, insurance and chimney sweep. Two things are never allowed: Verwaltungskosten (management costs) and Instandhaltung or Instandsetzung (repairs and maintenance).
4. **Compare with last year.** Put both statements side by side. Look for a new cost item, a big jump in one line, or a change in your flat size or the split.
5. **Ask to see the receipts.** You have a legal right to Belegeinsicht (inspection of the receipts). The landlord can also give them to you electronically. Usually you look at them at the landlord's or the property manager's office. There is no general right to get copies sent to you.
6. **Object in writing.** Your objection must reach the landlord within 12 months after you received the statement. Name the exact items you dispute and ask for Belegeinsicht in the same letter. Send it in a way you can prove, for example by Einschreiben (registered mail).

## What about paying?

Do not ignore the bill. The ADAC advises paying first, even if you have doubts. The Berliner Mieterverein says you can hold back the disputed amount while you wait for the receipts, if you asked for Belegeinsicht in writing. A safe middle way: pay the parts you agree with and dispute the rest in writing.

## Common mistakes

1. Repair costs hidden under "caretaker" or "maintenance".
2. Garden care charged twice: once as its own item and again inside the caretaker cost.
3. Wrong flat size, so your share is too big.
4. Paying by reflex and then forgetting the 12 month objection window.

If the amount is big or the landlord does not answer, a local Mieterverein (tenant association) can check the statement for you. In Munich and most big cities they also give legal advice to members.

Checked in November 2026. Rules change, and this is not legal advice, so please check the official text or ask a tenant association before you act.

## Sources

1. [§ 556 BGB: deadlines and Belegeinsicht (German, official)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bgb/__556.html)
2. [Betriebskostenverordnung § 1 (German, official)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/betrkv/__1.html)
3. [Betriebskostenverordnung § 2 (German, official)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/betrkv/__2.html)
4. [ADAC: Nebenkostenabrechnung prüfen (German)](https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-haus/energie/spartipps/nebenkostenabrechnung/)
5. [Berliner Mieterverein: Betriebskostenabrechnung zu hoch (German)](https://www.berliner-mieterverein.de/aktuelles/newsletter/betriebskostenabrechnung-zu-hoch-was-koennen-mieterinnen-tun.htm)