Tax return in Germany for foreigners made easy – Steuererklärung
Interactions with the finance authorities is almost always something we want to avoid. However, doing your tax return in Germany can not only be super easy, but also prove to be quite profitable. That’s right: you could probably expect to get a few hundred to a few thousand euros!
If the “how” is the part that worries you the most, let me assure you that Germany has come a long way the past few years. Foreigners have been blessed with many other way to do their tax return in Germany in English too.
So dive in with me into this broad introduction.
Even if it’s not your first year here, the average tax return in Germany is close to 1000€ nation-wide. Now that’s motivation!
The long road to your tax refund in Germany:
Before your panic when thinking “I haven’t done my tax return this year!”, let me assure you that there is good chance you won’t have any problems with your Finanzamt if you forgot to file a tax return. It might not be compulsory.
Should I be doing one?
It is compulsory for self-employed people. For employees, it is only compulsory if they are in one of the following situations:
Income sources
- Additional income (not from salary) higher than 410€ in total.
- Salary replacement income (like unemployment benefits, Elterngeld or Kurzarbeit Geld) higher than 410€ in total.
- More than one employer in the year.
- More than 2 salaries (like a full-time job and a minijob).
Family situation
- Married with tax classes 3 and 5, or both 4 “mit Faktor”. More info on tax classes here.
- Divorced and re-married the same year.
However, it’s almost always a good idea to submit a tax declaration in Germany, even you are not in the situations above. There are many ways to deduct expenses to lower your total taxable income, even as a student or when unemployed!
You have already paid your taxes throughout the year, now your job is to obtain as much refund as you can! I show you how in this guide.
How to do my tax return in Germany
Doing it on your own with Elster
You can skip to this part if you need help.
From 2022 on, the ministry of finance has made away with paper forms. It’s only possible to submit a tax declaration digitally. That’s where ELSTER comes in.
ELSTER (ELektronische STeuerERklärung) is the name of the free official tool edited by the ministry of finance you will use. With ELSTER you can:
- Find all the forms relevant to your situation (as listed below).
- Input your personal data securely.
- Save drafts at any point.
- Pre-fill some of your information to save time.
- Contact your local tax office directly.
- Receive your final tax assessment faster in digital form.
- Get an answer faster from the tax office.
- Easily have an accountant connect to your data.
- Bonus: Use built-in Chrome translate function to understand what the forms are about. rocessing of your info
This tool is relevant for all tax payer profiles: singles, students, couples, families, employed or freelancing.
This is how you sign-up for Elster:
- Navigate to elster.de and go to “Konto erstellen“.
- The most common option for foreigners is to receive a “certificate data” to start the account. Think of it as a key to prove your identity.
- Pick “Zertifikatsdatei” as an option & “Auswählen“
- Pick “Für mich“.
- Pick “Mit steuerlicher Identifikationsnummer“
- Enter your name, email & your tax ID, (not your Steuernummer, your tax iD. Read this guide about tax IDs for more details). Enter your user name, pick your security question and the answer to that question.
- Tick the terms and conditions box & click “Weiter“.
- A single use password will be sent by post to you within 10 days. With this, you will be able to download your certificate data on your computer & pick a permanent password.
- Every time you want to login on Elster, you’ll need to upload your data as well as using your user details.
Here are the most commons forms for tax return in Germany
If you are an employee , you need the following forms (e.g for 2022) :
- ESt 1A 2022 or (The main form that details general info like your address, iD nummer,etc)
- Anlage N 2022 (The form to detail your income as an employee)
- Anlage Vorsorgeaufwand 2022 (The form to detail your insurances)
If you are self-employed, you need the following forms (e.g for 2022) :
- Est 1A 2022
- Anlage S 2022 (Freelancers only)
- Anlage G 2022 (Gewerbetreibende only)
- Anlage USt 2022 (if you pay V.A.T)
- Anlage GeSt 1A 2022 (Gewerbetreibende only)
- Anlage EÜR
Other common forms include:
- Anlage Sonderausgaben: to document special expenses you want to put off in taxes. This would include pension contributions, education costs, donations and a lot more.
- Anlage Außergewöhnliche Belastung: to document “extraordinary” expenses in case of traumatic events, health issues or handicap.
- Anlage Haushaltsnahe Aufwendungen: to document home related services expenses such as your cleaning professional or renovations.
- Anlage Kind: to document expenses related to your children.
- Anlage Unterhalt: to document financial support provided to other members of your household (eg: spouse, relatives with no income).
- Anlage V: to document rental income.
- Anlage AUS: to document income from outside Germany (except salary)
- Anlage N-AUS: to document salary income from outside Germany.
- Anlage AV: to document a Riester-supported pension scheme.
- Anlage VL: if you received or want to receive vermögenswirksame Leistungen.
- Anlage SO: in case you sold property that is not your primary residence, less than 10 years after purchase or pay alimony.
- Anlage KAP: to document income from financial assets.
- Anlage R: in case you are a retiree and want to submit a tax return in Germany.
- Anlage L: to document income from farming or forestry.
- Anlage U: to document alimony paid to ex-partners or spouses.
- Form “Einwilligung zur elektronischen Bekanntgabe“: this is where you specificy you want to receive your tax assessment in digital form only.
How to fill in Elster forms
Honestly from there, i will gladly direct you to one of the best guides made in English around by our good friends of ToyTown Germany. It’s a bit outdated, but it still gives a good overview. It is very neat, clear and complete to do your tax return in Germany in English properly. I don’t see how i could give better information on how to fill in all those forms.
I need help filling in my tax declaration in Germany, how does it work?
If you are not so good with numbers or a bit scared of doing mistakes because of the German language, there are other ways to do your tax return in Germany.
Good value for the money: self-help online platforms
If this is too much to do, there are also online tools that make it super easy to get your tax declaration in Germany right for a maximum return. New platforms have appeared the past few years to help expats do their taxes 100% in English. They offer the following:
- You can do your tax return in Germany in English.
- Your hand is really guided step-by-step with the tool in a clean interface.
- Check in real time how high your return will be.
- Save progress at any time when you register for a free account, only pay when you submit.
- Submit everything to the Finanzamt online directly.
- Call a English-speaking hotline if you have questions.
In that space, i would recommend the following 3 providers:
TaxFix (39,90€ per submission) or Wundertax (34,90€ per submission): Pick this if your situation is relatively simple: employee or student, no income from abroad, no income from rental, etc. The interface is particularly clean and aimed at high processing speed but they don’t support all profiles yet.
SteuerGo (30€ per submission): Pick this if your situation is a little more complex: self-employed, married with kids, income abroad, pensions, income from property etc. For self-employed people, it also lets you do additional forms like (Einnahmenüberschussrechnung (EÜR), Umsatz- und Gewerbesteuererklärung). Interface is a little noisier but it supports almost all profiles.
SteuerGo does not support one case: if you have had a foreign employer that year. In this case, you can turn to platforms like SmartSteuer which also supports that (No English though).
Worth it if you have a more complex situation: a Steuerberater
You can also turn to professional tax advisers in Germany for this. A Steuerberater is a trained agent capable of preparing, processing and submitting your tax declaration in Germany. They are accountants usually experienced into finding particular rules that is relevant to your tax profile to optimize your return. Even if their fees are controlled by certain laws, you usually have to pay a few hundred euros for their services. This is why it’s only relevant if your situation is a bit more complex like earning relatively well, being married, having kids, owning a house and having different sources of income. It’s also quite normal for freelancers and self-employed persons to have one.
Full guide on how to find a good English-speaking Steuerberater (in Berlin or anywhere else in Germany).
I am ready to submit my tax return, what now?
If you have decided to go with paper, send all forms together to your Finanzamt, without forgetting to sign them. If you have signed-up with ELSTER already, it’s all a matter of a click. With self-help platforms, you will need to pay a fee in order to submit it to the Finanzamt.
After this is done, you will probably wait for 1 or 2 months before you get any answer. You will receive what is called a “Steuerbescheid“, which contains the final assessment made about you from the Finanzamt. Hopefully, a little ka-ching will appear on your bank account some weeks after that. You can now afford this awesome ebike you spotted, or else, paying for your next trip back home.
Alternatively, the Finanzamt might ask you to provide proof for certain things you stated in the forms, or provide additional documents. In this case, expect even more processing times. Make sure to submit a response in time! Here again, if you need more time to gather those documents, you can simply ask for a little more time.
Freelancers – Make your life easier by using a book keeping software
All bookkeeping software sold in Germany use the same standards than the tax advisors do. This means that you can easily let somebody access your data and do the hard work for you. No need to go over each details, saving you and your Steuerberater a lot of time. And this is not even talking about all the time and stress it can save you in the day-to-day business. I have reduced my time spent on bookkeeping by 80%.
You can find recommendations for book keeping software here.
The impact of the Corona crisis on your tax return in Germany
You need to account for support your received
Living in Germany has been a blessing during Corona times. The country has had a healthy budget in order to support freelancers, companies & employees with support packages. Many of us have received support with public money in one way or another.
The money you have received from the German authorities need to be accounted for in the tax return made for 2020 and 2021. This could come under different forms. Some examples:
- Kurzarbeit Geld: if your employer reduced your hours, the German state has compensated for your lost income in the form of Kurzarbeit Geld.
- Corona grants/aid/support money for freelancers: This has taken different names like Corona Zuschuss, Überbrückungshilfe, Neustarthilfe or Härtefallhilfe. In some cases, the application had to be done by your Steuerberater, so they would know where/how to include it for you. For this you use the new “Corona Hilfen” form. Those aids are also to be accounted in your general profit statement (EÜR/Gewinnermittlung).
- Compensation due to legal restrictions: you could not work because of restrictions measure (Infektionsschutzgesetz Entschädigung)
- Krankengeld: if you were infected by the Corona virus and weren’t able to work because of it. You probably have received support money in this case too.
Basically anytime you received public money, it should appear in your tax declaration for that time window.
There is a chance you need to pay some of it back
You know how it all went. The times were uncertain, some measures had to be applied very fast. In some cases, German authorities have applied the rule: “Pay now, ask questions later”. This had the result to pay more to some that didn’t need after all. In this case, the Finanzamt might take this into account and ask some of it back.
For Kurzarbeit 50 for example; those who have worked partially within a month and only received short-time allowance for the lost part. In that case, the employer only withheld wage tax from half the salary.
Doing your tax return after leaving Germany for good
For a lot of us, our love affair with Germany might not last forever. In this case, there are plenty of items to take care of on your way out of the country. One of them is not to forget to do a tax declaration the year after you leave the country. Example:
I left Germany for Denmark in 2021. In 2022, I can still submit a tax return to the Finanzamt from Denmark, as a Danish resident.
Even if you aren’t a German resident by the time your submit your forms, you can still get money back. The process doesn’t change all that much. You just need to pay attention to these points:
- Use Elster or one of the providers listed above to send your documents to your Finanzamt digitally.
- Indicate your current/new address in your new country in the forms.
- Communicate your new bank account details:
- IBAN / BIC/SWIFT
- Bank name & address
- Bank account holder name
I personally checked with my tax consultant as well as with the Finanzamt: they have a internal process/protocol to handle tax returns for people located abroad, so there should not be any issues and everybody gets their money eventually. However, they do recommend to keep a German bank account to reduce potential costs and speed up the process.
Tax return Germany – FAQ
In theory, the deadline is to the 31st of July of the following year (for people that obligated by law to submit one). However, you can ask for an extension if you are short on time. Using a Steuerberater allows you to have even more time, as they have until February of the year after to do it (eg: a submission in Jul 2024 for the year 2023). Be aware that there is a penalty of 25€ per late month.
Important note: employees whose sole income are their salaries are not required by law to submit a tax return. This means that the deadline moves to 4 years in the future. For example, you can do your tax return in Germany for the year 2020 until the last day of 2024. Even more importantly:
As an employee, you can claim a tax return for up to 4 years prior the current year. Pretty handy if you forgot to do it those years to maximize return.
If you feel like you are running out of time, you can let your Finanzamt know before the 31st of July you need more time. They usually give you an extra 2 or 3 months to do your tax return in Germany. If you are working with a Steuerberater directly, they can even do until the year after!
If, like me, you love to play the optimization game, you are surely interested to know which expenses can be put off in taxes. I have made an overview of possible tax deductibles for Germany on this post, for employees, freelancers and students. Self-help platforms usually support most of them and help you make use of them.
It takes between 8-12 weeks for the Finanzamt to process your files and obtain your tax refund in Germany on your account. It’s usually quicker when sending everything out electronically. A poll made by a tax payer’s association uncovered the following waiting times to hear from the Finanzamt:
18 % have to wait about 6 weeks
32 % 6 to 12 weeks
32 % up to half a year
18 % longer than half a year
If you think the Finanzamt made a mistake to process your case, it is possible to protest and open a case (Einspruch) to explain your situation, within one month after receiving the Steuerbescheid.
When this happens, your wage is being taxed at the maximum rate possible. It is possible to get the difference between that rate and the normal rate back when doing your tax return the following year.
If it’s your first year in Germany, it’s very well possible that you don’t have a Steuernummer yet (although you should have a Steuer ID already. Yes, they are not the same confusingly enough. More on that here.) In this case, just leave this field empty, and the Finanzamt will assign you a Steuernummer after your tax declaration.
It used to be the case that the Finanzamt would request the tax payer to prove any and all expense stated in the tax declaration. As you can imagine, that was just lot of paper to process. These days, the Finanzamt will request proof on a case by case basis only, in case they have a doubt or if the amount is rather large.
Beware however that you should still be able to prove those expenses even after the tax return has been processed. It is recommended to keep all relevant receipts for 10 years, especially for freelancers.
The Finanzamt requires of all German residents to declare any and all income sources, even if they are coming from abroad and have nothing to do with your life here. If that income was already taxed from that country, you might avoid double-taxation if it has agreed to a tax treaty with Germany. If so, you can do that by filling the Anlage AUS – Ausländische Einkünfte for your declaration. More info about that here.
Absolutely, you can do a tax return in Germany for the year you left the country. The Finanzamt will transfer you the money in your foreign account if you give them all the necessary information, and a specific request to do so. You will very likely support the costs of the transfer on your own.
I hope this overview helped you to get started on your tax return in Germany. Feel free to ask questions in the comments. All comments are read. Answers in the comments do no constitute professional advice and should not be treated as such. When comments can’t be answered, i usually recommend other solutions or resources. 🙂
thank you for this invaluable advice. If I worked full time for only two months last year, is it worth it to file my taxes?
Thank you so very much
Hi Marissa, yes it’s probably worth it but you can also wait for next year to file 2016 and 2017 at once, to optimize your work time on this. 🙂
Hi
I am preparing my 2015 and 2016 STEUERERKLÄRUNG. The thing is, in 2015, I was from January to October in 2015 a “free-lance”, in the same company I am currently working. I am an engineer and had a contract for professional services. For the rest of 2015 and the whole 2016, I got a full position paying the complete taxes. I figured to present 2 for 2015: one for each period and 1 for 2016. Is this the best approach? If got it correctly, I am currently late on that free-lance one of 2015 and will get fined. Is that so?
Thanks
Hi Alejandro. For 2015, You will need to submit a form for your employee work and a form for your freelance work yes. If you forgot to do your tax return, you might get some fine from the Finanzamt yes but better later than ever.
Hi,
Thanks for the article!
I am a student here in Berlin and I work as an extra in some movies in different production company. Do you know if I could have my tax refund, as a student or the tax is already discounted as being a student?
Thanks so much for your reply in advance!
Alex
Hi Alex. Yes it can be worth it for students as well since there are a lot of costs you can deduct taxes from. Any costs related to your studies, if you bought a computer, a phone, transporation, etc etc.
Sounds great.
One question, should I file as an “income as self-employement” or “income as employee” ? I worked in different films as an extra (background actor/actress) and they all use different production companies. They always issue me an “Abrechnung” in every job and deducted “Lohnsteuer” from me before they deposit money to my account.
Appreciate for your reply in advance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Alex. The answer is in your question i guess; Are you registered as a self-employed or as normal employee?
hello,
i worked in germany from jan 2017 to april 2017.Now i am moving out of germany so for this 4 months as i will be not in germany how can i claim my tax from country in 2018?
Hi Sunny. The process described above also applies for you. For 4 months though, it might not be worth the trouble.
Hi there! Thx for the excellent help! I have an additional question for you, hopefully you cld help;
I’ve been working here for 5 yrs. In 2014 I got married and got into Steurklasse 4 (before I was in class 1). I’ve never done a Steuererklärung, coz I thought it was optional. But I did do a “Einfachte Steuererklärung” for the last 2 yrs and we did get back a lot of money. My question is, do you think it wld be enough to do the same again or do I have to fill out a normal Steuererklärung? And if do not do it, will I get a fine? Im employed and my salary is my only income. Thx for your reply in advance. Cheers, Christa
Hi Christa, the simplified tax declaration form is meant for employees, which doesn’t require as much information as for self-employed people, hence the term simplified. There is therefore no choice between a “normal” and a “simple” version for you, since your only income is your salary.
Hi there,
Thank you for the nice explanation, as my German knowledge is not so good in the tax-german side, can somebody let me know how much usually a steuerberater takes? Google gave me several numbers from 80€ till 2000€.
I´m married and both me and my wife are working in Germany, and we earn brutto 35-40K €. Is it worth actually ?
Any help appreciated.
Hi Peter. The cost to do your tax return is directly related to how much you earn. Is it worth it? It depends if you are employees, freelancers, how much deductibles you have, etc. Question is too broad.
Hallo,
Thanks for such an informative article. I have 2 questions.It would be really helpful if you could answer them.
1) Do you know where or how can we attach supporting documents if we are doing steuererklärung using ElsterFormular. I want to attach my payslips for the months that I have worked in India before moving to Germany.
2) If we are doing the steuererklärung using ElsterFormular and then we send all the data to finanzamt using “Steuerdaten an das finanzamt senden” option. Is it then necessary for us to take a print of the form, sign it , attach all the supporting documents and post it to finanzamt?
Hi Kush. When using the ELSTER software, you don’t need to send the paper forms in if you registered with the platform before-hand (with certificate and password). If not, then send an extra-copy. You can only use the software to submit the official forms.
Hi,
I hoping that you can offer some advice on my situation. I was employed by an Irish firm on a 10 month fixed term contract in Oct 2015. This was then extended by a further 4 months. The whole time I was employed I paid my taxes in Ireland. I’ve stopped working for the company since Christmas 2016 but now they’ve gotten in contact to say I have to pay tax in Germany for 2015 and 2016.
This doesn’t sound right, can they do this after my contract has ended? Surely they would need to pay any outstanding taxes owed, as I was an employee?
Could you please shed some light in this
Best regards
Aidan
Hi Aidan. This sounds strange indeed if all taxes were paid to Ireland and your contract was attached there. In any case, you shouldn’t have to pay the employer’s share of taxes.
Hi there I lived in Berlin for a few months where I worked freelance for a company there. Im wondering if its obligatory that I need to fill out my tax forms or is it something optional? I mean if i dont pay my taxes will I be jailed, fined or something? Any info would be greateful thanks.
Hi Anna. Yes, as mentioned in the post, it is a compulsory as a self-employed to turn in your tax declaration.
I would appreciate if you could answer the following for workers assigned from EU to Germany:
1. Is there any kind of deadline for registration with the Tax Authorities upon arrival/start of work?
2. Who is responsible for making the monthly tax and social security payments, employer or employee (i.e. who makes the actual payment)? What is the deadline for the payment?
3. Do you have to submit a monthly tax return and, if so, what is the deadline?
4. Are assigned workers always obliged to submit the annual tax return?
Thanks in advance
Hi Ivan, please define “Assigned workers”. In Germany, you need to register at the Finanzamt to get a tax ID. The employer is responsible for paying all social taxes, with no additional work from the employee.
Congratulations for the post.
I have a question: I began working in Germany in november 2016, I will file my 2016 tax report in Spain (where I was working till I moved out) do I need to file also a tax report in Germany?
Thank you for your help.
Hi Antonio, yes you might have to fill in the forms for a Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen.
Hi there,
Excellent post. Thank you for the detailed information.
I have one question, I moved to Berlin from Canada in August. I am a European citizen because of my background and now a citizen of Berlin (registered in the city and I have a Steuernummer). I have worked a couple odd end jobs but I have not had a consistent job since I have moved to Berlin. How should I go about my tax return if I have only worked a couple jobs?
Thanks a bunch and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,
Joe
Hi Joe, if you were registered and had a Steuernummer for those jobs, you should proceed normally. You should ask for a Steuerbescheinigung for those jobs if you haven’t received them already, to have the right numbers to put in.
Unfortunately I did not have my Steuernummer at the time :/ … how do I go about that?
Hi Joe, then it’s probably not worth the trouble and as an employee, there are no obligations to do your tax return.
Hello,
Thanks for the article, its very clear and helpfull.
Anyway ive a question, last year ive worked in leipzig for few months, but at moment im not register in germany and i wonder to each and where Finanzamt should i send my application?
Other thing that makes me wonder, is the fact that also last year before coming to germany ive worked in bulgaria, that interfer at some stage with my german tax application?
thanks for the information and have a great day
regards from protugal
Hello Cristo, this is particular situation and i can’t really give a proper answer, just an opinion. I also don’t know if you are self-employed or not. If you were an employee, it’s probably not worth it because by not registering, you were taxed at maximum rate, and you can’t get any of that money back. You also gave up on other tax advantages.
hello, I applied my it return for the year 2016 in may 2017. and I am heading back to india in june 2017. so can i file the IT return for the year jan 2017 to may-2017, from india itself?
also, while filing my 1st IT return i gave my indian bank details, is ti okay, can i get the refund back to my indian bank account?
please comment for my doubts.
Hi Nagendra. While it’s not a problem for EU bank accounts outside of Germany (because it works with the same SEPA standards), you need to make sure your indian bank account can provide international details for the Finanzamt. Fees might occur for you though. (Source, not 100% trustworthy)
Hello!
I am using this website to do my tax return – http://www.steuergo.de – as a friend recommended it to me.
However, I cannot find my steuernummer.
My questions:
1) Do you know where I can find this / where I have to go to get this? I can’t see anything on my payslips from my employer!
2) I currently live in Neukolln, but my anmeldung is registered to a different address (also in Neukolln) and I had to go to a tax office in Schoneberg to get my tax code to give to my employer when I first started my job…will it be a problem that I live at a different address to the one I am registered at when I come to do my tax return / that the Schoneberg office gave me my first tax code?
Your blog is great and really helpful!
Many thanks, Eleanor
Hi Eleanor, you Steuernummer should be on any letters you got from the Finanzamt. You should address your tax declaration to the Finanzamt where you are registered. If you changed adress since last time you made a tax return, it will be updated for you after the next one.
Hi Bastien,
Thanks for the reply.
This is my first tax return as I have only lived in Germany since September 2016 – does this change things? (i sent the message yesterday at 10:21)
Thanks again, Eleanor
Then in this case, you will send your tax declaration without any Steuernummer, and you will be attributed one by your Finanzamt.
Hello,
Sorry if this question is self explanatory, but I’m wondering if its possible to apply for a tax refund for a prior year, after you’ve applied for a refund for the current year?
Scenario – I moved from Canada to Berlin in 2015, having worked both in Canada and Berlin in the same year. There is still some weird tax stuff going on in Canada, and the books aren’t closed yet for 2015.
In 2016 I worked only in Berlin, and had no income in Canada, so the refund application should be pretty straight forward.
My questions are:
It sounds like there needs to be a submission of tax documents for transition years, so German tax office would need to know what taxes I paid in Canada in 2015?
If I apply for a 2016 refund now, do you know if I can apply for a 2015 refund later (for example after everything is sorted out in Canada and I want to submit it with my 2017 refund)?
Hi Danny. As mentionned in the post; as an employee, you can do your tax return for years up to 4 years prior. So yes, you can do your tax return for 2015 next year if you want to. Also, you should check if there is any Doppelsteuerabkommen process for Canada.
Hi there! I am working as a freelancer as business consultant. I am wondering the bookkeeping that I must do and prove my earnings which should show income and expenses as a simple P/L, I understood the original receipts needed to be kept, how about are the reports/records that Finanzamt would ask me to show in case of auditing, is it ok if I am not using an bookkeeping software?as it normally charges.Also I guess I have to use the German accounting code when I do my (simple) bookkeeping?Or just a normal spreadsheet would do.Do I have to create the cash book i.e bank transactions to show the in and out for my income and expenses. Do I have to have a separate account for my freelancer income/expenses, or it is not required, as I am expecting really small amount of transactions for the first year, however I can’t say whether it will be over euro 17,500 so for bookkeeping I must use VAT too I guess. Many thanks.
Hi Linda, i would direct you to this guide to freelancers in Germany, it has information about bookkeeping and taxes. It should help.
Hello from France 🙂
The article is very interesting and detailed. I have a little question about my personal situation you might have an answer for, hopefully.
I’m Emanuele, I worked in Germany as a dancer for over 3 years. My 2016 year in Germany has been a little weird, since I’ve worked there just until the 5th of May, when I ended my contract with the Staatstheater, to start working in Sweden until the beginning of November. I went back to Germany where I was unemployed until the 31st of December and moved to France. How can I actually proceed with my declaration of 2016 in Germany? I already turned in my taxes in Sweden for the 6 months I’ve been working there.
I made my declaration for the previous 2 years by myself with a good friend who helped me with the language, but this case seems to be a little too complicated. Do you have any suggestion?
Thanks in advance,
Emanuele.
Bonjour Emanuele. Since you were German resident that year, you still need to declare your income from Sweden to your Finanzamt. To avoid a double taxation, most countries have a “Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen” process in place with Germany. This is what your probably need to do. More info there.
Hi Bastien!
Thanks for all the information. i find it very interesting. I have a question: If I am an employee with home office and I pay from my own money a coworking space (to do my job). Can I get that money back from the taxes?
Hi Maria. Absolutely! If the coworking space is your main work location, you can put off the costs in taxes. (Source 1 & Source 2).
Hello,
Thank you so much for the neat and nice explanation!
If I give donation from my savings, of a value almost equal to the entire year 2016 income earned! My question is: would that donation be deducted in the tax return when I file for the year after, given that I have just made donation in April 2017! Is there any maximum limit for donation amount?
Kind regards
Hi Shobhit. Donations can be put off in taxes for your tax return up to 20% of your total income for that year. (In “Sonderausgaben” part in the declaration.).
Hello,
We are and American family who used to live in Germany, working for the American government so we did not pay any German taxes on our income.
We bought a house in Germany in 2011 but moved back to the US in 2014. We have rented the huose out since then. The previous years, we had our taxes calculated y a Steuerberater in Germany, but can no longer afford the €1000+ she charged us.
So I will try my hand at this myself. Last year, we owed the Finanzamt €136
Can I just use our last year’s tax return as an example?
I would appreciate your advice. Many thanks from Utah, USA
Lutgart Seawell
Hi Lutgart. I suppose that if your situation hasn’t changed since the previous year, you can input your numbers for last year taking your last tax return as an example and it could work out. However, please note that there might be specific arrangements since you are an US citizen and i can’t be aware of all of it.
Hallo
I am a student in magdeburg . I filled up form in January 2017 for tax return but I have not received till 2 nd May 2017. So, when I will get it back? should i wait for tax`?
Thanks
Yash Shah
Hi Yash. Just be a bit more patient. It shouldn’t be too long. In doubt, you can always reach to your Finanzamt.
Hello,
I am from India and I was a student for past 3 years. I borrowed study loan from an Indian bank for my studies. Now I got a job and repaying my study loan. Can I claim income tax on this which I will be sending to a bank in India ? If yes , is there any deadline for this ?
Regards,
Manu
Hi Manu. I suppose it is possible because it impacts on your finances but if you are not sure how to proceed, you may want to turn to a Steuerberater.
Hello,
Thanks for the article. It was really helpfull. I have a query with respect to my Einkommensteuererklärung. I worked in India from January 2016 to August 2016 and then I moved to Germany in September 2016. I am using ELSTER Formular my Einkommensteuererklärung. Could you please let me know where in ELSTER Formular do I have to declare the income that I earned in India from Jauray 2016 to August 2016.
Thanks in advance for your time and help!!!
Hi Kush. For most of these cases (income from another country before moving to Germany), you will need to mention it on your declaration. However, it may depend on countries, you may want to check if there are no bilateral agreements between India and Germany on the matter.
Hi!
I am going to start working in Germany as an Croatian citizen. My starting salary will be 1600 euros. I wonder:
1. How much will be the tax?
2. When can I expect the money back?
3. What category will I be at as his is 19.200 euros of income per year?
Thank you very much!!!
Erik
Hi Erik. i cannot answer to these questions as it works on a case per case basis, depending on your situation, if you have children, married, etc. You can calculate the difference between brutto and netto with this tool however.
Hi there,
Thanks for the article, it’s super useful!
I moved to Berlin, registered w Burgeramt and started a full-time job mid 2016. I hear for those moving mid-year it makes the declaration even more valuable, since you effectively pay taxes for the full year.
I was referred to a tax consultant, who reckoned the cost to be EUR 200. That seemed a little too high, given my declaration is basically a few figures (no expenses reported or else).
Is this a reasonable fee? Would the same task be achieved easily w Elster or a tool alike?
Cheers,
J
Hi Jegors, a tool like Elster or the ones suggested in the post are very good to help you do everything correctly for the Finanzamt. A tax consultant is also valuable because they help you find tips and optimize your declaration for your situation. You pay for valuable advice. If you don’t need this advice, it might not be worth it then.
Hi,
I wanted to ask if I can claim tax return for my studies / tuition postponement for studying in Germany few years back? I now live and work in London.
Are there any requirements for it?
Thank you
Hi Justas, that is a good question. If you still have your details and tax IDs at hand, i don’t see why not, but you’d have to ask to a Steuerberater to be sure.
Hi,
I came across this text while reading about how taxes work in Germany:
[Long german text edited by SiB Editor]
I am currently taxed in Tax Class VI, because I do not have the steurliche Nummber(because I do not have an address). But can I apply for this Bescheinigung der Steuerklasse I? I can not understand german very well. Would you please have a look over the text above? Many thanks.
Alex
Hi Alexandru, you need to register at the Bürgeramt first to be able to change Steuerklasse. Without a registered adress, the Finanzamt will tax you with a maximum rate.
Hello,
I am about to start a job as a freelancer, but it should be relatively regular work, i.e. paid monthly. How do I go about paying tax. I do not want to get to the end of the year and suddenly have to pay a huge lump sum.
Kind regards
Samuel
Hi Samuel. Have you seen my guide for freelancers in Germany this way? It should answer your questions.
I worked in 2015 for 8 months in the Czech republic then I moved to work to Germany inmediately for the remaining year. How should I fill the tax return for this year? I use SteuerGo but I am confused how to report this.
Hi Mauricio. You will probably need to declare that income too. If you are unsure how to proceed, you can also reach to their customer support too.
Hello!
I came across with this website because after sending out my tax declaration form for 2016, I received a letter back stating I have to pay back around 7€.
The problem is that I misplaced the letter and I don’t know how to solve this issue.
So how can I find out about the payment details?
Thank you!
Hi Daniela. Just call your Finanzamt to ask for them or if you have received letters from your Finanzamt in the past; its bank details should be displayed in the bottom margin.
Hello,
I live in Italy were I work and pay taxes.
I’ve lived in Germany and received a German salary from 01.09.2014 to 31.08.2015 as an employe. Taxes have been detracted from my salary from German government.
Moreover I’ve included the Germany income in the Italian tax declaration of both years 2014 and 2015.
Why I’ve received some letter from the German government asking me to fill in tax declaration? Can I avoid to do it?
Many many many thanks
Federica
Hi Federica, i cannot answer to your question specifically as one would need more details on your situation before hand. If you have received a letter, then it’s probably wise to do it. You could earn a few hundred euros back.
Hi Federica, I have only one question regarding your staying in Germany, were you also registered to the AIRE ?
I am also planning to fill up the modules for the tax refund but I am NOT registered to the AIRE
Thanks
Hey! So i was working here for a while, then got fired and was in ALG1. Then that stopped and I got a mini job (but no Harz4). I am about to do my taxes this week. Do I need to include the mini job? (It’s only for 10 hours a month and I believe it is not taxable).
Also, since I was receiving unemployment benefit, does it still make sense for me to actually do the taxes?
Another question – one of my previous jobs refuses to speak to me and never gave me the end of the year calculation paper – can I still include that job someohow? (payslips etc?)
Thanks a million!
Hello K. Your employer has to give you your Steuerbescheinigung by law, as you need it for your Steuererklärung. You would need to declare all your incomes sources. You can still try to do it but depending on the expenses you can put off, there might a lower chance for you for a good return, but i am no expert, this is just an opinion.
Hi, I have worked for 6 months in 2015 and paid taxes and I will start working again in June 2017, during the time between them I was studying in Germany and paying tuition fees. my question is can I file a tax return for 2016 even though I did not work during the year so maybe I can get credit for this year when I start working? Thank you in advance I really appreciate your help?
Hello Muthana. Even though you didn’t work last year, you can put many expenses as a student off in taxes, which could lead to an interesting refund for you. It’s worth a go.
Hi, I lived in Germany till October 2016 (Afmeldung done in that month) and worked there from February 2016 to mid September 2016, I then moved to The Netherlands and started working there (Oct 2016).. I did my Dutch tax return, and now I have to do the German one, should I mention something about this situation? Can’t find any option to do so..
Hi Giorgia. You need to check if there are any bilateral agreements between the Netherlands and Germany concerning those issues. It should help you decide what to do. You might not need to mention your Dutch income on your German tax return.
Hi,
Thank you for the great article maybe it was going to be way easier for me if i first searched in google on how to do this instead of trying to do it with just an advice from a colleague (who is also a foreigner). I have the following situation: I have already send my tax declaration (or at least i think i did) using the Elster formular software, however i’m not sure if i have successfully submited it since it’s 1 month and still no answer. I had a visual confirmation of some kind as far as i remember – coming from the software itself after clicking on the send button. I’m also logging in in my elster online portal and it says that i haven’t submitted anything yet which is somehow distrubing. I’m wondering what would happen if i submit another tax declaration using https://www.steuergo.de/en/and if it would be a problem if my previously send declaration was actually received? Also if i try going to the finanzamt and maybe ask them to check if i have already submitted my tax declaration what documents i must take with me? Are they even going to be able to provide that information to me? Any idea?
Regards.
Hi Bo. If you used the ELSTER software to submit your tax declaration and reopen the form, there be should be a message mentioning that the particular form was sent to your Finanzamt (with date and time) and a big “Nicht mehr editierbar” on there too. When in doubt, you can call your Finanzamt. Good luck.
Thank you!
Hi,
this the 3rd day I’m trying to sort out mainly one thing,
I just want to get the maximum amount possible, so was wondering if those internet companies doing the tax returns for You, do they include things like distance from work to home and the tickets cost and so on. Cause if not, I guess if I include them, I can get back more money, but in other case, maybe these companies maximises such things and I can get more.
In my case, I worked last year 4 months, earned 8944 euros payed 996 taxes, so I guess I should be able to get back some, since I didn’t work the full year
Hello Tony. These things can be taken into account with those self-help platforms yes.
Hi,
Can someone please tell me what to write in Verwendungszweck? I understand that it means something like reasons for payment or bank transfer, since I want to have my tax refund, should I just write : tax refund?
Hi Simon, Verwendungszweck means “intended use” or “purpose”.
Thanks a lot, really helpful guide. I worked as both a Kleinunternehmer and a normal Arbeitnehmer in 2016, so I was wondering if I had to fill in both Anlage S and Anlage N.
You already cleared this up in your answer to Michael above, so thats great too.
Thanks again!
Hi,
I am attempting to do my taxes for the first time and have a questions concerning my employment status and what forms I should fill out. I am a full time employee at a German firm, I am also a freelance artist who makes and have several bills from work related to this profession I have a persional tax id number). Does this mean I should fill out the forms for both employee and freelancer? Any help would be great.
M
Hi Michael. Yes that’s correct, you need to fill in Anlage N & Anlage S or G, depending on your situation.
Hi! What about if you are a full-time employee but also make little money as a freelance translator BUT am not billing the company I am doing the freelance work? I have a contract with them (a Swedish company) and then I should pay the taxes from the work to the country I am in. Is the situation same, in German terms that is freelancing and I should also declare all my salaries next year with both forms, for full-time employee and freelancer, and with the same steuer-id? Thank you for this amazingly helpful site and thanks a lot in advance.
Hi Heidi. You should declare all income sources to the Finanzamt, so if you are registered as a freelancer in Germany too, you will need to use both forms indeed. One of for your income as an employee, the other for the income as a freelancer.
Hi! I recently traveled to Germany but being in a rush when I left I couldn’t find my tax refund tickets, therefore I couldn’t get my money back. Is there a possibility to still get this refund while being in America? Thank you!
Hi Zeo. Yes, it is possible. You will just need to indicate your new adress. Make sure that your Finanzamt allows international transfers though. Maybe that part could be tricky.
Hi,
I used to work in Germany and got fired in December 2015. In April 2016 I have got my Termination Indemnity while still unemployed (not getting any social unemployment benefit). In January this year I left Germany and I wanted to know if I need to file for 2016 taxes, even though I was unemployed and the only income I got was the termination indemnity.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Paula. This is a good question but since it’s a severance package, it’s an unusual situation. My opinion is that you would still need to fill in a tax return but you might want to check with a professional in doubt.
“I started to work without a Steuer ID from the Finanzamt” Can somebody confirm this? My company assured me of the opposite…
Thanks so much for writing this! It has been so helpful
Unfortunately the link you gave for the English translation is outdated – the sections do not correspond to the 2016 form! Any ideas where there might be an English translation that is up to date?
Hi Christine. Yes the forms have evolved a little bit but you can still figure out most of the sections with this guide without too much trouble, as only a few have changed places. I don’t know where to find something as complete and for all profiles. Let me know if you find one.
I have moved to Germany in june 2016 as an employee, i want to claim for taxe return since i got married in november 2016. please let me know whether i can claim for tax return for paying housing loan in india
Hi Ranjan. I would advise you to get in touch with a Steuerberater to sort out your particular situation.
Hello!
I moved from Brazil to Germany in June/2016. I worked in Brazil in the first half of 2016. and already declared my tax returns in Brazil already. Should I declare my brazilian income again here in Germany?
Hi Gilberto. Check if there are any agreements between Brazil and Germany but in my opinion you don’t need to do that since you were already paid your taxes in Brazil and stopped working there afterwards.
Ok, thank you for help and all the info available here! I will research this. Whenever I find something, I will put here to help other people that may find the same problem!
Regards!
Didn’t take long. Brazil had an agreement with Germany until 2005. So yes, brazilians must declare earnings even if already declared in Brazil. >:-((
Hi,
I worked for half of 2015 in Australia before moving to Berlin and working the second half of the year. I had to declare my Australian income for that period in my German Tax return.
Hi Laura, thanks for that precision. Very much appreciated.
Howdy,
first of really great info on this page. As I am having a special situation I would like to ask a question here.
I was sent from Austria to Germany- Berlin last year as an employee of Austrian Company and as it was meant to be just for 6 months I did not register for Steuer ID and also my paycheck was directly paid on my Austrian Bank Account.
After 6 months I decided that I stay here (Yee Berlin rocks!). Then I got my Steuer ID and everything else to live here.
Now I plan to do “Steuererklarung” and my question is: When submitting Tax declaration for a half year living and working in Germany do I have to include that I have actually received other incomes for the first half year (Austrian Salary)?
Hi there. In my opinion, you don’t need to do that. You paid income tax in Austria when earning your money there. You earned nothing in Germany during that period too. I don’t think that’s relevant for the Finanzamt.
Hi, I am a Canadian student doing internship here in Germany. I believe I am getting the minimum tax (about 5 euro a month). I have worked in Germany for 4 months in 2016, do I need to do my tax refund?
Thanks for your help!
Hi Terek. As a student/employee, you don’t need to do your tax return but you can if you want to try to get some money back.
Hi, I am living in Germany since April 2016, I have only one income so I wanna try to do it alone, ifs too complicated would pay for the steuer berater. I definitely wanna choose the cheapest way to do it. My friend told me that Elster program is free only for computer with windows, as I have a mac, I would have to pay for it, something like 25 euros, do you know if its true? how much would the steuer berater charge?as average..
Hello Priscilla. ELSTER is free for all OSs. You can download it for Mac here. If it’s too complicated for you, you can try the self-help platforms that are much cheaper than going with a Steuerberater.
Hello,
I moved out of Germany in the end of October 2016 and was a salaried Employee in Stuttgart till the Dec 31st 2016. Is it possible for me to file for the taxes by myself and as I am out of the country right now( I do have my german bank account still active), Would i have to send all the supporting documents by post or can i just upload it online?
Thanks in advance.
Hi Rahul. Yes it is possible to fill in from abroad, simply state your current address. All the other information is linked to your Steuernummer that you used during your employment, so it won’t be a problem. As an employee, it is really recommended to send it all electronically.
“I started to work without a Steuer ID from the Finanzamt… (maximum tax rate)
and you have been charged the maximum income tax rate. You cannot claim this amount back i’m sorry.”
I got a bit scared seeing this, what would it mean? I’m not sure anymore if I started to work without it. It was my very first job and it was in a German company and now I live abroad, I only remember getting the Rentenversicherung number per post. If I started to work in a German company, have I been automatically assigned a Steuer ID? Unfortunately I can’t contact my old company’s accountant to check that.
Hi Rina. No need to get scared. As you an employee, there aren’t any risks of you owing the money to the Finanzamt or something. It just prevents you from recovering the amount you were taxed too muched on(higher tax rate than people with a Steuer ID). It doesn’t mean you can’t do a tax return and it doesn’t mean you won’t get anything back. Rentenversicherung number is something else entirely.
Awesome explanation. So I recently figured out I have to do my returns. I’ve been employed so nothing complicated from my side. Except I have some german correspondence from my health insurance about stuff they didn’t file to the taxes. As a result, plus to double check, I would like to fill in my online forms together with a tax return specialist. Does anybody have any tips? I was given a great person that assisted for 99,- per year, but she moved back to UK and has no time. Any tips are welcome.
Or would anyone suggest to sign up to a lohnsteuerverein?
Lost in woods, any steer on direction is appreciated.
Thanks
Donna
This page is of great help ! Thank You !
I have 1 query in the process and it would help immensely if you can guide me with it.
What is the difference between ” Joint Assessment” and “Individual assessment for spouses”?
I am married and my wife has been unemployed during the whole tax year.
What type of assessment should I select in this case?.Please advice.
Thanks,
Vijay
Hi Vijay. If your marriage is official in Germany too, it’s preferable to have a joint tax return because your wife’s low income will decrease the taxes you will pay, and possibly increase the return.
Hi, great article so thank you very much. I signed up with smartsteuer but found their customer service (possibility to ask for clarification on questions) very poor. I’m fulltime employed living in Germany since several years. I got married abroad in June 2016 and registered myself as married in Germany in July. My wife moved to Germany a month later. I was advised to enter the date of marriage in my tax declaration as the date recognised by Germany. Do you know if this is the date of marriage abroad or the date of my status change in Germany?
As I am supposedly entitled to claim tax back for the whole year if I married in the first half, this is quite important 🙂
Hope you can help.
Hi Steve. Thanks for your feedback. As a rule, only enter stuff that you can prove later to the Finanzamt. There is a high chance that it will not take into account anything before it was made official in Germany.
Hello,
Congrats for the very helpful page.
I have been told that if I can prove that if I can prove that I moved in Berlin because of a job that I got in company here and that I still have residence in another country, I can include even my rent expenses in the tax refund.
Do you know if this is true?
Best
Hi Mandi. This steuerberater is stating that it could be part of your relocating expenses, which are tax deductible. Maybe worth it to look into it.
Hi,
I am a Citizen of India and worked as an employee in Germany from 1996 until 2012 and moved to India after my retirement. I am not a German resident any more and have no residence in Germany. I am now a resident of India since Sept 2012.
I have some shares from a German Company and getting regular dividend. The company is deducting 25% tax and also Solidaritaetssuchlag before remitting the payment. I also had an insurance policy with a German Insurance company and this policy got matured and they deducted the tax of 25% on the capital gain.
Can I claim this refund? for how many years can I claim and what is the process?
Would appreciate your clarification.
Thanks & regards
Rakesh Lal
Hello Rakesh. This is a little too complex for my knowledge, especially since it’s about non-work related income. I suggest that you work this out with a Steuerberater directly.
Thank you for all this useful information. It’s really helpful and very generous of you.
My situation is that I am a Freiberuflerin, a US citizen (so I need to file US federal and state taxes), and I acquired an apartment in 2016. I used a Steuerberater for 2015 who was terrible and I’m thinking of tackling my Steuererklärung this year on my own.
I’ve used elstar online, but I wanted to ask if there is an online program worth purchasing that would better handle the complexities of my situation – Freiberuflerin + Vermieter (momentarily). Thanks in advance for any suggestions you might have.
Hi Helen. I don’t think i know any program that can handle what you should declare on the US side. For the German side, SmartSteuer is quite good at handling Freiberufler situations with other sources of income. User interface is quite good, it’s everyday German, it comes with tips, and you can call a hotline in case you are not sure. (Quick note on ELSTER for people reading this comment: it’s an official software so it can handle any situation possible, it’s just not super user friendly.)
Hi, I am a freelance English teacher, I have just moved to Berlin. I teach English online and my main client is based in China and they pay me in US Dollars. Firstly, would I need to pay VAT if I earn over 18000 euros? Secondly, how would the exchange rate be calculated? Thank you for your help.
Hi Peter, i would suggest you look into the “Kleinunternehmerregelung” (Small entrepreneur regulation) to see if it applies to your case. I can’t answer this question with so little info. This page might be a good place to start. Exchange rate is calculated at the time of money transfer/exchange. The Finanzamt only cares about the amount of euros you receive on your bank account at that point in time.
Thank you so much for all this information!
I moved to Germany from Canada as an employee for a company in July 2016. I have worked here for 5.5 months and am therefore not considered a resident for the tax year (I think). Before moving here in Canada, I was a student and a freelancer with a small income.
On my German tax forms is there a way to claim more tax back if you were only a resident less than 6 months? Do I have to declare my Canadian freelancing income on my German tax forms despite being a non-resident of Germany at the time?
Hi Eric. It all depends if you had a German Tax ID (Steuernummer) while working here or if you were still paid and under contract with the canadian company. If you had one, then you are eligible to a tax return. If you are doing it, there is probably no need to declare your freelancer income but that’s just an opinion as there might be bilateral agreements between Canada & Germany for that.
Thank you for your help. This page is pure gold.
Great website! Thanks for the helpful tips! Do you know if I can claim the cost of my Steuerberater from last year on my tax declaration this year?
I was working as a freelancer from September 2015 until March 2016 and earned minimal income (only 3000 euros). I went to a Steuerberater last March who charged me 600 euros to complete 2 tax returns as a freelancer.. one for 2015 (Sept – Dec) and the other for 2016 (Jan – March). Luckily I didn’t have to pay any tax, but the bill for the Steuerberater was one fifth of my income!
Since March 2016 until now I have been working full time as an employee paying monthly taxes.
In Australia, we are entitled to claim back our Tax accountant costs as a tax deduction while submitting the tax declaration. Do you know if I can do the same here in Germany? If so, how?
Hello Dom. Yes, your Steuerberater can be accounted for as a service provider (Betriebskosten). The bills can be put off in taxes.
Hello! Great website, very helpful! I appreciate!
Before I ask my question, I`d better elaborate my situation. I am a PhD student in Charite, but I do not receive a regular salary, I get a scholarship (stipendium). When I first started (2015), I went to Finanzamt and got my SteuerID. At that time, I was told I do not need to pay any tax, because i receive only a scholarship. Now I am continuing my PhD, and I am still getting my scholarship (it is a bit higher than the beginning) for two years.
Today I got a mail from my Health Insurance company about my “Steuererklärung” which did confuse me. I was thinking that I do not have anything to do with taxes, as I am a student with scholarship who does not pay regular tax. In the mail that my insurance sent me, there are some amounts under the name “Versicherungsbeiträge”. I would be very thankful, if you can give some info or tips regarding my situation.
Many thanks!
Matteo
Hi Matteo. You are right: your scholarship is a tax-free income. As for the letter; it’s simply not possible for me to give you any tips because i’d need to see the full letter to answer. I’d suggest that your bring this to work with you so a German speaking person can help you understand it. Sorry i can’t help you further.
Hi! I cannot find the answer to the following: I’ve moved to Germany with my husband, who is working here. I’ve kept my work in Norway, working part time from home office. Taxes have been paid to Norway – and I’m quite sure that I shall not pay any taxes to Germany. But the question is: Am I obliged to deliver a Steuererklärung to German authorities?
Hello Hilde. Only self-employed people registered in Germany have an obligation to do it, so i don’t think it applies to you. However, make sure to check there is no bilateral agreement between Norway & Germany for this.
Hello,
Thank you for the instructions. I just have one query:
i am a full-time Masters student in Germany and for the past 1 year I have been working as Student Assistant (MiniJob) at my University. I am in Steuerklasse 1. I am not sure what that means but I have to pay Rentenversicherung and Pflichtversicherung. Can I get a refund?
Hi Faz. Full time students can do their tax return too yes. Expenses like text books, computers you bought for your studies can help you get a better tax return.
Hi there,
I have one question regarding the tax refund for more than one year at the same time. It happens that i have been working in Berlin for the last few years and i even have my 2014, and 2015 steuerbeschinigung (i guess this is the name, ufff) provided by the firma where i work.
I was wondering if there is any chance to submit a request for the refund of those previous years. If so, in this particular situation should i reach a specialist in those matters, or the website you shared allows me to do it?
Thank you very much Bastian. Your website plus the support you give in the comment section is simply great, cheers 🙂
Hi André. I’m glad all the info helps. As an employee, you can claim up to 4 years prior the current year. For example, you can do your tax return for the year 2015 until the last day of 2019. You can use the platforms i linked to for year 2014 & 2015 as well yes. Just make sure to pick the form for the right year. 🙂
Hey, thanks for the information!
I have a question maybe you can give me some hints to clear this out.
I have worked in Switzerland for 3 months last year and opened a bank account in Germany (N26) that didn’t require German Anmeldung. I paid taxes in Switzerland, of course, and everything went OK.
Now the company transferred me to Berlin with a new contract in our Berlin office. I did the Anmeldung here and now I will be paying taxes in Germany.
My question mainly is regarding my current bank account and the money I have there. Is it possible German authorities will tax me for that? Or I will pay taxes only from the moment I moved to Germany or started my contract here.
Thanks in advance!
Hello Federico. Your income was already taxed once in Switzerland so there is no reason to pay for that once again. You will pay taxes on the income you generate in Germany with your new contract. I suggest your keep your swiss tax statements close in the very unlikely case the Finanzamt comes after you.
I have a question, I work from January to the end of December 2016 on full time job.. o want to know if am eligible to get tax refund after working for the whole year in Germany.
Best regards
Paplo
Hi Paplo. The answer in one word: yes. In two words: yes absolutely.
Hello im a singaporean student doing Duales Studium n i would like to ask if i can get full refund of my textbooks fee back? I paid 44EUR for the textbks so does that mean they return the whole 44 EUR or juz the Mwst?
Hello Nicole. If you have applied for Tax ID, expenses will help you reduce your taxes and if applicable, get some of the amount back. It’s not related to Mwst.
Hi, thanks a lot for these info! I have a few doubts. I was working as a freelancer in Germany for a period of 6 months (Jan – June 2016). I returned back to my country in September 2016, and right now I am not in Germany. While I was a freelancer, I have paid the VAT every month using Elsteronline portal, but there are a few bills and receipts I have (like a laptop bill or camera bill which I bought for my work) for which I have deducted the product’s VAT from the VAT and paid only the remaining amount for the respective months. I was told that I have to submit these bills or receipts while I file the year end taxes. I do not expect any tax returns but I have to file my taxes and bills. Can you please advise how to do that using elster or any other website?
Hi Ria. I am no expert but it is possible to adjust the total amount of VAT owed/due for the year when filing your tax statement with the “Ust 2A” Anlage i believe.
Hi!
All this tax stuff is confusing, maybe you can help me.
I was registered as a resident in Berlin from end of May till end of August 2016. I worked here for the summer (with a completely normal regular contract).
In September I went back to my home country (EU) to continue my university studies and that’s where I am till this day. So do I have to file the tax return papers/can I get a tax return if I no longer live in Germany (am no longer registered here)?
Thanks!
Hi Nele. You should check if there are any agreements between your home country and Germany on this. (More info here). If you were registered and paid taxes, you should be able to get it back but i’m not sure if the Finanzamt can process a unregistered foreign address. Maybe this article can help.
Hello,
It is nice to find some informations in english!
I am in Germany for six months (october to march), and according to the bilateral fiscal agreements between France and Germany (a document called “Doppelbesteurungsabkommen”), I must pay the tax on my whole income in France, and only in France.
Unfortunately, the tax on the income is automatically taken from the salary in Germany, and I do not find a way to obtain a refund. One colleague has advised me to complete a “steuererklärung” (which has led me to this website), but it seems it would only update my tax, under the assumption that my income is taxed in Germany, which is not the case.
What must I do? Thanks in advance.
Hi Anthony, there is probably some document you can fill in for your case. It’s maybe better to get in touch with a Steuerberater at this point. This gets a bit too technical.
Hello Bastien,
Thanks a lot for all the useful info. Do you by any chance have now more info on this. I have similar situation, worked half year in Germany and now moved to another EU country. Since I am no longer registered in Germany, can I sent my tax return form with my new address?
Thanks
Hi Francesco, yes. If you are in Europe, the SEPA details are making this even easier.
I am a little late filing my 2015 German tax return but am confused. I am a full time student, and worked a part time student job from May 2015 to Mid-September 2015. Then on October 1 I moved to Austria for the second year of my Masters. I have kept my job in germany, working part time remotely. But my company said I only need to file a return for the period I lived in Germany (so excluding October, November, December). they are still deducting pension from my salary but not German tax since I’m in Austria now. My old work contract expired when I left and I signed a new one to cover my time n Austria. So to file my return, do I just do it for the months I was living and working in germany? Thank you for any advice you can provide – I am very confused!
Hi Sarah. this is my opinion only and a not a qualified advice (I’m no Steuerberater): Just follow where the taxes went for each contract period, whenever it went to Germany, this is when you can claim it back.
Thank you!
Which tax can be claimed by students, the following are the tax names which have been deducted from my salary:
1) Lohnsteuer aus monatlichen Bezügen
2) Pflegeversicherung
3) PV-Kinderlosenzuschlag lfd
4) Rentenversicherung
5) Arbeitslosenversicherung
Hi Srinivas. Whether you are a student or not doesn’t change what taxes apply to you or not. However, more expenses can be deducted like any books, material or software you bought for Uni, course fees or even rent expenses (up to a point) can help to reduce your income tax and get more money back.
Hi,
I’m a Portuguese citizen living in Berlin.
I think my questions are quite easy. I can’t afford a fee from a Steuerberater. I hope someone could help me on this matter.
I’m a full-time employee paying my monthly taxes but now I have the opportunity to work also as freelancer/working from home.
I’m not registered as freelancer.
As freelancer, I got the opportunity to do some works from this website/platform: https://www.upwork.com/
Upwork requires all non-U.S. persons must provide their W-8BEN tax information. I filled this document confirming that I’m not a U.S. citizen/person.
Upwork informs the following information: https://support.upwork.com/hc/en-us/articles/211061278-EU-Value-Added-Tax-VAT-
Here is my major doubt: Do I need to register myself as freelancer working from this platform? Do I need to report income from here?
Please, let me know if someone can advise me on this matter.
Greetings
Pedro
Hi Pedro. Yes, you should probably register as you need to have this income taxed in Germany, as any other income you might have.
Hi,
I am a student. I had worked as Holiday worker at Daimler for from 15 oct 2015 until 7 th Nov 2015. Tax class 6 was taken as default by Daimler and I ended up paying 600 euros as Lohnsteur. which I thought would be refunded once claim for it. I started working as intern in airbus from 15th Nov 2015. when I claimed for tax return I did not get anything back. They just sent me a letter with no refund. Is it possible to go again this year and discuss about what happened last year ???
Best Regards,
Sathish
Hi Sathish. It is always possible to ask for your Finanzamt to re-examine your case if you disagree with the outcome. However, you can do that only within 4 weeks after receiving your first Steuerbescheid. More info this way (in German). Good luck with this.
Hi, thank you for the information. I am a student herein Germany and going to complete my education soon. I have been working as a student in a (19 hours per week) job since August, 2011. My average salary is around 1000 euros per month. Please let me know if I am eligible for tax refund, and if yes, how much refund money could I expect. Thanks again!
Hi David. Glad it could help. You are eligible yes, and as a student, there are a number of expenses you can put off in taxes. It won’t a massive refund compared to full-time employees but still interesting to do your tax return. How much exactly i can’t tell you.
Hello since there are a lot of EU expats working in Germany (with spouses and children in their home countries) I would like a small advice which can be helpful for a lot of people:
I am Portuguese, live and work (as an employee) in Germany (since 2014)
I have a small income from Portugal (PT). I pay income tax in PT for it but it will affects the progressive German income tax rate.
My wife and children live in PT. My wife works in PT
Main non common deductions:
I will deduct Double Household (trips to PT and accommodation in DE)
I will deduct Private school for children
I will file the tax return as married since my wife’s salary in PT is much lower than mine.
Is there any paid software with a “clever” questionnaire prepared for my specific case or should I go directly through ELSTERonline? I am trying to get some info about Taxman, SteuerSparErklärung and Smartsteuer.
BTW my previous tax return has been submitted by a very well known/expensive multinational company and looks I could find a couple of errors (law misinterpretations). I want to do it by myself. I am still learning German, don’t have any education in law but I am an Engineer, and it makes the difference :). I went to the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz – EStG) and was able to rebut a couple of wrong assumptions from my tax adviser (company).
Thanks in advance.
Hi Paulo. Have you checked SteuerGo? Their questionnaire is in English, which might help to get things right.
Thank you Bastien.
I am going to give it a try and also thank you for your work in this blog.
Cheers.
Dear Paulo, I have teh same status like you. Maybe we can work togheter to find out more information and to be able to complete one correct Declaration of Income. Please let me know if you are interested. Have a great day!
Hi, I have a question.
From September 2015 to 2016 I did my MBA in Germany. Therefore I was a student and non-employed. I transferred the cost of MBA from home. Starting February 2017 I am officially employed. My question is how can I claim back on tax deduction my education. Should i do it for 2016, however I was not employed and incurred only expenses. Or can I wait for the end of 2017?
Thank you
Hi Ilona. Check this again but i remember by Steuerberater saying that you can claim those expenses back up to 4 years after you are done with your studies. Doing it in 2017 should be fine.
Hi.
I started working in germany last year 2015 in may. I started with tax class 1. Few months later when my wife arrived we changed to tax class V-III.
I have not done my first tax declaration since then and we are finishing 2016. How should I do the tax refund claim, am I still allowed? I never got letters from Finanzamt.
Do I need to present 2 declarations, 1 for me 1 for my wife? Or is there a combined one. She has just worked 3 months in a midi job. The rest of the time she has been unemployed learning german.
Thank you very much for your guidance.
Hello Juan. You can send in your tax declarations for 2015 and 2016 by filling in the relevant forms for each year separately. For each year, you can declare your situation together with your wife. If she hasn’t earned so much, it will allow you to pay less taxes (or get more back, depending on your situation). Look for the part of the form that mentions your Ehepartner. If you are unsure how to fill-in the forms, you can use platforms SteuerGo which helps you step-by-step in English to fill it in. Like an online Steuerberater, but cheaper. 🙂
Hi,
I moved to germany in september 2016 and my tax class was 6. I registered online and it was updated to 1 in December in the Eister process. But in my December salary slip it is still showing 6.
Please suggest if it is possible to get the refund back and how.
Hi Kunal. It it possible that the update will apply only from January on, as i don’t think they account for single days in their calculation. In 2016, you will have been class 6, and from 2017; class 1.
Hi I am new in Berlin. I have registered at the Bürgeramt. How do i get my tax number? Also I have worked one month already and I have been charged a high rate of tax. How do i claim it back? I am leaving my job because they wont pay me overtime hours that the regard as being mandatory. Will this effect me claiming back the tax?
Sorry it is a bit of a complicated situation.
Thanks.
Hi Cindy, regarding your first question, you can go to the dedicated page here. You can claim this back in 2017 when doing your Steuererklärung for 2016, provided you make sure all is in order with the Finanzamt with your tax ID.
Hi!
I haven t registered at the burgeramt yet so I got the higher rate of Tax on my first pay slip, today.
Can I claim a refund for the extra money I paid?
Thx
Hi Veronica. You will be able to claim it back in 2017 when doing your german tax statement for 2016.
Even though it s my fault since I haven t done the anmeldung yet?thanks!
Hey, I am student here in Germany? What do I get tax refund on? Do I get tax refund on food and clothing?
Hi Ahsan. I cannot reply in details to this question as i don’t know if you have a job, if you are married, have kids, your insurances, etc. It all depends on your situation. However, you cannot get tax refund on food and clothing. Tuition fees can however be deducted in taxes.
Hi,
I started living in Germany since Aug 2014. My fist job, which is as a student worker (60h/month) at company “A” was for 6 months from Apr 2015 to Sept 2015. Then I started working again as a student worker (60h/m) at University ‘B” from Nov 2015 till July 2016. From Aug 2016, I started working fulltime at University “B”. My question is do I have to file a tax return on my own for 2015? Would I get a refund for those period till Dec 2015?
Absolutely Klaus. Also don’t forget that any university fees can be put into your tax statement.
I got my tax return this year but I lost the letter which I got from Finanzmt. Can I download it from any website or post? Thank You
Hello Faraz. I guess you will need to request a copy of that letter to the Finanzamt. They will probably send it to you by post.
I have a different address on my steuerbescheinigung than my registered address at rathaus. Will this affect my tax return?
Hi Syna, you change adress you should notify both the Bürgeramt & the Finanzamt (Ummeldung). If you have done those 2 things, you can send your tax return. If not, make sure all Amter have the right address before sending it in.
Heyhey! Thanks for the post!
Im planning to buy a new iPhone. I got a Blue Card from Germany and working in Berlin for 4 months as a mobile software engineer in a company. So, can I get a reimbursement for the phone which is kind of necessary for my work? Or maybe just tax refund of it?
Thanks a lot!
If we are still speaking about the German system, you can do by installments over 5 years. Source.
Hello, I’m an employee. I started work in Germany in oct.2015. On all pay checks (oct/nov/dec) I paid roughly around 40% tax. However the earnings for that period are below the taxable amount in Germany. So I should be able to claim that back rite? I registered for Elster, so I can fill everything out online, or do I still have to print stuff off?
many thanks for all the good tips!
Hi Morven. You won’t be able to claim all of it back but since you started a new job in 2015, you will certainly get a few hundred euros back for sure. Be sure to add all costs you had last year, that you can put off in taxes. When you register for Elster, you need an extra-step to be able NOT to send a paper copy as well. This is a certificate which requires you have a special password sent to you by post. You will find more details on the website.
Hi, I am paid from the UK but pay taxes in Germany. Since I received my prepayment tax statement at the start of the year, the GBP has weakened considerably. This means that I pay a much larger amount of tax in GBP than I should be. Will the exchange rate be considered in a tax return in January? And recalculated accordingly? Which exchange rate will they use?
I am afraid this a bit out of my league and you might have to go to a specialist for a proper answer. I don’t even know where you should pay income tax to start with. Since your employer is the UK, how does it pay the taxes to Germany?
I recently started working here and have been placed into Tax Class 6 – 41% roughly. Now I’m not registered but when I do register I’ve been told that I can claim back that difference between my appropriate tax class 1 and the one I was charge at (Class 6) and I wouldn’t have to wait til it’s time to lodge your tax again, is this true and could you shed any light/point me in the right direction for this as it works out to be a fair bit of money I’ve missed out on.
This means that you receive money from multiple employers. Is that true? You should be class 1 if you are single and with only one employer. More info here and about the switch process here.
Hi there! I’ve checked how much tax return I’d get and it seems I would need to pay around 100e MORE for 4 years I’m working in Germany! Can this be true? I’m working since 2012 and didn’t do any tax clearing so far. Only for 2015 I would get around 100e, but then for 2012,2013 & 2014 I’d need to pay more.
Thanks in advance!
Are you maybe talking about Steuerberater fees? If so then it would be no surprise to pay that amount for 4 years together. The Steuerberater can tell you in advance roughly how much you’d get back in your first meeting. You can then decide if it’s worth it or not. You can also use online solutions like the one mentioned in the article. They usually tell you how much you’d get back before paying anything.
Hi all, I have used the online-tool http://www.smartsteuer.de for my tax declaration. It’s easy.
I went to the Finanzamt to ask for a deadline extension of May 31 but the employee told me that there is no need for extension and I have 4 years to submit the Steuererklärung, is that correct?
BTW, I’m submitting Anlage N and Anlage KAP only
Are you a freelancer or employee ?
Employed but I might fill “Anlage KAP” to get the interest rate for gain from capital to the same percent of my income tax, it does not make much sense to apply Anlage KAP anyway
Thanks a lot for the post.
i have a question. i submitted today the tax statement but i found out that i missed to add a couple of items.
is there a way that i can submit an amendment or withdraw the application?
Thanks a lot in advance
Yes, it is possible to correct your statement at any time, especially if you have not received the Steuerbescheid from your Finanzamt yet. If you have done it electronically via ELSTER, simply send the corrected forms again to replace your previous statement. Else, you can simply send a letter to your Finanzamt to let them know what should be updated, and if applicable with the additional documents. Source
Thanks a lot, this is incredibly useful. Is May 31 the deadline for Steuererklaerung?
Yes it is, but you can ask an additional delay at the Finanzamt if you need.
Hello, I have a question.
How much important is, when you are giving the tax refund papers, to tell from which exact month I am employed in German company?
Because I just forgot to tell the lady that I am working from 1. Juni 2015. and not the whole year.
Is that a problem and should i go back and clarify that??
Thank you.
They will look at your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung for 2015 and calculate your tax return based on that. They won’t look at dates.
Hey just a heads up the links to the 3 necessary files are broken. Just redirects to the files page. Would you be able to provide the new links? Thank You 😀
It’s been updated now. The linksare only valid for one session, that’s why you saw an error. This way.
Hi, Can anyone rcommend a tax advisor here in Berlin who is familiar with how American income etc. is taxed in Germany? We just moved here a few months ago and are currently living mostly off of our savings that we have in the U.S. Consequently we will need help with how this impacts paying German taxes etc. Any names or tips are very much appreciated, thanks in advance.
The US embassy is recommending a few here : https://de.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/englishspeakingservices/
Really nice page, thanks! I have two questions though..
– How does one mark that you are a full time student, and therefore should get all taxes paid back? (I had two jobs 20h in total per week, at the same time as I studied, and one put me in klasse 6, which I now want back)
– How do I do to declare taxes for previous years?