German tax

Deductible expenses for second home for work in German tax return

by

Are you renting (buying) a second home to spend the night closer to work? This will be called Doppelte Haushaltsführung. There are a number of deductible expenses for second home in Gerrman tax return. Let’s take a closer look at how this is done using the example of an employee. An individual Self-employed can also rent a second home (and write them off as Betriebsausgaben). The principles of deduction will be the same.

It also makes sense to review the rules and restrictions for those who are just thinking about whether or not to take such a job that you will have to rent a second home.

Read more

Changes in Germany 2024. Finance, tax, insurance

by

We continue to study the changes in Germany 2024. The previous post was rather sad – there they take our money and demand new demands. Let’s see if there will be any compensation in the financial, insurance, taxes and benefits.

Read more

Freiberufler in Germany: how to fill in Anlage S and Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung

by

In the topic “Part-time work in Germany” it was told about different forms of work, including “free” professions, that is, Freiberufler in Germany. People with free professions can work both full-time and nebenberuflich (that is, no more than a third of a full-time job), be employees or self-employed.

Now let’s learn how to inform the Finanzamt about the “free” activity and how to fill in Anlage S and Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung.

Read more

Pre-filled declaration in Elster

by

Pre-filled declaration with the data of the Finanzamt makes it possible to avoid unnecessary errors and save time. Sometimes you can discover something new. We found out that the employer paid money for the double household, although this did not appear anywhere in the papers. In addition, if you quit your job and the employer did not give you Lohnsteuerbescheinigung on time, although it is obliged, you can safely call the data via Elster and not waste your nerves on swearing.

Read more

How to calculate tax in Germany. What is written in Berechnung in Elster

by

How to calculate tax in Germany is not such a simple question as it seems. You can’t just take income and calculate a certain percentage from it. First you have to figure out how much income to take, then find the exact percentage, and then also calculate correctly. Let’s look what is written in the tax calculation (Berechnung) in official Elster tax program and how you can calculate whether everything in your declaration is correct.

Read more

Part time work in Germany. What does freiberuflich, nebenberuflich, ehrenamtlich, gewerblich, Minijob mean

by

Part time work in Germany can be: work for the minimum wage (Minijob), in the form of a small individual business or work on honorar. You can earn extra money while having a main paid job at the firma, but also a main unpaid job in the family or being a student.

For example, many come up with the idea to somehow monetize their wonderful photos. The entrance to such an activity is very simple – register in the stock and sell. Or work in a Verein, as a tutor, filming events on weekends, babysitting…

Read more

Who should file a tax return in Germany

by

Briefly about who should file a tax return in Germany, I wrote in the introduction to the topic on filling out a German income tax return. But there was no answer to the question:
I came in Germany this year
I am employee and have no other income
– should I file a declaration in Germany for this year?

In the list of those who must file a tax return in Germany, there are no fresh arrivals in the country. But my old memories of working for a tax magazine brought to the surface a vague knowledge of tax residency. Let’s try to understand this difficult topic, but first we will find out who is still on the list of those who must file.

Read more

Grundsteuererklärung – real estate declaration in Germany

by

The Grundsteuererklärung real estate declaration in Germany, although it took a long time to prepare, does not have good explanations with examples. It took me two weeks to fill out, understand and order the papers.

If you haven’t started filing a real estate declaration yet, do it now. The time is already approaching the middle. The declaration must be submitted by everyone who owns real estate (apartment, house, garage – in whole or in part). Even apartment owners own some land (Grundstück).

Read more

Tax declaration Germany. Anlage EÜR

by

Filling out Anlage EÜR was not so easy. I once thought that Anlage EÜR is a simple piece of paper with two columns: “Income” and “Expense”. It turned out that this is such a concentrated declaration, where much of what is in a regular declaration is repeated, only in relation to entrepreneurs. Anlage EÜR even has its own applications.

But despite its formidable size, filling out the Anlage EÜR is always presented as the biggest advantage for small entrepreneurs – compared to the dreaded and scary accounting.

Read more

German income tax declaration. Anlage N-Aus

by
German tax return Anlage N-Aus / Steuererklärung Anlage N-AUS ausfüllen

For a long time I was asked to write about Anlage N-Aus, but I always advised to go to the tax consultants for the first time (in LohnsteuerHilfe Verein), since it is not simply.

This Anlage is really complex. But it is possible, that you don’t need this Anlage at all.

If you are first year in Germany or leave it this year, then you need Anlage WA-Est. it has existed since 2017.

Read about Anlage WA-Est here.

Read more