When I ask those who already understand something in German and have lived in Germany for more than one year why they prefer to pay a tax consultant instead of filling out a tax return on their own, I am told that
1. there are no previous tax return as a sample and
2. they never know what deductible expenses there are – what if they miss out on some possible returns?
As answer on the second point, I decided to collect all possible deductible expenses in Germany.
But there is one thing, that you must know before we begin with the list: many of these expenses can be deducted only if they cross a certain border, and this border is rather big. This border is named Außergewöhliche Belastungen.
