finance

All deductible expenses in German tax return. 1. Außergewöhnliche Belastungen

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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.

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German income tax declaration. Elster online. Introduction

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German income tax declaration is named Steuererklärung. From tax return for 2019 the main part (Mantelbogen) of the German income tax declaration has changed significantly. And this was the last year when it was possible to fill in the tax return in the PC version of the official Elster tax program. Now you must use Elter Online.

In this thread, I will begin to consider filling out the declaration in the online version of Elster.

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Benefits for families in Germany

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In this post about benefits for families in Germany: Kindergeld, Kinderzuschlag, Elterngeld, Landeserziehungsgeld, Familiengeld, Baukindergeld. The latter is practically irrelevant. However, according to the plans of the government, and all the rest may not be relevant.

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Kündigungsfrist, or How not to postpone the moment of a happy parting

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Competition and crisis are severe and make everyone get out as best they can and cut the sheep, that is, you and me.

When concluding any contract, always look under what conditions you can refuse it. Even if we are talking about some kind of promotion, like “ProbeBahnCard 25” or AmazonPrime for month, remember – free cheese often lies in a mousetrap. After all, they want to get you for a long time, and preferably forever. Do you want this?

Kündigungsfrist is what interests us in the contract. This is the period for which you must warn your landlord / bank / whoever provides you services that you no longer need it. This applies to various areas. Examples I came across:

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Tax return in Germany. Elster online. Mantelbogen, or Hauptvordruck

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So, we registered in Elster online, waited for the code from the Finanzamt (FA), received a digital certificate and saved it in a convenient place. We chose a full tax liability declaration (Einkommensteuererklärung unbeschränkte Steuerpflicht ESt 1a, i.e. for those who live in Germany) and go to main part of the declaration – Mantelbogen.

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