After a fairly long period of interest rate drought, the banking situation has returned to more normal. Interest income began to flow into savings accounts again, and banks began to lure clients with bonuses. What does Finanzamt think about this? In this topic, we will consider when and how to document interest income and bonuses in the German tax declaration.
steuererklaerung
Deductible expenses for second home for work in German tax return
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.
Freiberufler in Germany: how to fill in Anlage S and Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung
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.
Pre-filled declaration in Elster
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.
How to calculate tax in Germany. What is written in Berechnung in Elster
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.
Part time work in Germany. What does freiberuflich, nebenberuflich, ehrenamtlich, gewerblich, Minijob mean
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…
Who should file a tax return in Germany
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.
Tax declaration Germany. Anlage EÜR
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.
German income tax declaration. Anlage N-Aus
Anlage N-Aus is definitely not simply, also if you are not sure, it is better to go to the tax consultants for the first time (in LohnsteuerHilfe Verein). But it is possible, that you don’t need this application at all. Anlage N-Aus – for those who already live in Germany and make some work abroad.
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.
German tax return. Anlage WA-Est
In this part – how to fill out Anlage Wa-Est.
Anlage Wa-Est is filled out by those
- who left Germany in the declared year,
- who moved in Germany in the declared year
- but also those who do not have a permanent place of residence in Germany, but would like to be treated as unrestricted taxable (that is, as living in Germany).