Skip to content

Separate determination return for a sole trader (ESt 1 D)

This determination has NOTHING to do with several participants — it is a question of COMPETENCE. In cases other than those involving several participants, income from farming and forestry, a trade or a profession is determined separately WHERE, on the circumstances at the end of the profit computation period, the office competent for the separate determination is NOT ALSO competent for taxes on income (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO). The person under the filing duty is then the ENTREPRENEUR (§ 181(2) sentence 2 no. 2 AO). A sole trader whose business lies in a different tax office district from their home therefore files TWO returns, not one.

Up to date for 2025 — verified on September 23, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 40 min

Deadlines

Seven months after the end of the calendar year
§ 149(2) sentence 1 AO, applying by analogy through § 181(1) sentence 1 AO
With a member of the tax advisory professions instructed: the last day of February of the second following calendar year
§ 149(3) no. 5 AO expressly names returns for separate determination under § 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2 AO
The determination comes BEFORE the income tax return
The profit determined feeds into it; the order is not a formality but the logic of the procedure

Documents to prepare

  • ELSTER access with a certificate or an ELSTER business account
  • The addresses of the business and the home, with each competent tax office
  • The profit computation for the determination period
  • The tax number at the business office and your tax identification number
  • Details of the profit computation period and the method used
  • On a move or relocation: the date and the new competence
See the procedure on the official site

No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.

What this page gives you

The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.

Who this applies to

  • The sole trader whose BUSINESS tax office is not also their office for taxes on income (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO) — typically a workshop, practice or office in a different district from the home
  • Farmers, foresters and professionals on the same condition: the provision names all three categories of business income side by side
  • What counts are the circumstances AT THE END OF THE PROFIT COMPUTATION PERIOD — not those on the day of filing
  • NOT this route where several persons share in the income: that is the case in letter (a), the separate and uniform determination
  • Not concerned: anyone whose business and residence fall in the same tax office district — the two then coincide and the income tax return suffices
  • Where the circumstances governing local competence have changed AFTER the end of the profit computation period, competence for earlier determination periods also follows § 18(1) nos. 1 to 3 together with § 26 AO (§ 180(1) sentence 2 AO)

Worked example

Martin Küpper lives in Cologne and runs his joinery in Leverkusen

His 2025 profit is 74 000 euros. Home and business lie in different tax office districts, and at the end of the profit computation period the office competent for the separate determination is not also competent for his taxes on income. § 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO therefore bites: the trading income is determined SEPARATELY — even though nobody but Martin shares in it. In such cases the person under the filing duty is the ENTREPRENEUR (§ 181(2) sentence 2 no. 2 AO), so Martin himself. He therefore files the separate determination return (ESt 1 D) with the business tax office, and only the profit determined there feeds into his income tax return at his home tax office. Two returns, two tax offices, one profit. If Martin moves to Leverkusen in 2026, the circumstances governing local competence change after the end of the profit computation period — competence for earlier determination periods then also follows § 18(1) nos. 1 to 3 together with § 26 AO (§ 180(1) sentence 2 AO). If he misses the return, the late-filing penalty follows the special rule for determination returns: 0.0625 per cent of the positive total of the income determined per part month, at least 25 euros (§ 152(7) AO) — on 74 000 euros that is 46.25 euros per part month, so the MINIMUM of 25 euros does not bite here.

How to fill it in, step by step

  1. Check the competences AT THE END OF THE PROFIT COMPUTATION PERIOD: is the office competent for the separate determination also competent for your taxes on income? (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO).
  2. Check letter (a) first: where SEVERAL persons share in the income, this is not the right return but the separate and uniform determination.
  3. Compute the profit by the method applicable to you — cash basis or balance sheet comparison.
  4. Log in to Mein ELSTER and select the separate determination return for bases of income taxation (ESt 1 D).
  5. File it with the office competent for the separate determination — not with your home tax office.
  6. Transmit it in the officially prescribed data format by remote data transmission; the paper form requires a hardship application and must be signed personally (§ 181(2a) AO).
  7. Wait for the determination notice and carry the profit determined into your income tax return.
  8. Check the notice for completeness: an omitted necessary determination is made good in a supplementary notice (§ 179(3) AO).
  9. On a move or a relocation of the business, note the special rule in § 180(1) sentence 2 AO for competence over earlier determination periods too.

Good to know

  • The trigger is GEOGRAPHICAL, not one of company law: all that matters is whether two different tax offices are competent (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO).
  • The person under the filing duty here is the ENTREPRENEUR (§ 181(2) sentence 2 no. 2 AO) — unlike letter (a), where for partnerships with legal capacity the partnership files primarily.
  • The rules on the conduct of taxation apply correspondingly to a separate determination, and the return for separate determination counts as the tax return within § 170(2) sentence 1 no. 1 AO (§ 181(1) sentences 1 and 2 AO).
  • By way of derogation from § 157(2) AO the tax bases are determined separately by a determination notice where the statute so provides (§ 179(1) AO) — determination is the exception, not the rule.
  • The determination notice is addressed to the taxpayer to whom the subject of the determination is attributable (§ 179(2) sentence 1 AO).
  • The late-filing penalty here too follows the special rule in § 152(7) AO at 0.0625 per cent of the positive total of the income determined, at least 25 euros per part month — a quarter of the rate for tax returns.
  • An omitted necessary determination is made good in a SUPPLEMENTARY NOTICE (§ 179(3) AO).
  • The same geography that triggers this return can also trigger an apportionment of the trade tax base amount, where establishments are maintained in several MUNICIPALITIES — two different procedures from one and the same cause.

Common mistakes

  • Mistaking this return for the separate and uniform determination. Letter (b) concerns cases OTHER than those involving several participants (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2 AO).
  • Filing it with your home tax office. Competent is the office for the separate determination — precisely because it is a different one.
  • Checking the competences as at the day of filing. What counts are the circumstances at the END OF THE PROFIT COMPUTATION PERIOD (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO).
  • Assuming a move changes nothing for the past. Where the governing circumstances have changed after the end of the profit computation period, local competence for earlier determination periods also follows § 18(1) nos. 1 to 3 together with § 26 AO (§ 180(1) sentence 2 AO).
  • Filing only one return. The determination does not replace the income tax return; the profit determined feeds into it.
  • Budgeting 0.25 per cent for the late-filing penalty. For determination returns § 152(7) AO applies at 0.0625 per cent.
  • Filing on paper without the hardship application (§ 181(2a) AO).
  • Mistaking the determination notice for a tax assessment. It determines tax bases (§ 179(1) AO).

Frequently asked questions

Why must I, a sole trader, have anything determined separately?

Because two tax offices are competent. In cases other than those involving several participants, income from farming and forestry, a trade or a profession is determined separately where, on the circumstances at the end of the profit computation period, the office competent for the separate determination is not also competent for taxes on income (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO).

Who has to file the return?

In cases under § 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO, the entrepreneur (§ 181(2) sentence 2 no. 2 AO).

Which point in time decides competence?

The circumstances at the end of the profit computation period (§ 180(1) sentence 1 no. 2(b) AO).

And if I move or relocate the business afterwards?

Where the circumstances governing local competence have changed after the end of the profit computation period, local competence for determination periods preceding that change also follows § 18(1) nos. 1 to 3 together with § 26 AO (§ 180(1) sentence 2 AO).

Does the determination replace my income tax return?

No. The determination notice determines tax bases separately (§ 179(1) AO); the profit determined then feeds into the income tax return.

How large is the late-filing penalty?

For returns concerning income subject to income tax or corporation tax that is to be determined separately, it is 0.0625 per cent of the positive total of the income determined for each part month of delay, but at least 25 euros per part month (§ 152(7) AO).

Go further

Compute the related amounts

Understand this form: the related course

Related forms

Official sources

Read in German

Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.