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You declare your income in Germany

Filing your income tax return

Understand what you can deduct — commuting, home office, pension and insurance contributions, children, extraordinary burdens —, compute the flat rates, the child allowance, the splitting benefit, the tax and the solidarity surcharge, and file the return on time: 12 steps.

Start here: Claiming German travel costs and a home workspace

Understand: work expenses, special expenses, family, extraordinary burdens

  1. Step 1 of 12
    CoursePaid individually40 min

    Claiming German travel costs and a home workspace

    Everything turns on the first place of work: it decides whether the one-way distance counts at 0.38 € per full kilometre or the distance driven counts as travel costs. Plus the ceiling of 4,500 € that car drivers never meet, and the lump sum of 1,230 € that is a threshold rather than a bonus. The second module covers work away from base: meal allowances of 28 € and 14 €, reductions of 20 and 40 percent always taken from the full daily rate, the second household, and the choice between the annual and the daily allowance. Two modules with case studies worked on the statute itself.
  2. Step 2 of 12
    CoursePaid individually45 min

    Deducting insurance and pension costs in German income tax

    Statutory pension, professional pension fund and Basisrente contributions count up to 30,826 € in 2026: the maximum contribution to the miners' pension insurance, deductible at 100 percent since 2023. The employer share is added and then taken back out, and civil servants get a reduced frame. The second module covers basic health and care contributions with their 4 percent deduction, the 1,900 and 2,800 € limits, and why liability and accident insurance usually count for nothing.
  3. Step 3 of 12
    CoursePaid individually43 min

    Children and family in German income tax

    Child benefit of 259 € a month or allowances of 3,414 € and 1,464 € per parent: the tax office tests on its own which is better, and adds the child benefit back when it does. Plus the age limits of 18, 21 and 25. The second module covers the single-parent relief of 4,260 €, the training allowance of 1,200 €, maintenance up to the basic allowance, 30 percent of school fees and 80 percent of childcare costs. Two modules, each with a fully worked case study.
  4. Step 4 of 12
    CoursePaid individually41 min

    Extraordinary burdens in German income tax

    Medical costs, care, lawsuits: section 33 EStG allows unavoidable private expenses to be deducted, but only above the reasonable burden of 1 to 7 percent of total income, with brackets at 15,340 € and 51,130 €. The first module covers the conditions, the exclusions and the table; the second the evidence under section 64 EStDV, the priority of sections 33a and 33b and the narrow exception for litigation costs. Two modules, each with a fully worked case study.

Compute: commuting and home-office flat rates, child allowance, splitting, tariff, solidarity surcharge

  1. Step 5 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    German commuting allowance — rate per kilometre and annual cap

    The commuting allowance is EUR 0.38 per full kilometre of the ONE-WAY distance and per working day. The EUR 4,500 cap does not apply where you use your own car or one made available to you.
  2. Step 6 of 12
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    German home office and study deduction (EStG s. 4(5))

    The two rules exclude each other. The daily allowance is exhausted at 210 home office days — anyone working from home all year loses every day beyond that.
  3. Step 7 of 12
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    Child allowance or child benefit — which is better for you?

    You cannot have both: the tax office deducts the allowances and adds the full child benefit entitlement back to the tax — that add-back is what decides which route wins.
  4. Step 8 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    German income splitting — what does joint assessment save?

    Under splitting, spouses pay twice the tax due on half their combined income. The saving comes only from the gap between their incomes: it is nil when both earn the same and largest for a single-earner couple.
  5. Step 9 of 12
    CalculatorFree result

    German income tax — calculate the statutory tariff

    German income tax is a formula, not a table: nothing is due up to EUR 12,348, then two progressive zones apply, followed by two linear zones at 42 % and 45 % marginal rates.
  6. Step 10 of 12
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    German solidarity surcharge — exemption limit and taper zone

    The solidarity surcharge is charged on income tax, not on income: it is 5.5 %, falls away entirely up to the exemption limit, and within the taper zone is capped at 11.9 % of the amount above that limit.

File: deadline extension and income tax return

  1. Step 11 of 12
    FormFree15 min

    Applying to extend a German tax return deadline

    Seven months without an adviser, the end of February of the second following year with one — and an extension can also be granted RETROSPECTIVELY. Why it switches off the mandatory late-filing penalty, and where the tax office's discretion ends. Guide, deadlines and worked example.
  2. Step 12 of 12
    FormFree75 min

    German income tax return (ESt 1 A)

    The calendar year is what gets assessed: why the self-employed and traders MUST file electronically, when spouses file one joint return, and from when the objection period runs. Guide, deadlines and worked example.

The other paths

A different procedure, the same principle: the three pillars in order.

Read in German