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  • Comprehensive German tax filing service
  • Claim every tax entitlement you’re due
  • Simple online process with no complicated forms
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Have you worked in Germany? If so, you could be due a significant tax refund! Average refund: €1,020

get tax back from germany

German income tax refunds

 

If you have worked in Germany, it’s likely you will be entitled to claim a refund on some of the tax you paid on your salary. Our team of German tax specialists will guide you through the refund application process and ensure you receive your maximum German tax refund.

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Who can claim a German tax refund?

At Taxback, we have been helping international workers to claim German tax refunds since 1996.

You may be due a refund if…

  • Your annual income was under the tax-free allowance
  • You worked part-time or had a temporary job in Germany
  • You were not correctly classified for tax payments
  • You financially supported your parents or other dependants in your home country
  • You paid rent in both Germany and your home country
  • You paid for flights to and from Germany
  • You incurred work-related expenses such as travel costs

German income tax refund FAQs

You can apply for a tax refund after the end of the relevant tax year and reclaim your refund from the previous 4 tax years.

As soon as we have it, you’ll have it! We will contact you immediately when we receive your refund from the tax office to organise the easiest way to get it to you.
On average it takes 3-4 months to get your tax refund from Germany but ultimately it depends on how busy the tax office is.

Thousands of people choose our service because:
• We get you the maximum legal refund
• Free online refund estimations
• All our German tax returns are legal and compliant with German tax law
• Document retrieval service
• 24-hour customer support and tax refund help
• Multi-lingual support service
• Money sent worldwide and in your local currency

Our fee covers all the things that make filing your German tax return with us so easy such as:
• Customer support 24/7 by phone and Live Chat
• Online tracking service in different languages
• Free phone and free fax
• Local staff to meet you and guide you through the process
• Researchers to identify new legal developments to maximise your refunds

To claim your German tax refund we’ll need your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung. This is the official government form that you receive from your employer at the end of the tax year. It outlines your earnings and the amount of tax you paid in that year. If you’ve misplaced your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung, or you never received it, our document retrieval service can sort out replacements for you.

Yes! If you paid rent in Germany and in your home country at the same time, this can increase the tax refund we get for you. To get more money back for you, we need to know how much rent you paid in Germany. We also need your rental contracts from both countries. A rental contract is the agreement between you and your landlord.

Yes you can file your return yourself. However, many workers find the prospect of filing a German tax return to be confusing and complex. At Taxback, our team of German tax experts simplifies the prospect of claiming your tax back. When you file with Taxback, you can enjoy peace of mind that your return has been filed correctly and that you have received your maximum German tax refund.

No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.
Our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of tax returns every week since 1996. Naturally, the German tax authority has the final decision in your tax refund based on their systems and tax codes.
When our tax technicians prepare and file your returns, they check for any allowances or benefits you could get and ensure we apply for the maximum rebate possible.

Taxback will get you back as much overpaid German tax as is legally possible. The amount of your tax refund depends on factors like:
• Your marital status
• How much you earned
• If you incurred any expenses
• How long you worked for
The average tax refund we get for our German tax clients is €1,020!

Our team will be in touch via phone or email when there is an update on your application.

First of all, you can get a free estimate of your tax refund entitlement in just a few minutes. We’ll email your refund estimation straight to your personal email with no obligation to use our service. When you send us your documents and signed forms, we’ll evaluate your refund and what additional services you need (such as document retrieval). We’ll then let you know how much it will cost to file your return for you.

For tax refunds from Germany, we charge 16.5% + handling fee of the refund received, subject to a minimum fee of €50 + handling fee.

When submitting a tax return, it’s possible to take advantage of many different types of tax deduction in order to boost your refund due. With this in mind, it’s important to note that tax consulting fees (such as the fee paid by Taxback customers) are eligible to be deducted on your German tax return.

We know it’s easy to lose documents in the move back home or to not even receive them in the first place. That’s why we have a document retrieval service to organise replacements for you. If you’re missing documents, just contact us at germany@taxback.com and we’ll sort it out for you. Please note that there is a cost for this service.

If you’ve applied for a tax rebate in Germany before, you’ll have a Steuernummer. It is issued by your local tax office in Germany. Even if this is your first tax refund application ever in Germany you will have a Steueridentificationsnummer (a tax identification number). This number lasts a lifetime and doesn’t change no matter how many times you move or leave Germany.
If you have one of these numbers, it can speed up your tax refund application so make sure you tell us. You’ll find the number on any documents you’ve received from the tax office.

Yes. You need to tell us about all your earnings for the entire year – including earnings outside of Germany. This doesn’t mean that your foreign income will be taxed in Germany, the German tax authorities require this information to assess the correct tax rate for you.

We file your German tax return in order to organise your tax refund.
A tax return is the annual submission of tax forms documenting your earnings, taxes paid, deductible expenses and allowances that you send to the tax office for review. They review it according to the information submitted by your employer and the current laws that apply to your case.
If you get a tax refund, this means the tax office review found you had overpaid tax in Germany and were due some back. Our estimate of your tax refund is based on our prediction of what the tax office will decide when they review your tax return – providing they have the same information as us.

Tax refunds for married couples in Germany

If you are married, you may be entitled to avail of a lower tax rate in Germany. In fact, there is a higher tax-free allowance for married or jointly-assessed couples. The Taxback team will check your individual circumstances and see if you can apply for your German tax refund jointly with your spouse. The amount you will get back will depend on a variety of factors such as how long you’ve been working and the type of job you do.

Check your tax refund

Useful German Tax Facts

  • The German tax year runs from 1 January – 31 December
  • To claim your German tax refund we’ll need your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung. This is the official government form that you receive from your employer at the end of the tax year.
  • The average refund we get for our German tax clients is €1,020
  • If you’ve applied for a tax rebate in Germany before, you’ll have a Steuernummer, it’s issued by your local Tax office in Germany.
  • If you paid rent in Germany, you could be due a higher tax refund

The average German Taxback refund is €1,020

Get your tax refund