Tax Refund for Sailors on German Registered Ships

We can apply for your German tax refund once the German tax year ends.
If you’re applying for a refund from the last five years you can apply for your refud now; fill out a Tax Pack to get started.

The tax year in Germany is from January 1st to December 31st.

We will claim back as much overpaid tax for you as we legally can. This amount will depend on multiple factors, including but not limited to:

• Your earnings
• The earnings of your spouse
• Your foreign income
• The actual number of days you were sailing under German flag

The average refund we get for our German sailors is €2750 so use our FREE online tax refund calculator now to see how much cash you could get back.

It normally takes about 2 to 4 months to get your German tax refund.

Once we receive your documents our certified public accountant checks them to make sure they’re compliant with German tax law. After that they’re sent to the German tax office. This takes a week.
It then takes the tax office between 7 and 15 weeks to process your application once they receive your application. Once it’s processed they’ll release your refund to us.
We will then contact you to arrange the best way to send you your refund.

1. Register online by using our FREE refund calculator or filling out your German tax pack.
2. Send us your documents and signed forms so we can give you your own personal online Tax Tracker account and start processing your refund.
3. Relax while we do all the work and get you the maximum tax refund possible.

The best way to see what’s happening with your application is by emailing your account manager directly or checking your online Tax Tracker account.

There are numerous advantages to using Taxback.com, some of which are:

• You get the maximum legal refund
• You get FREE online refund estimations
• You get your own Personal Online Tracking Account where you can follow the process of your tax return
• You can be sure your tax return is compliant with German tax law
• If you’ve lost your documents, we can find them for you
• You get 24-hour customer support and tax refund help
• Free phone, free fax, free post, free online tax help with our live chat!
• You can talk to us in any language
• Your refund can be sent anywhere in the world in any currency

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

Our tax calculator however will always be available to you as a free, no obligation tool for estimating your tax refund.

You will need:

1. Your Lohnsteuerkarte or Lohnsteuerbescheinigungs.
2. Your Steuernummer.

This is the official government form that you receive from each of your employers at the end of the tax year which outlines your earnings and the amount of tax you paid that year.

A Steuernummer is a tax number issued by your local tax office in Germany. If this is your first tax refund application ever in Germany you will have a Steueridentificationsnummer. These numbers last for a life time and don’t change no matter how many times you move or leave Germany.
Having these numbers can speed up your tax refund application so make sure you let us know about them. The number will be on your documents from the tax office.

Try not to panic; just email germany@taxback.com to let us know and for a small fee we can find them for you.

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 and the German Tax authorities require this information to assess the most proper tax rate.

Technically you could, but it’s not always as easy as it looks. It’s no fun spending time sitting at a computer screen searching for forms, decoding complicated tax law and ringing up tax help lines to get answers. That’s what’s great about using taxback.com; you don’t have to do this. Let us speed through all the paperwork to file your tax return quickly and easily so all you have to worry about is what you’re going to spend your tax refund on!

A tax return is document declaring your liability for taxation while a tax refund is the money you get back if you’ve made an overpayment for a particular tax. We file your tax return in order to apply for your tax refund.

Our estimation is based on years of tax calculations, so it’s a pretty close estimate of what you’ll get back, but no, it’s not guaranteed. However, we will make sure to get you back the maximum legal tax refund possible by thoroughly analysing your case and applying all the deductions and benefits you’re entitled to.

Yes, we have to include in your tax return the amount you have earned in any different jurisdictions. However, you are not eligible to claim the additional food and beverage allowance for the days on board a ship under a foreign flag but you might still get a significant refund amount.