Tax return in Germany: who has to file and how to do it

2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026

Your employer deducts income tax from every salary. That deduction is an estimate. The tax return, in German Steuererklärung, settles the real amount, and for many employees the result is a refund, because costs for work, moving and insurance were not counted.

Rules, amounts and deadlines change. Check the official source named at the end before you act, and ask the office in your city, because procedures differ from town to town.

Step by step

1. Find out whether you must file

   Self-employed people always file. Employees must file in certain cases, for example: married couples with the tax class combination III and V, people who had more than one employer at the same time, people who received wage replacement such as parental allowance or sickness benefit, and people with more than 410 euros of other income such as rent.

   Done

2. Otherwise, consider filing voluntarily

   If none of that applies, filing is optional, and you have four years to do it. It is worth it if you started work in the middle of the year, moved for the job, commute a long way or paid for training.

   Done

3. Know the deadline

   If you have to file, the return for one year is due by 31 July of the next year. With a tax adviser or a wage tax help association the deadline is later, at the end of February of the year after that.

   Done

4. Collect your papers

   You need the yearly wage tax statement from your employer (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung), your tax ID, your bank details, and receipts for what you want to claim. You do not send the receipts, but you must keep them in case the tax office asks.

   Done

5. Choose how to file

   ELSTER, the tax offices' own portal, is free but in German and needs a registration that takes some days. Commercial tax software and apps guide you with questions, some in English. A wage tax help association (Lohnsteuerhilfeverein) does the return for employees for a yearly fee based on income. A tax adviser costs more and is mainly for complicated cases.

   Done

6. Claim what applies to you

   Typical items are the commute to work, work equipment and training costs, moving costs for a job, donations, and two thirds of childcare costs. For some items there are flat amounts that need no receipts.

   Done

7. Check the tax assessment

   After some weeks the tax office sends the assessment (Steuerbescheid) with the refund or the amount to pay. Compare it with what you entered. An objection has to be made in writing within one month.

   Done

Good to know

In 2026 no income tax is due on the first 12,348 euros of yearly income, the basic allowance.

Filing late when you were obliged to file leads to a surcharge of at least 25 euros per month of delay.

If you worked in Germany for only part of the year, a return usually pays off, because the monthly deduction assumed a full year of salary.

You need your tax ID for all of this: how to get your German tax ID.

In short: Employees usually may file but need not. Deadline 31 July if obliged, four years if voluntary. ELSTER, software or a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein. Check the Steuerbescheid within a month.