?When can I get my tax back?
If you are currently working in Germany then you can get your refund at the end of the tax year.
If you want to apply for a refund from the last five years, you can apply now. Download your tax pack to get started.
?When does the German tax year start and end?
The German tax year runs from January 1st to December 31st.
?What is the May 31st deadline?
This is the deadline you must file your self assessed income tax return by. If you don’t have your return filed by this date you could incur penalties and late fees.
?What should I do if I didn’t file my return before the May 31st deadline?
The best thing to do is to use a tax advisor such as taxback.com as this will extend your filing deadline to December 31st of the following year. Doing this means you won’t be charged penalties and late fees.
?How does Taxback.com work?
1. Register online and fill out your German tax pack.
2. Send us your documents and signed forms – we then issue your online Tax Tracker account.
3. Spend time doing the things you love while we do all the work and get you the maximum tax refund possible.
?How do I know what's happening with my tax return?
Just check your online Tax Tracker account, or alternatively email your account manager.
?What are the advantages of using Taxback.com?
Thousands of people choose our service because:
?How much will it cost?
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. Check it out.
?Why the minimum fee?
Our fee allows us to offer you all the valuable taxback.com services you enjoy using, such as:
?What's the difference between filing my tax return and getting my tax refund?
A tax return is document outlining your taxation liability while a tax refund is the money returned to you if you’ve made an overpayment for a certain tax. We file your tax return in order to apply for your tax refund.
?What payment documents do I need to apply for my tax refund?
To claim your German tax refund we'll need your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung and a statement or proof of payment outlining how much you earned in each place you worked as self employed.
?What is a Lohnsteuerbescheinigung?
This is the official government form that you receive from your employer at the end of the tax year which outlines your earnings and the amount of tax you paid in that year.
?What if I’ve lost my documents or never got them?
If you've mislaid your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung, or you never got it, our document retrieval service can locate replacements for you.
?How much money will I get back?
That depends on the individual circumstances of your case but we assure you we will get you the maximum legal tax refund possible. Our customers get back €1950 on average.
?Can I get back work-related expenses?
Yes, if you are self employed you can claim back work related expenses. Your expenses are a vital part of your tax return and claiming them back could significantly reduce your tax liability. Forgetting to claim them could mean sacrificing hundreds or even thousands of Euro in your tax refund.
?What kind of work related expenses can I claim back?
The type and number of expenses you can claim back will depend on your job. Some expenses which you could claim back include:
?I have worked only couple of weeks as self-employed - do I have to declare this income and file a tax return?
Yes, the institution where you have worked on a project, done research or lectured is obligated to provide your self-employment income details to the tax office, so its better for you to file a tax return and claim all expenses that will help reduce your overall tax liability for the year.
?Can you guarantee that I'll receive the refund amount you estimated for me?
Our estimation is based on years of tax calculations, so it’s a pretty close estimate of what you’ll get back, but unfortunately it’s not guaranteed. However, we will make sure to get you back the biggest tax refund legally possible by completely analysing your case and applying all tax deductions and benefits you’re entitled to.
?How long will it take to receive my German tax refund?
On average it takes about 2 to 4 months to get your German tax refund.
?What happens during this time?
We receive your documents and our certified public accountant checks them to ensure they’re tax complaint. Then we send them to the German tax office. This takes a week.
Once the tax office has your application, it takes them 7 to 15 weeks to process your application and send your tax refund on to us.
Once we have your refund, we’ll contact you to set up the easiest way to send it to you.
?It seems like my refund is taking a long time – where’s my refund?
This is usually due to delays in the tax office. Unfortunately there’s not much we can do about that other than ring up the tax office every day to make sure they hurry up with your refund, and we will do this!
?Can I get my tax back myself?
You could; every tax office is set up to receive independent applications, but it’s a bit of a hassle if you’re not familiar with German tax law and tax codes. It will involve a lot of hours sitting at a computer screen searching for forms, decoding confusing tax law and calling tax help-lines to get answers.
If that sounds like too much stress to you, then why not save yourself the hassle and let our tax experts here at taxback.com speed through all the paperwork to file your return quickly and easily.
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