?I paid pension contributions (Rentenversicherung) in Germany – can I get that money back?
If you're a resident of a non-EU country (excluding Turkey, Israel and the former Yugoslavian states) and have worked in Germany, you may have paid into a pension fund and we can get those pension contributions back for you. Our average German pension insurance refund is €5,410! Pension Insurance Contributions (Rentenversicherung) are usually about 9.75% of your salary so it's worth checking out if we can get that back for you.
To get a refund, you must be a non-EU citizen (excluding Turkey, Israel and the former Yugoslavian states) and you must be currently living in non-EU country. The other requirements are that you paid pension insurance for less than five years in Germany and you've been out of the country for more than two years. We can apply for unclaimed pension refunds as far back as 1994 and to do it we'll need your payslips for all the years you worked in Germany or all your Yearly statements from Germany (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung). Download the German Pension Refund Pack today or register online.
?When can I get my pension refund?
If you worked in Germany after 1994 and have been out of the country for more than two years, we can claim your refund straight away so apply for your German Pension Refund today or download the German Pension Refund Pack now.
If it’s less than two years since you left Germany, you need to wait until two years have passed before you apply.
?How much money will I get back?
Taxback.com will get you back all the pension insurance contributions you paid into your German pension fund. The average pension refund we get for our German clients is €5,410.
?How long will it take to receive my German pension refund?
As soon as we receive your pension refund, you'll have it. We’ll contact you immediately when we receive your refund to organise the easiest way to get it to you.
Once we get your documents, it takes us just a couple of days to prepare your German Pension Application.
On average it takes around 6 months since the application is sent to get your Pension refund from Germany. But ultimately it depends on how busy the German Authorities are.
?How does taxback.com work?
Register online to get a FREE estimation. Download the TaxPack for German Pension refund.
Send us your documents and filled in registration form. We'll estimate your refund and give you an online tracking account (Tax Tracker®). If you're missing any payment documents we can get replacements for you.
If you like the estimation and want to proceed we will advise you how to pay the upfront fee and what documents you need to sign and certify.
?How do I know what's happening with my pension refund?
You can watch the step-by-step progress of your application on your online Tax Tracker® account. We'll set you up with this when you register.
Rather talk to a person? We have our own taxback.com staff available to talk to you in 27 taxback.com offices in 20 different countries. Click here to find your local office number or use our Live Chat.
?What are the advantages of using taxback.com?
Thousands of people choose our service because:
?How much will it cost?
For pension refunds from Germany, we charge 16.5% + handling fee of the refund received, subject to a minimum fee of €120. Minimum fee should be paid upfront.
?Oops - I lost my documents / Help - I never got my documents – what do I do?
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 dedicated document retrieval team who deals with employers all over the world and can organise replacement documents for you.
If you're missing payment documents, just contact us at germany@taxback.com and we'll sort it out for you.
?Can you guarantee that I'll receive the refund amount you estimated for me?
No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.
Naturally, the German authorities have the final decision in your pension refund based on their systems and tax codes, but our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of returns every week since 1996.
?I am UK resident, can I claim pension refund from Germany?
No.
To date, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU has not entitled UK citizens to claim pension refunds from Germany.
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