?When can I get my tax back?
We can apply for your German tax refund as soon as the tax year ends.
If you are applying for a refund from the last five years we can apply for your refund now.
?How long is the German tax year?
The tax year in Germany is from January 1st to December 31st.
?How much money will I get back?
The amount of money you get back will depend on your individual circumstances but we guarantee to get you back the maximum legal tax refund possible. On average our customers get back €1950.
?What's the difference between filing my tax return and getting my tax refund?
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.
?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, have our certified public accountant check them to make sure they comply with German tax law. We then we send them to the German tax office. This takes a week.
Once the tax office have your application, it takes them between 7 and 15 weeks to process your application and release your tax refund to us.
As soon as we have your refund, we will contact you to arrange the best way to send it to you.
?It seems like my refund is taking a long time – where’s my refund?
Sometimes the tax office will demand that you send additional documents, or there may be a backlog of applications at the office. If you are missing documents we will let you know immediately so we can speed up the process. Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do about delays at the tax office. The only thing we can do is ring them regularly to get them to hurry up – and we will do this, so don’t worry!
?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 give you your own online Tax Tracker account.
3. Sit back and relax 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?
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.
?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 documents do you need to apply for my tax refund?
We will need your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung and your Steuernummer or Steueridentificationsnummer along with your tax pack.
?What is a Lohnsteuerbescheinigung?
This is the official government form that you receive from each of your employers at the end of the tax year. It outlines your earnings and the amount of tax you paid in that year.
?What is a Steuernummer/Steueridentificationsnummer?
If you've applied for a tax rebate in Germany before, you'll have a Steuernummer, it's a tax number 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; it lasts for a life time and doesn’t change no matter how many times you move or leave Germany.
If you have any of these numbers it can speed up your tax refund application so make sure you tell us about it. You'll find it on your documents from the tax office.
?What if I lost my documents, or never received them in the first place?
Don’t worry about it; email germany@taxback.com to let us know and for a small fee we’ll find your documents for you.
?I paid pension contributions (Rentenversicherung) in Germany – can I get that money back?
To get a refund, you must be a non-EU citizen who has worked in Germany. If you are you will probably have paid into a pension fund at a rate of 9.75% of your salary. Our average German pension insurance refund is €5,410 so it’s worth checking if we can claim this back for you.
?What are the requirements for claiming my pension refund?
To get a refund, you must be a non-EU citizen. We can apply for pension refunds from the past fifteen years, but we’ll need your payslips for every year.
Other requirements are
1. That you paid pension insurance for less than five years.
2. You've been out of the country for more than two years.
?I was still paying rent in my home country while I was paying rent in Germany – can that affect my refund?
Yes, it will probably increase the refund you receive. Just let us know how much rent you paid in Germany and send us your rental contracts from both countries and we will use this information to increase your refund as much as we can.
?What’s a rental contract?
A rental contract is the agreement between you and your landlord.
?I earned money outside of Germany during the year – do I need to declare it?
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 most proper tax rate.
?I was the only earner / tax payer in the family so why should my spouse sign the tax forms too?
Even if you were the only tax payer in the family, there is higher tax-free allowance and lower taxes for married people, so its worth asking your spouse to sign the forms so you can file a joint tax return.
?Can I get my tax back myself?
Technically you could, but it’s not always as simple as it looks. If you’re willing to sacrifice hours of your time sitting at a computer screen searching for forms, decoding complicated tax law and ringing up tax help lines to get answers, then go ahead.
If that’s not something you want to do, then do yourself a favour and save yourself a headache by letting our tax experts here at taxback.com speed through all the paperwork to file your return quickly and easily.
?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 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.
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