German equivalents of a UK ISA

Is there a tax efficient way of saving in Germany that is comparable to an ISA?

I would prefer to open an ISA in the UK but since I am no longer a resident I am refused.

Vermögenswirskamerleistung (VWL) through your employer.
"Riester Rente" avoid like the plague.

This may get merged with the recent thread from some North Americans asking a similar question (401(k) equivalents) and if i recall, the general answer was no, no really.

Did you keep your UK bank account going? If so, you can open an ISA with them. Keeping my UK bank account was one of the best things I did when moving (permanently) to Germany. I get good interest on my e savings account, without having to pay savings tax (I'm classed as not ordinarily resident for tax purposes).

cruiser

It's best to keep all your savings in the UK as the rates are higher. Tax-free on 3% interest (Germany) is still less than paying 20% tax on 5.3% interest (UK, Nationwide e-Savings). If you haven't deregistered as a UK resident with the Inland Revenue and have a UK address that you can provide (your parent's address, for example), then you should be able to open an ISA (and do so soon because the tax year ends on April 5th). Technically, as non-residents, we're not entitled to an ISA, but I still invest in mine.

@cruiser: do you declare your interest payments to the Finanzamt? You're technically supposed to but I'm wondering if one can get away with not doing so.

ISAs are ONLY available if you live in the UK.
HSBC communicates with me through my parents address but they know I am non resident so they would not sell me an ISA.

Mmmm, is it worth putting savings in the UK for better interest?

The interest is a little better (say 2% better), although I see no reason why you cannot get an offshore savings account in Sterling. At the end of the day you have to pay German tax on your income anyway - they are not interested (excuse pun) in savings you might make with an ISA. So for the German tax authorities a UK ISA is the same as an offshore savings account...if tax is due in Germany then you pay tax in Germany. Germany taxes you on your worldwide income.

To compare offshore savings rates go here:

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/

As they are OFFSHORE accounts I do not envisage a problem that you are in Germany!!

**** HOWEVER *****

The big issue is that you are taking a foreign exchange risk. If we assume you are later gonna want your money in €uros then if things go against you (the pound gets weaker against the €uro) then this could easily wipe out the extra 2% interest you are earning. However the foreign exchange could actually go in your favour, and personally I like to have some money in €uros and some in Sterling for this reason.

@Monkstown
If you convert your euros to pounds to get a better interest rate in the UK, then you run the risk of losing the profit and more if the currency rate changes. If it was that easy, you could go get $1 mil worth of Yen from a bank in Japan for about 1% interest per year, and convert it to Rupee's on which you could get 10% per year and you'd make a fortune! Of course, its not that easy.

carry trading

Turkish Lira - 17.5% Interest - go for it!!

RBS International has Offshore account that I think you can apply for online:
RBS International

When the interest rate for a particular currency is much higher than those usually given for EUR/GBP/USD accounts, there's usually a very, VERY good reason.

RBS is pretty good. Apparently.