Reclaiming income tax on leaving Germany mid-year

I have been working in Germany for 8 Months now, 4 months in Munich and 4 in Duesseldorf but I'll be returning to England at the end of February and have heard it might be possible to claim my tax back... would be nice.

I have read the other related forum topics but they are rather complicated and I would be really grateful if someone could tell me a. if it is possible to claim tax back (by this I mean Lohnsteuer - NOT Rentenversicherung) and b. if yes, how?

Any advice much appreciated, thanks.

Germany's tax year is the same as the calendar year so you will have to make 2 claims as you have worked in two years.

You should get back the proportion of tax that you needen't have paid as you weren't reseidnt for a whol year.
So if you worked four months in one year, you should get back 8/12 of what you paid.

Just get the forms, fill em in and you will get the money in about six weeks.

Yep, you can't claim back all your income tax paid in Germany.

Only the excess in tax that was paid because it had been assumed that you'd work for a full tax year.

See also the related topic: Claiming back taxes on leaving Germany mid-year

Great, thanks for all the info!


where do I get the forms from, anywhere online? Sorry I'm a bit clueless about these things!!

Your local Finanzamt has them.I use an accountant for this though.You could look for a Steurverein and ask them if they would give you the forms only a suggestion

Don't entirely agree. The OP will only work 2 months in 2008. If his gross earnings for those 2 months are less than his income allowance for the full year (at least €7664 if single, double if married) he'll get all the tax he has paid back, as was once written by a sage in your quoted topic. In other words, if his gross monthly pay is less than €3823 and he's single, then he'll get all the tax back.

I moved back to the US in August 2007. I just completed my taxes and was able to reclaim some based on the fact that I didn't stay the whole year. To make it easy on myself, I used a lady tax accountant connected to the HILO Lohnsteuerhilfe. They are great for me as it takes the pain out of figuring everything out by myself. Taxes done... now just wait for the nice refund.

Thrine thats the same one that i use Hilo rocks in my eyes

Hi there,

Please forgive me if this question has been answered exhaustively, but I did a search and didn't find what I was looking for. I have been a tax resident of Germany since last August, being a wage slave paying full tax on my earnings. Since I was taxed as though I was in Germany for the whole of last year, I think (hope) this will entitle me to a tax refund for 2007. However, when I was talking about it to someone at my company, they said it might depend on how much I had earned and been taxed on in Australia during the rest of the year.

First off, this sounded ludicrous to me. What I earned elsewhere should be none of the German government's business, as long as the two incomes weren't concurrent. But then I thought, maybe the guy was right. The Germans sure do like their rules and complications - and their tax.

Is this true? I ran my own business in Australia and so my tax was complicated. I certainly have no desire to discuss my pre-Germany finances with the German tax authorities, since I can't see that it's any of their business.

So is it worth putting in for a tax return? Or would that open up some hideous can of worms where I will have to send off to my accountant in Australia for reams of documents?

Any help or advice will be gratefully received,

Milton

Topics merged by admin

You need to send off a tax return (Steuererklärung).
You need (by the sound of it) a Steuerberater to advise you.
German tax law is complex and understood fully by few lay folk.
The good news is that that are often allowances due
which are not dreamed of in other tax jurisdictions and tax refunds
are not at all unusual.

i was told you could only get your tax back if you weren't planning on living in germany again?! I'm leaving in August too (for a year) and it would certainly be nice to get some money back!

You can't get it back if you are planning (or you tell them you are) to return during the same calendar year

A word of warning. I lived in germany between 2003 and 2007 and have been chased by the tax office to do a final tax return. They want to know your final salary so they can calculate your tax rate (which isa sliding scale depending upon earnings). If you leave at the end of the year, I dont think it is a problem but leaving mid year like I did (March 2007) can be problematic. My situation is ongoing so I cant comment on the final result.

Due to the fact that the german tax is a "tax for a year", the revenue will determine the tax rate with your worldwide income within one tax year. The german tax system is different to the UK system. In Germany they have no fixed tax rates but a progressive tax rate. This means that the tax rate will increase with the height of your salary. For an example:

Salary p.a. 60.000 Euro = Tax rate: 27,17%
Salary p.a. 75.000 Euro = Tax rate: 30,53 %
Salary p.a. 90.000 Euro = Tax rate: 32,83 %

The understanding is now that if you would have earned your complete salary for 2007 in Germany your tax rate would be higher than the tax rate with which your salary in the first 3 months was calculated. It's not easy to understand but this is the german tax law. I would recommend that you ask your tax advisor for a more detailed information about this "Progressionsvorbehalt", I guess he can explain this better than I.

I am trying to find out more about this as my net pay was the same each month so I think the payroll system must incorporate the expected annual salary so that your tax does not fluctuate month to month as your earnings over the year increase.

Has anyone any ideas on how to deal with this as it sounds like double taxation by another name? I am going to argue that I paid tax in the UK from 1/4/07 so why should I effectively pay tax on the same income twice. Currently on this basis, I am facing a rather nasty tax bill.

Thanks

OB

Well I moved back to the UK, got advice, filled out my Steuererklarung and got it sent off well before the deadline at the end of May but have not heard anything back as yet. I have no idea if I will get back any, or how much, or when! I contacted the Finanzamt this week to chase it up/ see if there has been any sort of problem - and will keep posted as I am sure there are many other students leaving Germany after finishing work experience with similar questions to the ones I had!

I had all but given up but it was worth the wait. Finally this week I recieved the news that I had been refunded all lohnsteuer and solidaritaetzuschlag that I paid in 2007. It was a long process and I was fortunate enough to know someone who could help me fill out the forms without having to pay for a tax advisor, which I would otherwise recommend. I would definately say it is worth applying as I now have €1200 in my pocket which I thought I'd never see again. Good luck!!