The German tax return — who must file, the deadlines, what you can deduct

A German tax return is not a punishment. In most cases it is a refund. But silence is not free: anyone who was obliged to file and did not pay a late-filing surcharge of at least 25 euros for every month of delay.

So this page starts with the urgent part: the deadline for the 2025 tax year expired on 31 July 2026. If you were obliged to file and have not, read the last section first.

The deadlines

• Tax year 2025, filed yourself: expired 31 July 2026
• Tax year 2025, through a tax adviser or a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein: 1 March 2027
• Tax year 2026, filed yourself: 31 July 2027 — which is a Saturday, so the deadline moves to the next working day
• Tax year 2026, through an adviser: 29 February 2028

One thing to note: the pandemic-era extensions have fully expired. The last of them applied to tax year 2024 filed through an adviser, until 30 April 2026. Tax year 2025 is back to the ordinary rule.

If you are not obliged and are filing voluntarily to reclaim overpaid tax, you have far longer: four years. The years open to you today are 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 — and 2022 closes on 31 December 2026.

Who has to file?

An employee generally does not have to, except in a short list of cases:

• side income with no wage tax withheld, totalling more than 410 euros
• wage-replacement benefits subject to the progression proviso above 410 euros — including Elterngeld, Krankengeld, Arbeitslosengeld I, Kurzarbeitergeld and Mutterschaftsgeld
• both spouses work and one is taxed under class V, or under class IV with a Faktor
• you had more than one employer at the same time and one withheld under class VI
• a Freibetrag was entered on your tax record and your annual pay exceeded 13,362 euros — 25,494 for a jointly assessed couple (2025 figures)
• your wage statement carries the capital letter S
• a severance payment or pay for several years was taxed at the reduced rate in your payroll

Here is the most common surprise: anyone who drew Elterngeld for a year becomes obliged to file — even if every other euro came from a salary.

The figures: 2025 and 2026

What changed in 2026:

• Grundfreibetrag, the tax-free allowance: 12,096 euros in 2025 → 12,348 in 2026
• Kindergeld: 255 euros a month → 259
• Kinderfreibetrag per parent: 3,336 → 3,414, so the total per child rises from 9,600 to 9,756
• Entfernungspauschale, the commuting allowance: it was 0.30 euros per kilometre up to km 20 and 0.38 beyond; from 2026 it is 0.38 euros from the first kilometre. For anyone who drives to work daily this is the change that matters most
• Übungsleiterpauschale: 3,000 → 3,300 · Ehrenamtspauschale: 840 → 960
• entirely new in 2026: the Aktivrente — up to 2,000 euros a month tax-free for people who keep working past retirement age

What did not change, and applies to both years:

• Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag: 1,230 euros granted automatically — below that, documenting expenses buys you nothing
• Sparer-Pauschbetrag: 1,000 euros single, 2,000 for a couple
• Tagespauschale for working from home: 6 euros a day, up to 210 days and 1,260 euros a year
• Verpflegungsmehraufwand: 14 euros for an absence over eight hours, 28 euros for a full day
• Entlastungsbetrag für Alleinerziehende: 4,260 euros, plus 240 for each further child
• Ausbildungsfreibetrag: 1,200 euros for an adult child in training living away from home
• Behindertenpauschbetrag: from 384 euros at a degree of disability of 20, to 1,140 at 50, 2,840 at 100, and 7,400 for the marks Bl, H or TBl

And the item most people leave on the table — §35a, household services and tradespeople:

• household services: 20 per cent of the cost, capped at 4,000 euros a year
• Handwerkerleistungen, tradespeople: 20 per cent, capped at 1,200 euros — on labour only, never on materials
• and one hard condition: cash payment is not accepted. It has to be a bank transfer or a direct debit. An invoice paid in cash is worth nothing here

What matters specifically to an immigrant

German language courses: a general course — an integration course, or a language course with no specific occupational link — is not deductible; the tax office treats it as general education. A course with a demonstrable occupational purpose is deductible as Werbungskosten with no cap. If it forms part of a first vocational training, it falls under Sonderausgaben with a cap of 6,000 euros a year.

Supporting relatives abroad — §33a: deductible up to the same amount as the tax-free allowance — 12,096 euros for 2025, 12,348 for 2026 — per person supported. But:

• the recipient own income reduces the amount above a free margin of 624 euros a year
• the Ländergruppeneinteilung applies, cutting the amount to 75, 50 or 25 per cent depending on the recipient country. Check the BMF circular for your country group
• and the evidence requirement is strict: an Unterhaltserklärung on the official form, confirmed by the authority in the recipient country and signed by the recipient, together with proof of the bank transfer. Cash carried by a traveller does not count

A second household — Doppelte Haushaltsführung: you need a main home, furnished and suited to your needs, and you must actually contribute to its costs — a contribution below 10 per cent of the household costs does not qualify. The rent of the second home is deductible up to 1,000 euros a month, along with one family trip home per week, and meal allowances for the first three months only. Where the main home is abroad, special rules apply that the official page does not spell out — ask a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein before you rely on it.

How to file

The official channel is ELSTER, and it is free. No paid software is needed. You register with your Steuer-Identifikationsnummer.

Use Belegabruf, the pre-filled return: after a single consent, your wage statements, wage-replacement benefits, health and pension contributions and bank data are pulled in automatically — for the last four years. It removes most of the work and most of the copying errors.

If you have lost your tax ID: look on your last tax assessment or your annual wage statement. If it is not there, ask the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern to re-send it — it goes by post to your registered address only, never by telephone or email. No new number is issued; the same one is sent again.

Proposed, not yet law: the 2027 reform

Warning: what follows is a bill, not law in force. The cabinet adopted it on 2 September 2026. Neither the Bundestag nor the Bundesrat has passed it. It may change, and it may fail.

What it proposes, in two stages, 2027 and 2028:

• Grundfreibetrag: 12,564 then 12,900 euros
• Kindergeld: 267 then 272 euros a month
• Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag: 1,430 euros
• a new 47 per cent tax band starting at 280,000 euros
• and one cut against the taxpayer: the deduction for tradespeople falls from 20 to 15 per cent, and its cap from 1,200 to 900 euros

Do not plan around these figures until they appear in the federal gazette.

And if you are late?

The late-filing surcharge, Verspätungszuschlag, is 0.25 per cent of the assessed tax after deducting prepayments and withheld amounts, for each commenced month of delay, and never less than 25 euros per month.

It is discretionary if the return arrives within fourteen months of the end of the year and the delay is excusable, and mandatory after that. The tax administration own worked example: a return due 31 July 2026 filed in March 2027 → eight months → a minimum of 200 euros.

On top of that, unpaid tax carries interest of 0.15 per cent a month — 1.8 per cent a year — starting fifteen months after the end of the tax year. For 2025 that means 1 April 2027. The same rate is paid to you if you are owed a refund.

So if you were obliged to file and have not: file now. Every extra month has a price, and not filing does not end the obligation.

Questions and answers

What is the deadline for the 2025 German tax return?
31 July 2026 if you file yourself, and it has passed. Through a tax adviser the deadline is 1 March 2027.

How many years back can I file?
Four, if you are filing voluntarily. Today that means 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 — and 2022 closes on 31 December 2026.

Am I obliged to file?
If you have side income or wage-replacement benefits over 410 euros, or you are on tax class V or IV with a Faktor, or you had two employers at once — yes.

Do I have to file if I received Elterngeld?
Yes if it exceeded 410 euros, which in practice it almost always does.

What is the commuting allowance in 2026?
0.38 euros per kilometre from the first kilometre. In 2025 it was 0.30 up to km 20 and 0.38 beyond.

Can I deduct a German course?
Not a general one. A course with a clear occupational purpose is deductible as Werbungskosten, with no cap.

Can I deduct money I send to my family abroad?
Yes, up to 12,348 euros for 2026 per person, with an official confirmed support declaration and proof of a bank transfer. The amount is reduced according to the recipient country.

Is ELSTER free?
Yes, and it is the official channel. No paid software is required.

What happens if I file late?
A surcharge of at least 25 euros for every commenced month, plus interest of 0.15 per cent a month on what you owe.

The figures above are correct as at 4 September 2026, taken from the federal finance ministry, the state tax administrations and the ELSTER site. This is a general explanation and not tax advice — for your own case, consult a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein or a tax adviser.