Germany tax deadlines 2026.
Every individual and self-employed income tax deadline for Germany in 2026. Plus recurring VAT / GST / sales tax filings. Each deadline links to notes on how to file, what people miss, and matching open-source tax skills.
Annual deadlines
1 this yearRecurring filings
VAT / GST / Sales taxUmsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung (UStVA)
Germany
German monthly or quarterly VAT advance return. New businesses file monthly for the first 24 months; established businesses quarterly if prior-year VAT liability was under €9,000.
Open-source skills for Germany
Prepare this return with open-source skills
These skills are in the OpenAccountants repo. Add them to your AI agent and they handle the computation.
Computes Einkommensteuer for Freiberufler including Betriebsausgaben, Sonderausgaben, and progressive tax brackets.
Use this skill whenever asked about German Trade Tax (Gewerbesteuer / GewSt) for self-employed Gewerbetreibende. Trigger on phrases like "Gewerbesteuer", "trade tax Germany", "GewSt", "Hebesatz", "Gewerbeertrag", "Steuermessbetrag", "Freibetrag 24500", "Gewerbesteuer Anrechnung", "§35 EStG", "trade tax credit", "Hinzurechnungen", "Kürzungen", "GewSt 1 A", or any question about German municipal trade tax obligations. Covers the Gewerbeertrag computation, EUR 24,500 Freibetrag, 3.5% Steuermesszahl, Hebesatz by municipality, Anrechnung on Einkommensteuer (4.0x credit under §35 EStG), Hinzurechnungen and Kürzungen, effective rate analysis, and Vorauszahlungen. ALWAYS read this skill before touching any Gewerbesteuer work.
Use this skill whenever asked about German payroll processing for employees. Trigger on phrases like "German payroll", "Lohnsteuer", "Gehaltsabrechnung", "Brutto Netto Rechner", "Steuerklasse", "Sozialversicherung", "Arbeitnehmeranteil", "Arbeitgeberanteil", "Beitragsbemessungsgrenze", "payslip Germany", "Lohnabrechnung", "Nettolohn", "Solidaritätszuschlag", "Kirchensteuer", "Rentenversicherung", "Krankenversicherung", "Pflegeversicherung", "Arbeitslosenversicherung", "Minijob", "Midijob", "minimum wage Germany", "Mindestlohn", "Entgeltabrechnung", or any question about computing employee pay, withholding tax, or social contributions in Germany. This skill extends de-payroll.md with full payroll lifecycle coverage including mandatory benefits, payslip requirements, filing obligations, and employer cost analysis. ALWAYS read this skill before processing any German employee payroll.
Use this skill whenever asked about German payroll tax (Lohnsteuer) computation for EMPLOYEES. Trigger on phrases like "Lohnsteuer", "Gehaltsabrechnung", "payslip Germany", "Steuerklasse", "Brutto Netto", "Solidaritaetszuschlag on wages", "Kirchensteuer on payroll", "Sozialversicherungsbeitraege employee", "Arbeitnehmeranteil", "Arbeitgeberanteil", "Beitragsbemessungsgrenze", "Lohnabrechnung", "Nettolohn", "payroll withholding Germany", "German wage tax", "Lohnsteuerklasse I II III IV V VI", or any question about computing employee payroll deductions in Germany. Covers Lohnsteuer (income tax withholding), Solidaritatszuschlag, Kirchensteuer, and all four branches of Sozialversicherung (RV, KV, PV, AV) from an employer/employee split perspective. This is SEPARATE from the self-employed income tax skill (de-income-tax.md). ALWAYS read this skill before computing any German employee payroll.
Use this skill whenever asked about German estimated income tax prepayments (Vorauszahlungen) for self-employed individuals, freelancers, or Freiberufler. Trigger on phrases like "Vorauszahlungen", "Einkommensteuer-Vorauszahlung", "estimated tax Germany", "German advance tax", "EStG 37", "quarterly tax Germany", "Finanzamt prepayment", "adjustment of prepayments", "Vorauszahlungsbescheid", or any question about advance income tax obligations under the Einkommensteuergesetz. Covers the quarterly payment schedule (10 Mar, 10 Jun, 10 Sep, 10 Dec), assessment basis, minimum thresholds, adjustment requests, late payment surcharges, solidarity surcharge interaction, and payment procedures. ALWAYS read this skill before touching any estimated tax work for Germany.
Final orchestrator skill that assembles the complete German filing package for Germany-resident self-employed individuals (Freiberufler and Gewerbetreibende). Consumes outputs from all Germany content skills (germany-vat-return for UStVA, de-income-tax for ESt + EÜR, de-social-contributions for KV/PV/RV, de-trade-tax for GewSt, de-estimated-tax for Vorauszahlungen) to produce a single unified reviewer package containing every worksheet, every form, every brief section, all cross-skill reconciliations, and the final action list with payment instructions, filing instructions, and next-year planning. This is the capstone skill that runs last and produces the final deliverable. MUST be loaded alongside all Germany content skills listed above. Germany full-year residents only. Self-employed individuals and sole proprietors only.
Use this skill whenever asked about forming, incorporating, or registering a company in Germany. Trigger on phrases like "set up a company in Germany", "GmbH formation", "UG gründen", "Handelsregister", "German company formation", "register a business Germany", "Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung", "Unternehmergesellschaft", "German notary", "Gewerbeanmeldung", or any question about starting a business entity in Germany. Covers entity types (GmbH, UG, AG, GbR, KG), registration process, capital requirements, costs, post-formation compliance, and bank account opening. ALWAYS read this skill before advising on German company formation.
Prepares the Umsatzsteuervoranmeldung including Vorsteuer deductions, reverse charge for EU services, and Kleinunternehmerregelung threshold.
Preparing a Germany return?
The OpenAccountants repo has verified, open-source tax computation skills. Clone and run them with your AI agent, then get an accountant to review.