Germany tax deadlines 2026.

Use this skill whenever asked about bookkeeping, chart of accounts, Kontenrahmen, SKR03, SKR04, financial statements, P&L format, balance sheet layout, bank reconciliation, expense classification, asset capitalisation, GWG, or day-to-day accounting for a German entity. Trigger on phrases like "Kontenrahmen", "SKR03", "SKR04", "HGB", "Buchhaltung", "chart of accounts Germany", "EÜR", "Einnahmen-Überschussrechnung", "Bilanz", "GuV", "capitalise or expense Germany", "GWG threshold", "Geringwertige Wirtschaftsgüter", "depreciation Germany", "AfA", "bank reconciliation Germany", "Kleinunternehmer", "bookkeeping Germany", or any question about recording transactions, classifying expenses, or preparing accounts under German law. ALWAYS read this skill before touching any bookkeeping work for Germany.

German payroll for employers and employees: wage tax withholding by tax class and ELStAM with the official program flow, solidarity surcharge and church tax, the tax exemption for employees past retirement age, social insurance shares and contribution ceilings, Minijobs and the transition band, DEÜV reports, wage tax return deadlines, late-payment surcharges and year-end certificates. Not for the self-employed.

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.

Use this Guide first when a self-employed person living in Germany (Freiberufler or Gewerbetreibender, sole proprietor) wants help with German tax. It lists the questions to ask and the documents to collect, tests the freelance-or-trade classification and its trade tax and chamber consequences, settles Kleinunternehmer status and the VAT return period, checks registration of a new business, screens pension and artists' social insurance for referral, and routes the work to the specialist Guides: de-einkommensteuer-freelancer, germany-vat-return, germany-bookkeeping, de-trade-tax, de-capital-gains and de-crypto-tax. It computes no tax. Full-year residents only.

Use this skill whenever asked about German e-invoicing, XRechnung, ZUGFeRD, ERechV, E-Rechnungsverordnung, Peppol BIS Billing Germany, Leitweg-ID, OZG-RE invoice portal, B2B e-invoicing mandate Germany, Wachstumschancengesetz, EN 16931 Germany, GoBD e-invoice archiving, or any question about issuing, receiving, validating, or archiving electronic invoices in Germany. Also trigger when preparing XRechnung XML invoices, configuring Peppol endpoints for German public-sector invoicing, handling B2B e-invoice reception requirements, or advising on ZUGFeRD profile selection. This skill covers XRechnung CIUS, ZUGFeRD hybrid format, Peppol transmission, mandatory fields, validation rules, GoBD archiving, penalties, and interaction with German VAT returns. ALWAYS read this skill before touching any German e-invoicing work.

Use this Guide for German income tax on crypto held privately: selling and swapping within the one-year holding period, the yearly private-sales limit (a cliff, not an allowance), which units count as sold per wallet and coin, staking and lending income and its own yearly limit, mining and forging, airdrops, hard forks, NFTs, record-keeping duties under the finance ministry letter of 6 March 2025, and the platform reporting (DAC8 / CARF) that starts with 2026. Trigger on "Krypto Steuer", "crypto tax Germany", "Haltefrist", "§23 EStG", "Freigrenze", "staking tax Germany", "FIFO crypto", "BMF Schreiben Kryptowerte", "DAC8".

Use this Guide whenever asked about reducing tax in Germany, tax planning, saving tax, optimizing tax, allowances, deductions the client might be missing, or legal ways to lower income tax for self-employed people in Germany. Trigger on "reduce tax", "tax planning", "save tax", "optimize", "allowances", "deductions I'm missing", "Steuern sparen", "Steueroptimierung", "Steuerlast senken". Read it before advising on any German tax planning idea.

The three ways Germans end up with Swiss tax lives — Grenzgänger commuting daily, Wochenaufenthalter renting a weekday flat, and full relocation — and the German rules that follow you across: the §6 AStG exit tax on shareholdings, extended limited tax liability, the five-year inheritance-tax shadow, and how the 4.5% Grenzgänger withholding actually works.