💰 German Tax Refund Estimator
The average German tax return brings back ~€1,100. Enter your numbers and see what a Steuererklärung would likely return to you.
Estimated refund
≈ 0 €
Your deductible job costs: 1,200 €
Your costs stay under the €1,230 flat allowance every employee gets automatically — a refund is still common through over-withheld wage tax, church tax or insurance items.
File in ~30 minutes with an English-friendly tax app
Simplified estimate (2025 tax formula, employee deductions only) — not tax advice. The actual refund depends on your full situation; four years back can still be filed voluntarily.
Why most employees in Germany get money back from taxes
Your employer withholds wage tax every month based on standard assumptions — it ignores your commute, home-office days, the laptop you bought, your German courses and the cost of moving to Germany for the job. Filing a Steuererklärung corrects that: every euro of job costs (Werbungskosten) above the automatic €1,230 allowance comes back at your marginal tax rate, typically 25–40%. That is why the average refund is around €1,100 — and newcomers who paid for relocation, double households or language courses often get much more.
Filing is voluntary for most employees, has no deadline pressure (you can file up to four years back), and takes about 30 minutes with English-speaking apps. If you moved to Germany mid-year, your refund is usually the biggest of your life: the tax tables assumed a full year of income, but you only earned part of it. Estimate your number above, then file — the Finanzamt will never send you this money on its own.