Self-employed? How to file your income tax in 9 steps

Once a year every self-employed professional in Germany has to submit their income tax return. But how does one actually prepare and file an income tax return and what’s the best way to submit it to the Finanzamt?

We have prepared a simple step-by-step guide that helps you to file your income tax with Accountable.

Deadline for the income tax return 2023 is the 2nd of September 2024! This date is also the last day to file your EÜR (profit & loss statement) as well as your annual VAT return.

This is how you file your income tax in 9 simple steps with Accountable:

First, make sure you have all of your income, i.e. invoices, cash income, etc. from the year saved in Accountable. Then make sure you also enter all your relevant professional expenses and save them with an original document attached. Otherwise, the expense will not be included in your tax return. This is important because each expense reduces your profit and can thus reduce the amount you ultimately have to pay in taxes.
Done

Next up is all the additional information that is relevant for your income tax. Go to the Accountable website and log in using the button in the upper right corner. Then go to the tax screen in the side menu. In the list of tax obligations you will find the income tax return. Click on it to start.
Done

Now you will be guided through the required information. In the first step you can check your personal data. Make sure to also enter your tax ID and your correct Finanzamt.
Done

Next, you will see your data from the EÜR, i.e. your income and expenses, as well as your amortizations (if any). Are you also working as an employee in addition to being self-employed? Then you can now enter your data from your Lohnsteuerbescheid (annual payslip). If you have received unemployment benefits or Corona aid, you can also state these here.
Done

As a self-employed person, you must take care of your health insurance yourself. The contributions paid for your public or private health insurance have to be entered in this step. You can find this information on a letter or email from your insurance company.
Done

There are some other insurances that can be deducted. For example a pension plan, accident or unemployment insurance. Simply enter the contributions you have paid during the year here.
Done

Did you employ a handyman who helped you with renovation work, for example? Or do you have a cleaning help who regularly comes to your house? As long as you have received an official invoice for it, you can also deduct such costs for household services.
Done

Almost done. Now you only have to indicate the prepayments that you paid over the year. You can find this information in the letter that you received from your Finanzamt. This includes payments for income tax, church tax and solidarity surcharge.
Done

In the last step you will see a prediction of what you will have to pay in taxes. Your data will also be checked again for errors. If everything looks good, you can submit your income tax. It will be automatically sent to your Finanzamt via our ELSTER interface! Don't forget to submit your EÜR and annual VAT return, too.
Done

Self-employed? How to file your income tax in 9 steps

This is how you file your income tax in 9 simple steps with Accountable:

All your taxes. Done.

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Self-employed? How to file your income tax in 9 steps

This is how you file your income tax in 9 simple steps with Accountable:

All your taxes. Done.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Happy to hear!

We’re sorry to hear that.

Thank you for your response. 💜

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Try Accountable
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