Hi Friends,

This is my first post to the forum and expect a good reply as I could see from other posts.

I am in germany on GC and was here for 7 months in last year.

This is the first time I am supposted to file the tax.

Can somebody please let me know the detail procedure for the same?

Hiring lawyer is a costly affair as I understand. Can you please advise me on this? will it help? Can I do it my self? Please note that I don't understand German at all. So any tax program, which is in German is not going to help me much.

Please advice.

Thanks,

prkoparkar

Hi,

Did u mean tax-consultant instead of Lawyer?
I would advice you to go for a tax-consultant. Which city are u anyway? Without knowing german it is difficult to do it urself, but atleast some of ur friends or colleagues who know german can help. But the question is do they have the time to help you out?

Cheers
Rajesh

other solution will be the Lohnsteuer eV.
They are relatively cheaper than tax consultant. some verein in big city such as Münich even over service in English. Don't try to do it yourself if you can't speak german. cheers :-)

Hi,

u can try Mr. Satyajit sharma in stuttgart. He works in lohnsteuerverein, stuttgart. He also speaks hindi. U can contact him at 01728874865.

Greetings,
vamsi.

I missed to mension that I am staying in Cologne.

Any advise on the Tax-Consultant in cologne. (Yes I do mean Tax consultant and not the lawyer)

Thanks,

prkoparkar

Hi,

theres one in Frankfurt.Hes good and speaks very good english.

Mr Obyulut
65-4 Kaiser strasse
Frankfurt
Ph : 069253001.

me (& many of my friends) got good tax returns when they filed it with this guy.

how much was this good tax return?

around 7K euros

for only one year?
unbelivable

how much did he took?
what big payments are counted there?

7K absolutely not possible assuming 40K-50K of Gross. otherwise german govt. should honour you by paying over and above the tax deducted from you. ha..ha..ha..

I got about 4k return showing support for my parents and child in my native country.

Regards,

Baskey

Hello Baskey,

You said that you got 3-4K back each year for sending money back to support family.
May I know how much have you sent back to home approximately?
I would like to do so, but till now I brought the money back with me when I flied home. Considering the cost of the money transfer. I brought approximately 4K with me.

If the differences between cost (send and exchange rate) and the tax return is very big like in your case (3-4K), I will certainlly do it by money transfer.
I thank you in advance.

regards,


kusnadi

The limit is just around €4000 per annum and this is for both parents and also it is possible to show that your are supporting you grandparents financially. Whatever is the case the maximum tax return you can get for this kind of support does not exceed €2000

Probably if your child is living in your home country then you could get more like baskey got and I never went through that procedure.

Thanks for your tip Nreddy.

Have any of you got a problem to get the tax return for supporting parents?
How to get the unterhaltsbescheinigung in understandable leaguage (english) :-)?

I have asked my tax consultant, he said that I have to get a letter from my country official/tax office that my parents earn less money than I can support my parents. And the statement has be renewed every years.

The problem is, if the document is issued in local leaguange right? does anybody have experience with this?



thanks.

Normally your tax consultant should have that kind of form to help you fill it up easily and your parents will sign the document therefore you don't need any further documents to proof but then if he is not having one it is better to find another tax cosultant or prove it by submitting a copy of your parents income certificate (English or German translated one with an attestation from your local municipality officer).

Hi,

I support my father in law, mother in law,mother and daughter. Based on the country they stay, their expenditure is calculated. For eg, for india it is about 220 euro per month per person maximum and this amount may be reduced if your salary is low. I am not exactly knowing the calculation. This is rough idea only. All my tax works done by Lohnsteuer BW. and i simply submit all bank statements.

Again i may be getting more as i support around 4 people in my native place including my daughter. Also you could carry money personally and give it to them. that also allowed to show. For that you could show ur flight details and bank withdrawal before the travel and letter from dependants for the receipt of the money. Thats it.

hope it helps,

regards,

baskey

Hi ,

apart from supporting my parents, i also got benefit for travel, double household.These were the biggest account heads.

Sanjay

Hello Sanjay,

I think you are single right?
I asked my consultant, I can't do that since I am married and wife in germany.

Hello,
I think you can apply for double household even if your wife is in germany. I did this and the finanzamt accepted this.
For 2002 , the tax consultant who did the tax clearance for me told that I cant get double household.But this year another tax consultant applied for 2003 and the finanzamt accepted. I enquired whether I can do that for 2002 again, but they refused saying that the ' Steuerbescheid' cannot be changed but the older consultant should pay for your damages and they told me that they can help me in this regard by taking him to court if he doesnt pay anything back to me.

So I will be sending a formal letter to him to give me back the money.

One more thing, if you have something like an Arbeitzimmer at home you can also claim your electricity, water and heating bills stating that you used them for your work. My tax consultant told me, you cant claim for the whole bill but something like a 'Pauschal'.

I think you only can recieve this amount once and that too within first two years of your application for tax returns. I am not sure about these laws, your tax consultant should give you clear answer. If I want to get this money again I cannot because I already recieved it in the first year.

Hi NReddy,

This is regarding sending money to parents. you said there is a form which we have to get sign from out parents. do you have any softcopy of that or at least name of that form can you please send me. my mail id is
chaganti74 at yahoo dot com

thanx
CSREDDY

Hi CSReddy,

Give me sometime for sending you a copy. I am not sure you could use mine because this is prepared by my tax consultant.

good luck!
Nitin

Hi nitin,

What r u in germany? What is ur mail ID?

vamsi.

Hi NReddy,

Is it necessary to prove that we have transferred money to parents account (Like bank statements)
can I have your mail id.

thanx
Reddy

@vamsi:

I did not understand your question properly but anyway if you mean my profession then I am SE and I am located in Dresden.

@CSReddy:
yes, it is necessary to prove your money transfer to your parents so keep intact your "konotauszug" or "copy of your transfer statement"


my mail ID is nitin_koluvolu@yahoo.com

Hi all

To those who does not have the Certificate of Livelihood (Unterhaltsbescheinigung)form, just drop your mail ID, I can provide you my copy which is in both English and German. You can then replace the English part by your country's language if English is not accepted in your country.

Here my question: I go home every year just to visit my family. Can this expense (the flight ticket) be tax deductable? If yes, at which reason (or say which category in the Tax declaration from)you will declare it?

Cheers

@Sanjay:

I would like to get more details about claiming travel expenses and double household. I visit my parents once in a year who are back in India.

If you dont mind that I contact you, please drop a line to me: fredjeffry at hotmail dot com.

My finanzamt in Rüdesheim(Hessen) said that for India the limit for supporting your parents is 2395 Euro per year, and that I can support only my parents and no one else (like in-laws, grandparents etc...)

I am single.

@ngo:
can you please send me the form to my mail chaganti74@yahoo.com

Hello,

some people are telling that we have to transfer money directly to parents account, but some people are saying no need to show bank transfer statements (if we give them directly when we visit them), but we have to get a letter from our local Govt. authorities stating that, parents are depending on us.
can some one clarify this one.

thanx
CSReddy

@CSReddy: I'm at work now and the form is home :-) So, I will send you 2nite !

Regarding to the tax claiming for the money support to your relative in your own coutry, here is what you might do: (from my experience)

- Every year you have to complete the above mentioned form (Unterhaltsbescheinigung) for each supported person, and get the sign form your local council at home.

- The valid ways to prove that you have transfered your money to your relatives are:

---- If you fly home, draw some money from your bank few days before your flight, keep the receipt. At home, your relative must (just) sign a paper (you can write it yourself -in German ofcourse) saying somthing like: "We, who named Daddy, Mommy ..., are certifying that Mr.Supporter had gave us 10000 Euro on xx.yy.2005... for living support purpose...."... Of course, xx.yy.2005 is the date after the one printed in your flight ticket ;-) j/k. This is the best case and your claim will be excepted most of time.

So, you will need the bank receipt + copy of your ticket + copy of Passport is also better(the part where there are stamps of get-in, get-out you got at the custom gate at your home airport) + paper with sign of Mr.Daddy OR Ms.Mommy ...

---- If you have a friend going home: Draw some money (Much better if you can transfer your money to your friend's account, and ask him to draw it out again - and then keep HIS kontoauszug) few days b4 his departure. Then, you should complete 1 self-prepared paper which consist of 2 parts and better to be in same A4 page:
****1st part saying like "Here I certify that Mr. Supporter, address ..., had gave me (or transfer to my bankkonto - with kontonummer xxxx, BLZ yyyy - Bank name) 10 Euro on the date xx.yy.2005.... During my vacation from date A to date B, I have personally bring that money to following relatives of Mr.Supporter: Mr.Daddy, Ms.Mommy ... address ... in total amount of 10 Euro... Togerther with this certificate, I will give Mr. Supporter the copies of my flight ticket, my passport... Location (should be in Germany)/Date/ and Sign: Mr.Friend.

****2nd part saying like: "Here I certify that today Mr.Friend give me a total amount of 10Euro as the living support for the year 2005 from our son from Deutschland. Location(should be at home)/Date/ Sign: Mr.Daddy OR Ms.Mommy... "

So, again, collect all papers for the tax declaration.

---- If you do bank transfer, very simple, just prepare the Unterhaltsbescheinigung + the bank statement with the trace of the transfer. Note that they only accept that you transfer directly to one of those you are supporting. You can not say: "I transfer to my friend - he will then give the money to my parent"

God, I have to back to work.

I was told that you can file your returns once in 3 years and need not file your returns every year.

Is this true?

"I was told that you can file your returns once in 3 years and need not file your returns every year.

Is this true?"


no or not completely.
you do not have to file it every year but after 2 years you can not aply for tax return any more.
So for 2004 you MUST aply in 2005 or in 2006, and you can in 2006 aply for tax return for 2004 and 2005.
But you can not aply in 2007 for tax return for year 2004. Only for 2005 and 2006.

Alles klar?

Hi! DvD,

Thanks for the info. Also found out the consultant will charge for 2 years if I try that!!

I was trying to save the 400 Euro the Consultant (in Frankfurt) charges for the filing.

Thanks.
CA901.

He was about to charge you with fixed 400€ fee? I thought they do this for a percentage (of returned money)...

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?????? :-o

400 Euro? crazy!!

@classact901:

If you did it once through your consultant, maybe you could do it yourself this time (since you know all the categories now!) if you want to save the 400 €.

hi ngo
can you please send me the (Unterhaltsbescheinigung)form in my mail id? i need to do this. i am going to india in feb. thanks alot...bizzare03@hotmail.com

Hello Ngo,

Your information is very valuable for me.
I have consulted with my tax consultant
He said that if I want to support my parent, I have to do it in the beginning of the year or periodically, otherwise the finanzamt won't approve the tax deduction.
Have you got the same experience?
Anyway thanks for your information.
Can you also send me the unterhaltbescheinigung form? to vprimush@yahoo.de


What kind of document do I have to submit for double household? I stay with my wife in germany but I flied home periodically. Anybody has idea?

I thank you before hand.

cheers

hi ngo
can you please send me the (Unterhaltsbescheinigung)form in my mail id? I am visiting india in Feb.
chellakutty@hotmail.com

Danke im voraus, Asian

Hallo ngo,

we hv been waiting for your email. Are you there?

chellakutty@hotmail.com

Regards, Asian

Sorry you guys. I was very busy during last days, so, no time for surfing around at all. With My Freenet DSL at home, I cant access Trust7.

To VP_2004:

From my knowledge (Please accept that I may wrong since it's just from experiences): I think you do not really have to do it at the beginning of the year. However, Finanzamt will accept your claim in Quarter basis. That means, if you do not do it (money transfer etc) at the end of March, then you can not claim that you were supporting your parent during the past first Quarter. Again, however, you can, for instance, transfer (prove that you have transfered ;) ) a big amount of money at the beginning of the year (within 1st quarter is enough) and then claim that this money is to support your parent for the whole year.

Agh, my explaination seems to be abit complicated. Please try to read it.

I will send to you guys the form right now.

Cheers.

Hi Guys,

I have been working with a GC in Germany with 3 different companies since September 2000.
My current GC expires in October 2006.

According to an article I read some time ago, should I decide to return to my country before the 60th month ever since I started working here, the German government would have to pay me a certain percentage of the taxes that I have been paying during the last years (RENTE, Solidarität, etc.)

a) Does any of you have any information on this regard?
b) Is there any website containing this kind of information?
c) Does anybody knows a lawyer that specializes in such cases?

I look forward to getting your replies.

Cheers

Arturo

You would get your part of RENTE contribution, which is current at 9.75% of your base salary, once you left germany. Normally you are suppose to get this after two years from the date of your exit. But i know in few cases you can get this earlier. Two of my colleagues have got it within one year.

Regards,

Hi prkoparkar,

thanks for your quick response.

Did your colleagues arrange their cases by themselves, or did a lawyer solved this issue for them? Did they only get the 9.75% from the RENTE back? Was the paperwork complicated, and did they do this before or after leaving?

Would you mind eventually giving me an e-mail address of theirs so that I can contact them directly?

Regards,

Arturo

Thanks Ngo.

Noticed the tax discussion... Did anyone try using ElsterFormular till now? It is in German alright, but rather comprehensive and I suppose if one has gone the tax way once, it can be used rather efficiently. Any opinions?

@Art74: PRKOPARKAR said that you have to pay 9.75% of your gross salary for the RENTE every month. He did not say that you only get 9.75% of your contributed Rente back when you leave.

You can get all your money (renten) back ! And as ASIAN said, normally, you will get a check in 2 year after you depart Germany.

I think you all smart guy should try to use tax-filling-program to do it your self rather than loosing few hundred € for the service. I have been using the program named "t@x 200x" and it worked perfectly. Have nerver use ElsterFormular, but friends say good - and free.

Anyway: My question is till open: Did any of you claim your ticket expense for the trip back home? If you did, on what category you claim it?

If you are good enough, it's better to be a freelance A lot more room to play around with the this stuff

Hi,

I am using elyster for the last 2 years and it works perfectly. I got a lot of tax money back for the last 3 years.

It is also very easy. I just went to Tax consultant fo rthe 1st year and he told me to do it personally and he gave a copy of what he did. I just followed. I also saved lot of time. Normally, you should appyl in Feb to get your returns in 2-3 weeks time or else you have to wait for 4-6 months as all the companies files for return between march-june

Regards
Rajesh

@Rajesh:

Are you able to claim the double-household thing too using Elster? I think only if you claim for double-household can you claim the aritciket to&fro your native.

If you dont mind, drop a line at fredjeffry at hotmail.com

Hi,

You can cliam the so called unterhaltungs geld to support your parents. i did this but you need to also attach proof. I have my wife and children here in germany still i support my parents in india so it was like double hold expenditure. They the finanzamt some how limits only to 2500€ per year to India. Never forget to add your fahrgeld ( even if you use bicycle, bus or even walk to office.

The whole trick of tax return is to try to bring down your brutto.

Regards
Rajesh

Yesterday I had a talk with the tax consultant in Frankfurt, suggested by Sanjay.

The limit to which you can support your parents (and grandparents and in-laws) has been reduced to Euro 1900 per person for the year 2004.

Another thing I noticed is that the consultation is not sky-high. They have fixed rates, which depends on your Gross (Brutto) salary. If you earn 30K per annum, the fees is 80 euro. For above 40K its 110 euro....and so on.

Once again, his address is:
Herr Aybulut
65-4 Kaiser strasse
Frankfurt
Ph : 069253001

So get a good tax consultant and get a good return! There´s always something that the consultant knows, and we not!

Dear Friends,

I am working in forschungszentrum karlsruhe. I have to file a TAX return and this is my first year in germany.

Can you send me a copy of Unterhaltsbescheinigung in english cum german version.

My email id is :

guptasuryakant@yahoo.com

Regards

Suryakant Gupta

Hi all,

I have a good experience with the Vereinigte Lohnsteuerhilfe e.V. in Berlin. (Herr Bülow in Frankfurter Alle)

The website is: www.vlh.de

As Fred mentioned they have tarif according to your income brackets. I guess it is always lower than 200€

Cheers

HI

I know a tax consultant in NRW area(Dortmund) , Who is great and you can do every thing via phone or visit him .

Only u need to collect all documents and send him via post .

Rest he will handle it .

He will just charge verz minimal fees .

If u get BIG money back ..U need to give him accordingly .

mail me at fiveohg at yahoo dot de
fiveohg@yahoo.de

for contact details

Cheers,Pac

Apart from all these deductions, if You have donated any money to finanzamt recognized instituation ( can be an Indian temple, UNICEF etc etc. ) then You can have that institution fill in some special form, which can be submitted to Finanzamt.

This will make the entire donation tax free.


Now my question is whether anyone knows what exactly this document is ? or would anyone have a copy of it ? or what needs to go in that form ?


Cheers
Nitin Malhotra.

@Nitin Malhotra.
"Now my question is whether anyone knows what exactly this document is ? or would anyone have a copy of it ? or what needs to go in that form ?"
Whenever you donate to a social acting society (like UNICEF e.g)- which must be located in Germany (!) - you'll receive automatically a confirmation of your donation (called Spendenbescheinigung). This confirmation you need for your tax application to deduct it from your taxable income. The Spendenbescheinigung is not special formatted but has to contain the relevant information. Societies who are acting in such areas know how to create such a Spendenbescheiniung.

Donation not higher than 100 EURO can be declared even without such a Spendenbescheinigung. In this case you need a document which shows your transaction or payment by a cheque e.g.

I hope this helps you.

Hi Guyz,
I am staying in a place called Kronach near to Nurenberg.I am actually looking for a tax consultant around Nurenberg.Can anybody of u help me in this regard.
I also saw this site called taxback.com.
Does anyone of u have any idea how the service is from this site for filing returns.
Manoj

Have a look either into a telephone book or have a look to one of hundreds of searchmachines to find a tax consultant like e.g.
http://www.123steuerberater.de/
or especially for Nürnberg
http://www.steuerallee.de/um-nuernberg-steuerberater-steuerberatung.htm

@mcherian

are you by any chance at lear? :-)I may know you :-)


Cheers

What means "at lear"?

I had a trip to India, last year and when I checked with my tax consultant, he told me that if your wife and kids are with you, then you cant get benefit due to your India trip.

Whatz your say guys?

Help.
I need the Unterhaltsbescheinigung in ENGLISH.
Can nyone please send me it as a pdf?
Email: petardm@dodo.com.au

Many thanks
Petar.

Hello,
Can anyone help with a copy in English of the Unterhaltsbescheinnigung. pdf or word doc OK.

Many thanks
Petar
email : petardm@dodo.com.au

done!

Hi All,

My Details:
I have paid appox. 12k as tax for 2005
I got married in july 2005 and my husband is also working in germany

I have been sending monthly 1k € to my parents and grandparents.

So, can I claim for the entire 12K?

What is the max. amount that you may claim in a year?

Also, I visited india in july, so can I claim for my air-tickets too?

How to make a claim for double-household? Should I buy a house in India for this?

Any info on these topics will be appreciated.

You can reach me at anitafhm@yahoo.com

Regards,
Anita

Hello,

This is Mandar Pitale. I am from Virar, Thane- INDIA.I have to file returns for the year ending on 31Dec06.

I need to get the Unterhaltsbescheinigung for my dependent parents and my dependent wife in India.

I am not too sure exactly from whom do I get the Unterhaltsbescheinigung signed/attested at Thane, India. The Unterhaltsbescheinigung which I have says "seal and signature of the President of Administration District".

Kindly advice the same.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Mandar Pitale