As of: March 25, 2024, 5:17 p.m
By: Jörg Leine
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Changed your current account?
This is how the tax return works.
© IMAGO / Michael Weber
Did you want to take advantage of the good interest offers in 2023 and therefore changed banks at least once?
This is how you include the various annual tax certificates in your tax return.
Have you changed your current account in the last year?
Or even did extensive daily money hopping and earned interest at various German banks?
You will then receive an annual tax certificate from each bank by June 30th at the latest, all of which may look different.
For your tax return for 2023, you need to take a close look at this paperwork.
But don't worry, it looks worse than it is.
Annual tax certificate: what does it say?
The annual tax certificate lists all taxable capital gains that you have earned through accounts and securities accounts within a year.
Capital gains include interest, distributions from funds, dividends and realized price gains from securities transactions.
The tax certificate serves as proof that all taxes (25% withholding tax, of which 5.5 percent solidarity surcharge and, if applicable, church tax) have been paid.
When is no tax due?
Since 2023, you have been entitled to a savings allowance of 1,000 euros per year (2,000 euros for married couples).
Up to this limit, your capital gains are tax-free.
Only the amount above this allowance is taxable.
So only when you have made 1,001 euros in profit from interest, dividends, etc. do you pay taxes on that one euro.
Banks and insurance companies in Germany automatically pay the tax to the responsible tax office.
You can prevent this with an exemption order (FSA).
But only as long as you don't make more than 1,000 euros in profit.
Why an exemption order can make sense
If you have accounts or deposits at different banks, you should divide the allowance accordingly.
Every financial institution requires its own FSA.
When added together, your exemption amounts may not exceed the flat rate of 1,000 euros.
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Therefore, make a list of which bank you have set up an FSA with and which allowance.
Otherwise, it can quickly happen that you distribute exemption orders clumsily - e.g.
B. because you spontaneously postponed your daily allowance and your original exemption amount was set too low.
The result: you pay more tax than necessary - even though your total of 1,000 euros has not been used up.
Get back too much withholding tax paid
Exemption orders can be useful, but they are not a must - it is also possible without them.
Because you can definitely get the overpaid taxes back from the tax office via your tax return.
To do this, you actually need the “Income from Capital Assets” form (appendix KAP).
But instead of bothering yourself with this, it's better to use tax software or a tax app.
This investment is usually worth it because you get more money back than you spend on it.
We are currently testing which programs we recommend for the 2023 tax year.
However, our previous recommendations are likely to be at the top again: Wiso Steuer*, Tax Saving Declaration and Tax*, with the apps Steuerbot*, Wiso Steuer* and Taxfix.
Here's how you can prepare
The software guides you step by step through the tax return.
If you have made profits at different banks, you should take a look at all the annual tax certificates in advance and add up certain numbers:
Capital gains from all annual tax certificates
Exemption amounts that you have given to your banks
If the software asks you for this, simply enter the totals in the appropriate field.
Complete!
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This article is available to IPPEN.MEDIA as part of a cooperation with the non-profit money guide Finanztip - the original for this article “
Changed daily money?
This is how you don’t waste taxes”
comes from the weekly Finanztip newsletter from March 22, 2024.
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