Tax Facts for Freelancers
As a freelancer, you prepare a cash basis accounting statement (EÜR) instead of a balance sheet. You are not subject to trade tax, but you must file a sales tax return depending on your revenue. taxtastic takes the complexity off your hands.
max. per year
(uniform rate starting in 2026)
tax refund
Here’s how your freelance tax return works
No more spending hours agonizing over tax forms. taxtastic automates the entire process for you.
Enter income & expenses
Record your revenue and business expenses. taxtastic automatically categorizes them and generates your income and expense report (EÜR) based on the official form.
Take Advantage of Tax Optimization
Depreciation, home office expenses, vehicle costs, continuing education—taxtastic identifies all tax-saving opportunities and calculates your tax liability in real time.
Send directly to the tax office
Income tax, EÜR, and sales tax returns—everything is reviewed and securely submitted to the tax office via ELSTER. Done!
Tax Benefits Specifically for Freelancers
As a freelancer, you have special opportunities to save on taxes. taxtastic automatically takes advantage of them for you.
Deduct IT equipment immediately
Bought a laptop? Declare it right away. Hardware, software, cloud services, etc., used for business purposes can be fully deducted in the year of purchase—regardless of the amount.
Make the Most of Your Home Office
Claim a home office allowance of €6/day (max. €1,260) or deduct the cost of a home office as a business expense without limit—€ taxtastic chooses the more favorable option.
Reclaim Input Tax
Under standard taxation, you can claim a VAT refund on all business expenses. 19% extra savings on every invoice—€ taxtastic calculates this automatically.
Professional Development & Specialized Literature
Courses, seminars, professional books, conferences—all fully deductible as business expenses. 100% deductible with no upper limit.
Here’s how much you’ll save as a freelancer
A realistic example shows how filing a tax return pays off for freelancers.
Profit under the EÜR method: €38,500
- Home office (pro-rated rent): €3,600
- Laptop, software, licenses: €2,800
- Training & conferences: €1,500
- Phone & Internet (70%): €840
- Professional literature & subscriptions: €650
Why freelancers use taxtastic
Income and Expense Statement generated automatically
Income-Expenditure Statement based on the official form. All items correctly categorized—no accounting knowledge required.
No business tax
As a freelancer, you’re not subject to business tax—a major advantage over business owners. taxtastic takes this into account automatically.
E-invoicing ready
Starting in 2025, e-invoicing will be mandatory for B2B transactions. taxtastic fully supports the new requirements.
Validation
Automatic verification of all entries for tax compliance prior to submission.
ELSTER Submission
Send EÜR, income tax, and sales tax returns securely and directly to the tax office.
Data securely stored in Germany
SSL-encrypted, GDPR-compliant, and hosted on German servers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Freelancers practice a so-called “catalog profession” (e.g., doctors, lawyers, architects, designers, journalists, consultants). The major advantage: no trade tax liability, no mandatory membership in the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), and simple bookkeeping using the EÜR method.
If your home office is the center of your entire professional activity, the costs are fully deductible. Alternatively, you can use the home office allowance of €6/day (max. €1,260/year)—taxtastic calculates whichever option is more favorable.
Since 2025, the threshold has been €25,000 in revenue for the current year (previous year’s threshold: €22,000). Small business owners do not report sales tax but are also unable to deduct input tax.
Yes. You enter your income and expenses, and taxtastic generates the EÜR form based on the official template and assigns all items to the correct categories.
How much does taxtastic cost?
- Income Tax Return
- Validation Check
- One price—even for married couples
- Previous years: 4 for voluntary returns, up to 7 for mandatory returns
- Valuable tax tips
- All features of the BASIS plan
- Trade tax return
- Value-Added Tax Return
- Advance sales tax return
- Automatic EÜR. Includes depreciation, IAB, and all reserves.
- Integrated accounting tools
*Average tax refund according to the Federal Statistical Office (tax year 2021)