Tax Return for Freelancers.
Create an EÜR, easily track business expenses, and submit everything via ELSTER. Designed specifically for freelancers and self-employed professionals.
Tax Facts for Freelancers
As a freelancer, you prepare a cash basis accounting statement (EÜR) instead of a balance sheet. You’re not subject to trade tax, but you may need to file a sales tax return depending on your revenue. taxtastic takes the complexity off your hands.
max. per year
starting in 2026
How Your Freelancer Tax Return Works
No more spending hours agonizing over tax forms. taxtastic guides you through the process.
Enter income & expenses
Record your revenue and business expenses. taxtastic automatically categorizes them and generates your EÜR based on the official form.
Record all your expenses
Depreciation, home office expenses, vehicle costs, continuing education—taxtastic prompts you for typical expenses and calculates your tax liability in real time.
Send directly to the tax office
Income tax, EÜR, and sales tax returns—everything is verified and securely submitted to the tax office via ELSTER. Done!
What Freelancers Can Deduct
As a freelancer, you can claim many business expenses. taxtastic specifically asks for them.
Deduct IT equipment immediately
Bought a laptop? Declare it right away. Hardware, software, cloud services, etc., used for business purposes can be fully claimed in the year of purchase—regardless of the amount.
Declare your home office
Claim the home office allowance of €6/day (max. €1,260) or deduct the cost of a home office as a business expense without limit—taxtastic selects the more favorable option.
Reclaim Input Tax
Under standard taxation, you can reclaim the sales tax from all business expenses. You offset the input tax you’ve paid against the sales tax—taxtastic handles the calculations for you.
Professional Development & Specialized Literature
Courses, seminars, professional books, conferences—all fully deductible as business expenses. 100% deductible with no upper limit.
A Real-World Example
A realistic example shows how filing a tax return pays off for freelancers.
- 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
EÜR generated automatically
Income surplus statement based on the official form. All items correctly assigned—no accounting knowledge required.
No trade tax
As a freelancer, you’re not subject to trade tax—a major advantage over business owners. taxtastic takes this into account automatically.
Validation check
Automatic check of your entries for common errors and missing information before submission.
ELSTER Submission
Send your 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
What is the difference between a freelancer and a self-employed person?
A freelancer is someone who works in scientific, artistic, literary, teaching, or educational fields.
In addition, the following professions are explicitly included: physicians, dentists, veterinarians, attorneys, notaries, patent attorneys, surveyors, engineers, architects, commercial chemists, certified public accountants, tax advisors, consulting economists and business administrators, certified public auditors, tax agents, alternative practitioners, dentists, physical therapists, journalists, photojournalists, interpreters, translators, and pilots.
Similar professions are also included. For this, the training and work must be comparable to one of these professions—and where a state license is required, it is not possible to operate without it.
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.
Note regarding consulting: This refers to economic and business consultants. Investment advisors, financial and credit advisors, insurance advisors, and advertising consultants, on the other hand, are engaged in commercial activities and pay trade tax. For IT consulting, it depends: if you design and develop software like an engineer and have the appropriate training, you’re considered a freelancer—otherwise, you’re engaged in a commercial activity.
Can I fully deduct my home office?
If your home office is the center of your entire professional activity, the costs are fully deductible. Alternatively, you can use the home office flat rate of €6/day (max. €1,260/year)—taxtastic calculates whichever option is more favorable.
What are the rules for the small business exemption?
As of 2025, the following applies: a maximum of €25,000 in revenue in the previous year and a maximum of €100,000 in the current year—and you must be resident in Germany. The calculation is based on the money you’ve received, excluding sales tax.
If your revenue in the current year exceeds €100,000, the regulation ends immediately: even the portion of revenue that pushes you over the limit is fully subject to sales tax.
If you’ve just started your business, there is no prior year. In that case, only your actual revenue for this year counts, and the €25,000 limit applies to you—not the €100,000 limit.
Small business owners do not report sales tax, but they also cannot deduct input tax.
Does taxtastic automatically generate the EÜR?
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?
You can use taxtastic completely free of charge until you file your tax return. Depending on the type of tax return you want to file, you’ll pay one of our two pricing plans, so you can see exactly in advance whether it’s worth it or not.
For employees, civil servants, retirees, etc.
- 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
For self-employed individuals, freelancers, etc.
- 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.
- Clearly track income and expenses
Find out in under 1 minute how much you’ll get back!
Our free quick check gives you an initial, non-binding estimate in just a few steps—no registration required.
What is your marital status?
Determines the type of assessment and the basic exemption amount.
How much is your profit from self-employment?
Profit = business income minus business expenses. Business expenses have therefore already been deducted.
Retirement contributions
Health, long-term care, and retirement plan contributions are deductible as special expenses.
Other Deductions & Tax Credits
Donations, tradespeople’s services, and household-related services.
Have you made income tax prepayments?
Advance payments are offset—the difference results in an additional payment or a refund.