Do you want to register yourself as a freelancer in Germany? Here is a line-by-line guide for filling Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung in English (2023 update).
In one of our earlier posts, we described the step-by-step procedure for registering yourself as a freelancer/self-employed person in Germany. One of the very crucial elements and hardest steps of this procedure is to fill out the form for the freelancer tax declaration in Germany.
It is called the Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung.
Filling out this form is the ultimate test of your German language skills – none of the German language courses can prepare you for this.
So to help other non-German-speaking freelancers in Germany, we have created a line-by-line English guide for filling Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung.
But first, let’s have a quick overview of this form.
Disclaimer: Please note that from 2021 this form onwards can be filled out and sent only online through ELSTER or an online tax filing tool.
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1. What is Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung?
Anyone who wants to become self-employed in Germany needs to fill in and submit the German tax registration form to their local Finanzamt. This form provides your local tax authority with your personal and professional information for tax purposes.
2. Why do you need to submit Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung?
This is an essential step for completing your tax status and receiving the relevant German freelancer tax numbers for your business in Germany.
Based on the information you provide in this form, Finanzamt (German tax authorities) will do the following:
- Confirm your freelancer or trader status
- Assign you a tax number
- Provide you with a VAT ID (if applicable/ requested)
- Set up an automated payment system for VAT charges or refunds, tax payments or refunds etc. (if applicable)
3. How to get Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung
There are two ways to fill out the German freelance tax registration form:
- Online on Bundesministerium der Finanzen in German.
Note that, each session is valid for 45 minutes only. If you take longer than this, the form will refresh and you will lose all your data.
- Online on Sorted in English
You can use Sorted to register as a freelancer in Germany in English. It is also a free service.
4. What do you need for filling Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung
As mentioned above, you can either fill out the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung in English through:
- Sorted in English
- Accountable in English
- online on the website of Bundesministerium der Finanzen.
Have these basic details ready in front of you when you start:
- Your German tax ID number or Identifikationsnummer (again, not tax number or Steuernummer)
- Your personal details
- Your bank details
- An exact description of your future self-employment activity
- Financial details of your future self-employment activity
5. Overview of the sections in the German tax registration form
Before you fill in the lines, it is important to understand what exact information you are adding to the German tax registration form.
There are eight sections in this form. Let’s take a look at each of them.
| 1. | Allgemeine Angaben | General information about you and your work |
| 2. | Angaben zur gewerblichen, selbständigen (freiberuflichen) oder land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Tätigkeit | Information about intended commercial, self-employed (freelance) or agricultural and forestry activity |
| 3. | Angaben zur Festsetzung der Vorauszahlungen (Einkommensteuer, Gewerbesteuer) | In this section, you will add information on the determination of advance payments (income tax, trade tax) |
| 4.1 | Angaben zur Gewinnermittlung | Add Information about how you will report your income to Finanzamt. |
| 4.2 | Gewinnermittlungsart | Here you can describe the method of income reporting. You have a few options here, but most freelancers in Germany choose an ‘income statement’ or a ‘balance sheet’ method. |
| 5. | Freistellungsbescheinigung gemäß § 48b Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG)- | Exemption certificate according to § 48b of the German Income Tax Act (EStG). This section is for those who want to apply for a certificate of exemption from a tax deduction for construction services. This part does not apply to most freelancers in Germany. |
| 6. | Angaben zur Anmeldung und Abführung der Lohnsteuer | Information on the registration and payment of Wage tax. This section is relevant for those who have employees. If you do not have any employees then leave out this section. |
| 7. | Angaben zur Anmeldung und Abführung der Umsatzsteuer | In this section, you will add information for the registration and payment of VAT tax. You will also add your estimated total revenue, whether or not you want to opt-in Kleinunternehmerregelung, and other fields. There is also an option to establish a Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS). If you sell digital content (software, ebooks, apps) or digital services (web hosting, referrals, software as a service) to customers in other EU countries, you can opt for a Mini-One-Stop-Shop. Read more about it here. |
| 8. | Angaben zur Beteiligung an einer Personengesellschaft/-gemeinschaft | This section is relevant to those who are establishing a partnership or a joint venture. |
6. Line by Line English Guide for Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung
Please note that even though this line-by-line Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung guide is in English, you should fill this form in German. If you do not have sufficient German skills, get help from an official translator to formulate your answers.
Here’s how you can use this guide:
- In this guide, you will find yellow boxes called ‘Notes’. There is a note for each line or a group of lines.
- Click on any yellow box to open the English translations. You will see the description and required action for that line.
- To close the box, simply click on another yellow box or anywhere else.
- Use a different copy of Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung in English. This PDF guide is not editable. You can also use the online form mentioned in subsection 3.3 and fill out the German tax registration form within 45 minutes.
Click here to download your English guide to Fragebogen zur Steuerlichen Erfassung in English.