How to fill out yearly tax forms for business owners and freelancers

If next to be employed, you’re also registered as small businessman/woman (Klein Unternehemer), you will need to fill out the following forms (on top of the normal forms – see here):

Anlage G

• line 4: description of your company (ex: Online Hygieneartikeln-Handel) and profit (in case of loss, put a minus before the value).

Umsatzsteuererklärung

• It is sent separatly, so it will open in a new window. If it’s not installed, you must install it first
  • go to the tab “new” – open “Unternehmer und Selbständige” – click on “Umsatzsteuererklärung” – click on the button “neu erstellen” in front of the year in question
• line 1 and 2: click the button and fill it
• line 7: your complete name
• line 9: description of your company (ex: Online Hygieneartikeln-Handel)
• line 11 to 13: your address, phone and email
• line 17: only fill out in case last year you didn´t have the company the whole year – it’s the period you had your company last year (ddmmddmm – ex:19033112 for 19th March to 31st December)
• line 28 and 29: If you sold to other EU-countries or if you bought from other EU countries tax free (by giving your vat number), then choose 28 (you must also fill the Anlage UR). If not, choose 29.
• line 33 and 34 (page 2): fill in the amounts for the 2 years in question
• line 108 (page 4): amounts already declared (even if not paid yet)

Anlage EÜR 

• It is sent separatly, so it will open in a new window. If it’s not installed, you must install it first (Einnahmenüberschussrechnung)
• Under “Allgemeine Angaben” put your Steuernummer and Finanzamt
• Under “Angaben zum Betrieb”:
  • click on the button on the right “Steuernummer und Finanzamt übernehmen”
  • In front of “Bezeichnung” put your full name (first row)
  • In “Anschrift” put your address
  • In “Art des Betriebs” write what is written in the form you got when you registered your business in the Kvr (ex: Handel, Sonstiges). You can also write something that summarizes your business like Online Handel for ex.
  • In “Rechtsform des Betriebs” choose in “Group 1” – “Sonstige(r) Einzelgewerbetreibende(r)”
    • your business may have a different legal form though, make sure you choose the correct one
    • Hausgewerbetreibende is only when “your company or business” is hired by another company
  • In “Wirtschaftsjahr” choose “entspricht dem Kalendarjahr YYYY”
• line 7: “Gewerbebetrieb”
• line 8:
  • if you’re single or the husband choose the first square
  • second square if you’re the wife
  • third square if both spouses are responsible for the company
• line 10: choose “Nein” (unless you sold or gave away land)
• line 11: Write your Revenues
• line 25 (page 2): Cost of and with merchandise bought
• line 70: expenses with arbeitszimmer including the depreciation
  • don’t put in the AVEÜR anlage if the amount of the room (part that belongs to you) is less than 20.500€ or 20% of the value of the house to avoid having to pay taxes when you retire or sell the house
  • Use the amount without VAT in case you declared the VAT also ( see account 4288 as it’s the only account with the correct amount without VAT)
• line 90: sum of all the private expenses that were charged to the same bank account or credit card that you use for your business as well as:
  • merchandise that you used privately
  • goods that you made as a company and used privately
  • values of lines 19 and 20 as well as the corresponding vat

If you are a freelancer:

Anlage EÜR 

• It is sent separatly, so it will open in a new window.
• Under “Allgemeine Angaben” put your Steuernummer and Finanzamt
• Under “Angaben zum Betrieb”:
  • click on the button on the right “Steuernummer und Finanzamt übernehmen”
  • In front of “Bezeichnung” put your full name (first row)
  • In “Anschrift” put your address
  • In “Art des Betriebs” write your profession (ex: Web-Entwickler)
  • In “Rechtsform des Betriebs” choose in “Group 1” – “Angehörige(r) der freien Berufe”
  • In “Wirtschaftsjahr” choose “entspricht dem Kalendarjahr YYYY”
• line 7: “Selbständige Arbeit”
• line 8:
  • if you’re single or the husband choose the first square
  • second square if you’re the wife
  • third square if both spouses are responsible for the business
• line 10: choose “Nein” (unless you sold or gave away land)
• line 14: sum of the netto values you receive from your clients
• line 16: vat that you received from your clients
• line 17: vat that you received from the Finanzamt
  • what matters is the date you received the amount, not the period it refers to (if you received something in March even if it’s referent to October the year before, it counts as an amount for March)
  • there is a 10 day rule, i.e., vat received from the Finanzamt during the first 10 days of the year still count as an income for the year before (this means also that you should check your bank statement for the first 10 days of the year afterwards)
• line 43 (page 2): items bought (stationary, furniture, computers and machines, cell phones, software that you own yourself, etc) that individually were up to 410€ without vat (from the fiscal year 2018 on it will be 800€)
  • it’s to use the Netto (net) values
  • here you put the software that you actually own (that you can use and is yours after finishing paying it in full). If you are “renting” a software, i.e. if you need to pay a license monthly or in a certain interval of time, and are not able to use it if you stop the payments, than you don’t add it here, but in line 52
  • If you create a Sammelpost in the Anlageverzeichnis, you have to include there all the expenses that individually were between 150,01€ (from the fiscal year 2018 on is 250,01€) and 1000€, which means that in line 33 of the Anlage EÜR you can only add expenses up to 150€ (250€ from the fiscal year 2018 on)
  • don’t forget to check also the credit card bill of January of the following year to see if there is any business expense that belongs to the year in question (what matters, for payments with credit card, is the date of the receipt)
• line 49: Netto (net) values of your expenses with internet, phone bills, mobile phone bills, etc.
  • if you paid vat in another country, you consider the brutto (gross) value.
  • don’t forget to check also the credit card bill of January of the following year to see if there is any business expense that belongs to the year in question (what matters, for payments with credit card, is the date of the receipt)
• line 41: costs during business travels (including sleeping, etc)
  • public transports go to line 61
  • don’t forget to check also the credit card bill of January of the following year to see if there is any business expense that belongs to the year in question (what matters, for payments with credit card, is the date of the receipt)
• line 43: costs with fiscal adviser, accountant, lawyer
• line 55: professional association fees, etc
  • insurances that only cover your business and not your private life also belong here (otherwise they belong in the vorsorge anlage)
• line 60: costs with advertising (ex: Xing)
  • don’t forget to check also the credit card bill of January of the following year to see if there is any business expense that belongs to the year in question (what matters, for payments with credit card, is the date of the receipt)
• line 48: negative interests from overdraft (dispozinsen) of your bank account
  • if it’s more than 2050€ there are special rules you have to consider
• line 63: vat that you paid on your expenses (the amount on the receipts)
• line 64: vat that you paid to the finanzamt during the year in question
  • it matters the date of payment, not the period it refers to (ex: you consider a payment done in March even if it’s referent to the vat of october of the year before)
  • there is a 10 day rule, i.e., vat paid to the Finanzamt during the first 10 days of the year still counts as an expense for the year before (this means also that you should check your bank statement for the first 10 days of the year afterwards)
• line 66: other expenses like software licenses, bank account management fees, credit card fees (including for business purchases in foreign exchange), etc.
  • but not the negative interests from overdraft (dispozinsen) of your bank account, that goes to line 48
  • don’t forget to check also the credit card bill of January of the following year to see if there is any business expense that belongs to the year in question (what matters, for payments with credit card, is the date of the receipt)
• line 70: arbeitszimmer
  • in this line it’s to put also the homeoffice pauschale (in 2021, for other years check)
    • write “Home office Pauschale, (x) days”
      • (x) is the number of days you worked exclusively homeoffice, maximum 120
    • the amount is 5€ per day but maximum 600€
    • only possible if you are not deducting an arbeitszimmer
    • only in 2020, 2021 and 2022 (might be prolonged again though)
• line 71- sonstige beschränkt abziehbare Betriebsausgaben
• line 83: public transports or business vehicle
  • don’t forget to check also the credit card bill of January of the following year to see if there is any business expense that belongs to the year in question (what matters, for credit card payments, is the date of the receipt)
• line 125: it’s the use of business things and business money for your private life
  • it’s the expenses from your (business) bank statement and (business) credit card statement that you didn’t include in the EÜR form (so, that aren’t business expenses but instead private)
    • Remove the values charged to your bank account to pay your credit card bills (because you are considering them already separately)
  • you also include here the expenses that were charged to your bank account and that you used in the Einkommensteuererklärung forms like your insurances (because this are considered private expenses)
  • this also includes income tax paid to the account during the year (but not vat)
    • because income tax is a private tax and vat is a business tax
  • values of lines 19 and 20 as well as the corresponding vat (private use of business vehicle or goods)
• line 126: private money and private goods that you used for your business
  • all the positive values on your bank statement (and credit card statement) that you didn’t use in the EÜR form (so all the money that you received in your business account that were deposited/transferred privately by you or others but that aren’t a business income)
    • this also includes income tax received in the account during the year (but not vat)
      • because income tax is a private tax and vat is a business tax
    • consider all the bank accounts and credit card statements that you (also) use for your business
  • value of line 62 (use of a private vehicle for your business)
  • expenses that are not reflected on your business bank statement (or credit card statement), i.e, business expenses that you paid either in cash or using your privat bank account
• Anlageverzeichnis (Teil 2)
  • don’t forget to check also the credit card bill of January of the following year to see if there is any business expense that belongs to the year in question (what matters, for credit card payments, is the date of the receipt)
  • line 9-12: Depreciating items
    • they must be depreciated over the years according to the AfA table
    • let’s say you bought a monitor in february of 2015 for 900€ (without vat). It will be depreciated for 3 years (300€/year) but in 2015 it will only be depreciated 300€/ 12 months * 11 months (includes the month of purchase) = 275€. Then the next 2 years it will be depreciated for 300€ and on the 4th year for the remaining amount (25€)
    • line 9: software
    • line 10: computers, computer parts, modem, etc
      • Bezeichnung = Description of the item (ex: Macbook Air)
      • Anschaffungsdatum = date of purchase
      • Herstellungskosten = netto price of purchase (without vat)
      • Buchwert = remaining value after last years depreciations (see your income tax from the year before)
      • Afa = depreciation of this year
  • line 14: Sammelposten
    • this summ called Sammelposten must be depreciated over 5 years (20% per year)
    • if you create a Sammelpost, you have to include here all the expenses (stationary, furniture, computers and machines, etc) that individually were between 150,01€ (from the fiscal year 2018 on is 250,01€) and 1000€ without vat, which means that in line 33 of the Anlage EÜR you can only add expenses up to 150€ (250€ from the fiscal year 2018 on)

Anlage S (in the Einkommensteuer forms)

• You have to open again the Einkommensteuer file
• line 4:
  • Left line: Your profession (ex: Web-Entwickler und Programmierer)
  • Right square: put the amount from line 109 of the EÜR form

Umsatzsteuererklärung

• It is sent separatly, so it will open in a new window.
  • go to the tab “neu” – open “Unternehmer und Selbständige” – click on “Umsatzsteuererklärung” – click on the button “neu erstellen” in front of the year in question
• line 1 and 2: click the button and fill it
• line 8: your complete name
• line 9: Your profession (ex: Web-Entwickler/Programmierer)
• lines 10 – 13 : your address, phone and email
• line 22 = vereinnhamte Entgelte (if you work with Ist-Steuereung)
• line 28 and 29: If you sold to or bought from other EU-countries tax free (by giving your vat number), then choose 28 (you must also fill the Anlage UR). If not, choose 29.
• line 38 (page 2): sum of the netto values you receive from your clients
  • should be the same as line 14 of the EÜR form
  • the amount that then results on the right square should be the same as line 16 of the EÜR form
• line 122 (page 5): vat that you paid on your expenses (the amount on the receipts)
  • should be the same as line 63 of the EÜR form
• line 168 (page 4): sum of values of field 83 in the übertragunsprotokoll of the umsatzsteuervoranmeldung you printed throughout the year
  • the resulting value in line 109 should correspond to the vat that you forgot to declare throughout the year