{"id":710,"date":"2020-04-06T18:54:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T16:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstellar.accountable.de\/?p=710"},"modified":"2025-05-05T10:55:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T08:55:52","slug":"top-9-tax-tips-for-the-self-employed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstellar.accountable.de\/en\/blog\/top-9-tax-tips-for-the-self-employed\/","title":{"rendered":"The top 9 tax tips for the self-employed – our guide for freelancers in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As part of the German launch of Accountable, we have given a number of workshops and webinars. Many thanks to our friends from Factory Berlin<\/a>, WeWork, St. Oberholz<\/a>, Mindspace, Rent24<\/a>, Allianz F200, Malt<\/a> and Codecontrol<\/a> who made this possible. You are great hosts!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The feedback was consistently positive and we were able to answer many questions directly in the workshops. Because this was also a lot of information to process, we have summarised the nine most important tips for self-employed people here:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Make sure you do everything right from the start<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Many entrepreneurs think first of their business when they start. The accounting comes later. If documents are collected at all, then in shoe boxes or plastic foils. Do not do that! You will lose a lot of money and time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is quick and efficient to proceed systematically and disciplined from the beginning. Here is a solution for the classic paper route.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Create a folder with four sections:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Unpaid bills to clients:<\/strong> Once you’ve sent an invoice to a client, file it here. (You can use this\u00a0free invoice template<\/a> to create legally correct invoices for Germany.)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Paid invoices to customers<\/strong>: Once a customer has paid, staple the invoice to this category. Note the payment date on the invoice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Receipts and incoming invoices<\/strong>: You must document all expenses. File these receipts here and take a look at them. Can you still read the receipt in a year’s time? Is the receipt self-explanatory? If not, make a copy or attach a note.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Bank statements:<\/strong> You will not receive all receipts or invoices for expenses automatically. At the end of the month, check the bank statements to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    \ud83d\udca1Tip:<\/strong> Make it easy on yourself and always attach documents to the top of the respective category. And: don’t put it off, do it immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Of course, you can also digitally follow the paper route and create appropriate folders in Dropbox or Google Drive, for example. However, you should decide on one of the two alternatives and stick with it: paper or digital. Under no circumstances should you use both at the same time. This will quickly lead to chaos and can take up an incredible amount of time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If you choose paper, print out all the digital documents you have. If you use digital folders, you will need to scan all paper documents. But keep all the original receipts, even the digital originals (for example, the email with the invoice attachment).<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    \ud83d\udca1 Tip from Accountable: With our app you can easily digitise paper receipts. There is no need for the tiresome re-sorting of receipts. And you always have an export as xls with pdf documents at hand.<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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    2. Use the deductibility of business expenses<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    As a self-employed person you have to take care of a lot of things yourself. At the same time you have more opportunities to save taxes. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Vorsteuer:<\/strong> This is the VAT that you have to pay when you buy goods or services. Generally you get it back from the tax office as a normal entrepreneur. There are of course exceptions. Kleinunternehmer, for example, do not get the VAT refunded.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Income tax, Soli (Solidarit\u00e4tszuschlag) & trade tax (Gewerbesteuer):<\/strong> These taxes depend on your profit. The higher the profit, the higher the tax rate. So the more you earn, the less you will have left in the end, at least in percentage terms. But you can lower your taxable profit with business expenses and save a lot of money.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \ud83d\udc46Example:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Marie works as a designer and has a profit of 40,000 euros a year (marginal tax rate: 40%). She buys a camera for 500 Euros. This is what she will get as a tax refund:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sales tax 80 euros + <\/span>Income tax and Soli 168 Euro + <\/span>Tax advantage 248 Euro<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    \ud83d\udca1 Tip from Accountable: As a self-employed person there are a number of business expenses that you can (and should) claim for tax. Nobody always has all the detailed rules about taxes in their head, so we have included all the tax rules in the Accountable app. This means you get the right tax tip for every expense at the right time and don\u2019t find out about missed tax savings at the end of the year.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \ud83d\udc49 You can also use our “Tax Savings Search Engine<\/a>” to search directly for the issues that interest you most. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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    3. Deduct the costs for your home office<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Most people are familiar with these rules: If you work in a home office, you can <\/span>deduct the costs in proportion to the total living space<\/span><\/a>. But not everyone can deduct his or her work space at home for tax purposes, because the prerequisites are strict:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n