While employees usually have the choice of whether to file a tax return or not, the situation is different for you as a freelancer or self-employed individual. You are obligated to file a tax return as mandated by the law.
With Complete, you can easily submit the business portion of your tax return directly through Kontist. Please note that this feature is only available in your online banking; it is currently not accessible through your mobile app. This allows you to quickly and easily handle the following attachments:
Anlage EÜR (income-expenditure statement)
Umsatzsteuererklärung (annual VAT return)
If applicable, Gewerbesteuererklärung (only if you have registered a trade)
In addition, you must submit the income tax return. This summarizes all business and private income and expenses to determine your final tax liability. Here, we want to present three options for you:
Elster Online (free public service)
Lohnsteuer Kompakt (User-friendly software, payment is made only after creation)
Steuerberater
Elster Online*
Elster Online is the official online software provided by the tax office. Here, you can create and submit your income tax return for free.
0. Preparation with Kontist Complete
We recommend starting with the business tax return through your Kontist account.
The submitted PDF of your EÜR form will serve as the basis for the next steps
Learn more about submitting your business tax return with Complete here.
1. Select Tax Forms
Go to Anlagenauswahl of the Einkommensteuererklärung
Some Anlagen (attachments) are already pre-selected by default
In addition, according to your income, you must choose one of these attachments
Either Anlage S (when deriving income from self-employment)
or Anlage G (When deriving income from a business operation, trade tax)
2. Specify profession and profit
Click on the additionally selected Anlage S or G
In section "1 - Gewinn" enter your professional title or the designation of your business.
In "Betrag" you enter your profit. You can finde your profit in the Übertragungsprotokoll of your Anlage EÜR in Line 109 "Steuerpflichtiger Gewinn/Verlust".
3. Privat part of your income tax return
With the first two steps, the attachments S/G are typically already completed. Now you just need to fill out and submit the private part of the income tax return. The attachments required for this can vary greatly depending on individual circumstances. However, in addition to the main form, most of our clients typically need the following attachments:
Attachment for Pension Contributions (e.g., for insurances)
Attachment N (for income from additional employment)
Attachment Child (if children are present)
Attachment KAP (for income from capital assets such as stocks/ETFs)
...
Lohnsteuer Kompakt*
There are many third-party tools available to help you prepare your income tax return. Here's an example lohnsteuer-kompakt.de
0. Preparation with Kontist Complete
We recommend starting with the business tax return through your Kontist account.
The submitted PDF of your EÜR form will serve as the basis for the next steps
Learn more about submitting your business tax return with Complete here.
1. Einkünfte Steuerpflichtiger
Select in the menu "Einkünfte Steuerpflichtiger"
At the question "Waren Sie selbständig, gewerbetreibend oder haben eine Fotovoltaikanlage betrieben?" you select YES
If you have income from self-employment, select 'Yes' for "Erzielten Sie Einkünfte aus einer selbständigen oder freiberuflichen Tätigkeit? (Anlage S inkl. Anlage EÜR)"
If you have income from a business operation, select 'Yes' for "Hatten Sie Einkünfte aus einem Gewerbebetrieb oder einer Fotovoltaikanlage? (Anlage G inkl. Anlage EÜR)".
2. Selbstständige Tätigkeiten
Select in the menu "Selbstständige Tätigkeiten"
"Enter your professional title or the designation of the business / type of trade."
3. für Gewerbebetrieb
Select "Gewerbliche Einkünfte" "als Einzelunternehmer aus"
Select at "Die Gewinnermittlung erfolgt nach" the "Einnahmenüberschussrechnung"
Select at "Angaben zur Einnahmenüberschussrechnung (EÜR)" "Die EÜR wurde bereits erstellt"
In "Einkünfte" you enter your profit. You can finde your profit in the Übertragungsprotokoll of your Anlage EÜR in Line 109 "Steuerpflichtiger Gewinn/Verlust".
Schritt 3 für selbständigen oder freiberuflichen Tätigkeit
Select at "Gewerbliche Einkünfte" "als Einzelunternehmer"
Select at "Die Gewinnermittlung erfolgt nach" the "Einnahmenüberschussrechnung" aus
Select at "Angaben zur Einnahmenüberschussrechnung (EÜR)" "Die EÜR wurde bereits erstellt"
In "Einkünfte" you enter your profit. You can finde your profit in the Übertragungsprotokoll of your Anlage EÜR in Line 109 "Steuerpflichtiger Gewinn/Verlust".
4. Privat part of your income tax return
With that, the attachments S/G are typically already completed.
Simply answer all remaining sections truthfully to cover the private parts of your income tax return.
The Lohnsteuer Kompakt interface will guide you step by step through your submission afterward."
Tax advisor*
If you have completed your business tax return with Kontist Complete but would like to work with tax consultants for your income tax return, you only need to provide your tax consultancy firm with the submission protocols. They will take care of everything else for you.
Vorbereitung mit Kontist Complete
We recommend starting with the business tax return through your Kontist account.
The submitted attachments are stored as PDFs in your Kontist account and will serve as the basis for the next steps for the tax consultants.
Learn more about submitting the business tax return with Complete here.
What happens next?
Since you've already completed the business part of your tax return in your Kontist Complete account, submitting your income tax return completes the private part of your tax return as well. The tax office typically takes several weeks to process. So don't worry if you don't hear back for a while. Eventually, you'll receive a tax assessment notice from your tax office by mail.
*This section is not tax advice. The examples provided refer to clients without special cases. If you have any questions, please contact the service provider directly.