Notice to the tax office of ceasing freelance work (Germany)
Published byDocMuse
This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
The letter a freelancer in Germany — a translator, architect, consultant, teacher or journalist, for example — sends to the tax office (Finanzamt) on giving up their self-employed profession. Section 138 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) requires the notice within one month, and there is no official form for it. It gives the tax number, the kind of work and its last day, says whether the practice is closed or sold, deals with the VAT pre-returns and asks for the advance payments to be adjusted. In German, to post or to send through ELSTER.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Tax office (Finanzamt)
- Tax office's address
- City
- Date
- Last day of the activity
- Tax number (Steuernummer)
- Kind of freelance activity
- How the practice ends
- VAT so far
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- How soon must the German tax office be told that freelance work has ended?
- Within one month of giving it up (§ 138(1) and (4) AO). No particular form is required: a signed letter will do, and the text can also be sent through Mein ELSTER as an ‘other message to the tax office’ (Sonstige Nachricht an das Finanzamt). Always give the tax number, so that the letter is matched to your tax account.
- Is a trade deregistration (Gewerbeabmeldung) also needed in Germany?
- Only for a trade. Liberal professions (§ 18 EStG) neither register nor deregister with the trade office; only the tax office is told when they start and stop. A trade, by contrast, is deregistered with the municipality on the official form GewA 3 (§ 14 GewO), and the municipality informs the tax office. The municipality provides that form, often online too; this letter does not replace it.
- What are the tax consequences of closing a freelance practice in Germany?
- For the year of closure a full income tax return is still due, and a VAT return if the business was liable to VAT. If the practice is sold, or its assets pass into private ownership, a gain on sale or cessation can arise, for which an allowance and a reduced rate may apply (§ 18(3), §§ 16 and 34 EStG). Whether that is your case is best checked beforehand with a tax adviser.
- What happens to advance payments and VAT pre-returns after a German freelance practice closes?
- The tax office adjusts the income tax advance payments to the lower income (§ 37(3) EStG), and the letter asks it to. VAT pre-returns are filed at least for the periods up to the end of the activity, followed by the annual return; the tax office says from when no more pre-returns are needed, and the letter asks. If your turnover fell under the small-business scheme, choose that option when filling in the form.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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