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The entire world of tax knowledge

Lohnsteuer kompakt FAQs

 


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Other income



What if income from benefits is negative?

Negative income or losses from benefits can be offset against profits from similar income in the same year. However, it must be clear that there is a fundamental possibility of achieving a surplus with the benefits. Otherwise, the losses will not be recognised, and the income will not be taxable.

Loss offset: carry back and carry forward

If your income from benefits is negative, you can carry back the losses to the previous year and offset them against profits made there. Alternatively, you can carry forward the loss to the following year and offset it against future surpluses. This reduces your taxable income in the respective year.

Regulation for loss carryback and carryforward from 2024

From 1 January 2024, some changes will come into effect regarding the amount of loss carryback and carryforward:

  • Loss carryback: From 2024, the maximum loss carryback is:
    • 1 million Euro for individuals
    • 2 million Euro for married couples (joint assessment)
  • Loss carryforward: Up to 1 million Euro (individuals) or 2 million Euro (married couples) can be fully deducted. Amounts exceeding this are only credited at 60% of the remaining income.
Planned increase in loss carryforward from 2024 to 2027

Between 2024 and 2027, the loss carryforward will be more generous beyond the above limits. Amounts exceeding this can be deducted up to 70% of the remaining income. This regulation ends in 2027, and from 2028 the 60% rule applies again.

Restrictions on options

Previously, taxpayers could decide whether to partially or completely avoid the loss carryback. Since 2022, this option has been restricted: You can now only completely avoid the loss carryback and carry forward the entire loss to the following year, but no partial amounts can be carried back.

Conclusion

From 2024, the previous maximum limits for loss carryback of 1 million Euro for individuals and 2 million Euro for married couples will apply again. At the same time, the loss carryforward up to these amounts remains fully deductible, while amounts exceeding this can only be deducted at 70% of the remaining income. From 2028, the limit for loss carryforward will be reduced to 60% again. If your income from services is negative, you can continue to use losses through carryback or carryforward to reduce your taxable income.

What if income from benefits is negative?


Field help

Have you received any other payments (e.g. commissions, one-off payments)?

If income is not attributable to any other type of income, it may be classified as "income from other earnings".

Other earnings include, for example, brokerage commissions, income from the occasional rental of movable assets and for one-off or occasional jobs.

Examples:

  • Commissions for the placement of course participants.
  • Commission for concluding insurance for oneself or for relatives.
  • Charge for chartering your own motorboat.
  • Fee for renting a motorhome to changing tenants.
  • Fees for occasional performance as an amateur musician.
  • Fees for lending private objects, for example, concrete mixer, other handicraft equipment.
  • Fee for the care of an unrelated person.
  • Remuneration for a service rendered as a courtesy, for example, assistance with relocation.
Have you received parliamentary remunerations (as a member of parliament)?

If you have received remunerations as a deputy, select Yes here. These include among others

  • Indemnities
  • Official allowances
  • Supplementary payments for health insurance contributions
  • Transition benefit
  • Interim benefit and
  • Death benefit,

which were paid to you as a member of the Landtag pursuant to the relevant laws of the federal states, as a member of the Bundestag pursuant to the German Parliamentary Act (Abgeordnetengesetz) or as a member of the European Parliament pursuant to the European Parliamentary Act (Europaabgeordnetengesetz).

Income
Income - Recurring payments
Did you regularly receive recurring payments in 2024?

Select "yes" if you received regular payments in 2024 that are not classified as traditional pension income but are still taxable as other income.

Which payments should be entered here?

Regular payments include, in particular:

  • Lifetime annuity payments from private agreements - Example: You receive regular payments in return for waiving an inheritance or a compulsory share.
  • Payments from individual pension commitments - Example: Monthly payments from a former employer based on a private pension commitment, without a statutory or company pension.
  • Recurring payments from contractual agreements - Example: Ongoing annuity payments related to a farm transfer or property transfer.

What should not be entered here?

The following income should not be recorded in this section, but under "Pension income":

  • Statutory pensions (e.g. old-age pension, disability pension)
  • Annuities
  • Company pensions
Total income
Company name and explanatory note
Have you had losses from tax deferral models or loss allocation companies?

If you have incurred losses from tax deferral models, you can enter them here.

Note: The entered values are not included in the calculation of the expected tax refund!

Have you received regular maintenance payments?

Select "yes" if you received regular maintenance payments from your divorced or permanently separated spouse or partner and they deduct the payments as special expenses (real splitting with your consent via Form U).

The maintenance payments are only taxable for you if:

  • the payments are from your divorced or separated spouse/partner,
  • you have agreed to the so-called real splitting (via Form U), and
  • your ex-partner deducts the payments as special expenses.

In this case, you must declare the amounts received as other income.

Example: You receive 1.000 Euro per month in maintenance payments from your ex-wife. You have agreed to the tax consideration via Form U.

Have you received compensation payments to avoid pension rights adjustments?

Select "yes" here if you received compensation payments from your divorced or permanently separated spouse in 2024 to avoid a pension rights adjustment.

These payments are taxable for you under certain conditions, especially if your ex-partner deducts the amounts as special expenses (sect. 10 para. 1a no. 3 of the Income Tax Act (EStG)).

Conditions for tax deduction by the payer and tax liability for you:

  • Your consent to the tax deductibility is required (Form U).
  • There must be a court settlement or a notarised contract in which the avoidance of the pension rights adjustment is expressly regulated.
  • The payments are made to settle a claim for pension rights adjustment.

Example: Ms A and Mr B divorced in 2024. To avoid a pension rights adjustment, Mr B pays a one-off sum of 25.000 Euro to Ms A based on a notarised contract. Ms A agrees that Mr B deducts this amount as a special expense. Ms A must declare the payment in her tax return.

Have you earned income from mining, forging, staking, lending and/or participating in airdrops or similar transactions?

Select "yes" if you have generated income from mining, forging, staking, lending and/or participation in airdrops or similar transactions.

Mining: A process in which computers solve complex problems to generate cryptocurrencies and verify transactions.

Forging: Similar to mining, but often used in conjunction with certain cryptocurrencies to verify transactions and receive rewards.

Staking: The locking of cryptocurrency in a wallet to secure the blockchain and receive rewards for doing so.

Lending: Lending your cryptocurrency to other users in exchange for interest.

Airdrops: Free distribution of cryptocurrency tokens to holders, often as a reward or to promote a project.


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