Accounting and tax return software and applications

Tax return deadlines: current dates

Covid extensions have ended — standard deadlines apply starting from the 2025 tax return.

A detail that is hardly ever mentioned: the extended “adviser” deadline does not apply to voluntary tax returns. If you are applying of your own accord rather than because you are obliged to, the adviser will not extend the deadline.

Who is required to submit a tax return?

• income not subject to withholding tax at source over €410 per year;
• benefits that affect the tax rate — Elterngeld (parental allowance), Kurzarbeitergeld (short-time work allowance), Arbeitslosengeld (unemployment benefit), Krankengeld (sickness benefit) — over €410;
• salary at the same time from several employers;
• spouses who are taxed jointly, if one of them is in tax class V or VI, or a factor has been included for Class IV;
• a Freibetrag, i.e. a tax-free allowance, has been entered in your wage tax records, and your salary exceeds the set limit;
• your annual wage tax certificate shows the letter S — tax on a one-off payment was calculated without taking previous employment relationships into account;
• The marriage was dissolved this year and one of the spouses has remarried.

Voluntary filing: up to four years back

If you are not obliged to file, you can submit a tax return for the previous four years. In 2026, the following years are still open:

What happens if you’re late?

The late-filing surcharge is 0.25 % of tax due for each month or part thereof, subject to a minimum of €25 per month, up to a maximum of €25,000. It is imposed automatically if the tax return is not submitted within 14 months of the end of the tax year.

But there is an important exception that allays the fear of most readers: the surcharge is not imposed, if the tax is zero or negative, and also if the assessed tax does not exceed the amounts and advance payments already withheld. Put simply: If you are due a refund according to your tax return, there shouldn’t be a late-filing penalty.

What you can deduct: amounts for 2026

The programme will suggest these items itself, but it is useful to know them – many people miss half of them.

What’s new in ELSTER

Specially for our audience. Of the services listed on this page SteuerGo has a full Russian-language interface — it is the only major German tax service where you can complete your return in Russian. There are also English, Polish and Romanian versions. If German is still proving difficult, this is the most sensible start: the tax return itself goes to the tax office in German, while you understand what you are filling in.

What a program must be able to do in 2026–2028

If you are an entrepreneur, the choice of software is now determined not by convenience, but by legal requirements for electronic invoices.

Acceptable formats: XRechnung (pure XML) and ZUGFeRD from version 2.0.1 onwards – except the MINIMUM and BASIC-WL profiles. A regular PDF is not an e-invoice. Good software should not only generate such an invoice, but also check it with a validator.

Small business owners are exempt from issuing electronic invoices — their invoices can always be sent in the usual way. However, they too must be able to receive e-invoices.

GoBD requirements (German rules for electronic bookkeeping and record-keeping)

In addition to invoice format, the software must provide immutability of records with a change log, full traceability and data export for tax audit. The work procedure description (Verfahrensdokumentation) itself is the company’s obligation, not the software’s, but serious services provide a template for it.

The current version of the regulations was updated in July 2025 and, in particular, simplified storage: for electronic invoices, it is sufficient to keep the structured part, and the human-readable version only if it contains additional relevant information. And also: the retention period for invoices has been reduced from ten to eight years.

Free options

Prices for paid services change several times a year, so always check the final amount on the provider’s website. As a guide for August 2026: accounting services for a single person cost roughly 8 to 13 € per month, tax software for private individuals costs 35 to 46 € per return, while ELSTER is always free.

What else to read on finber.de

• Business registration in Germany — taxes, contributions and reporting after launch
• How to become Selbstständige (self-employed) — first steps, permits and state support
• Document retention periods — 8 years for invoices, 10 for annual accounts
• Tax classes in Germany – who is required to file a return and why

Sources

Deadlines, amounts and requirements have been checked against primary sources, as of 19.08.2026:

• AO § 149 (filing deadlines), § 152 (late penalty), § 169 and § 170 (limitation periods); EGAO Art. 97 § 36 — conclusion of COVID extensions
• EStG § 9, § 9a, § 10b, § 10c, § 32a, § 35a, § 46; § 4 para. 5 — flat-rate amounts and obligation to file a return
• Steueränderungsgesetz 2025 (Tax Amendment Act 2025; BGBl. 2025 I No. 363) – commuting allowance of €0.38 per km from the first kilometre, as of 01.01.2026
• UStG § 14, § 14b, § 19, § 27 Abs. 38; UStDV § 34a – electronic invoices and small business mode
• BMF letters on e-invoices dated 15.10.2024 and 15.10.2025; GoBD in the version of 14.07.2025
• BUKG § 10 — lump-sum amounts for work-related relocation
• Official portal elster.de – new services einfachELSTERplus, ElsterSecure, Meine Belege
• Software manufacturer websites – prices and product status on the date of review

This material is for information only and is not tax advice. Program prices and functions change — check them on manufacturers’ websites.