Tax return for students in Germany: do you have to file?
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Do I have to file a tax return as a student?
Usually not. If your only job is one where your employer deducts income tax, you do not need to submit a tax return. A Minijob with flat-rate tax does not count here, as it is left out of the tax assessment (Section 40(3), third sentence, of the Income Tax Act (EStG)). Under Section 46(2) EStG, filing becomes mandatory mainly in these cases:
- You have income of more than €410 a year on top of your job, with no income tax deducted, for example from self-employment.
- You work for several employers at the same time, and one of them taxes you under tax class VI.
- You have had a tax-free allowance registered and earn more than €13,614 gross in 2026. The threshold is made up of the basic allowance (€12,348), the employee lump-sum allowance (€1,230) and the lump-sum allowance for special expenses (€36).
Two further mandatory cases are not listed in Section 46. If a loss carry-forward was determined for you at the end of the previous year, Section 56, second sentence, of the Income Tax Implementation Regulation (EStDV) requires you to file a return. And if the tax office asks you to file, you must do so even if none of the above applies (Section 149(1), second sentence, of the German Fiscal Code (AO)).
If your only income is from self-employment, you only have to file once your total income exceeds the basic allowance (Section 56, first sentence, No. 2 EStDV). In 2026 that is €12,348. A trade licence alone does not trigger an obligation to file.
Mandatory returns are due seven months after the end of the year. For 2026 that would be 31 July 2027, a Saturday, so Monday 2 August 2027 is enough (Section 108(3) AO). If you use a tax adviser or an income tax assistance association (Lohnsteuerhilfeverein), you have until 29 February 2028 (Section 149(3) AO), unless the tax office asks for the return earlier.
Why a voluntary tax return can be worth it while you study
Whether a voluntary return is worth it depends mainly on one question: are you doing your first degree or a second qualification? Tax law treats the two very differently.
First degree: special expenses of up to €6,000, but no loss carry-forward
Your first degree, straight after school (Abitur), counts as initial education. The costs are not income-related expenses (Section 9(6) EStG) but special expenses of up to €6,000 a year (Section 10(1) No. 7 EStG). The catch: special expenses only count in the year they arise. If you earn so little that you owe no tax anyway, they lapse. There is no loss carry-forward for them. The Federal Constitutional Court confirmed this rule in its decision of 19 November 2019 (2 BvL 22/14 and others).
During your first degree, a return is therefore only worth it if income tax was deducted from your side job, for example under tax class VI or in a well-paid working student job. In that case you get back what was withheld in excess over the year.
Second degree or studying after vocational training: the loss carry-forward
It is different with a second qualification: a Master’s after a Bachelor’s, a degree after completed vocational training, or a dual study programme as part of an employment relationship. Initial education means a structured programme of at least twelve months full-time that ends with a final examination. With a second qualification, your study costs count as income-related expenses. If they exceed your income, the tax office determines the loss and carries it forward (Section 10d EStG). It is offset against your first paid job, so you pay less tax. It is important to tick the box ‘Declaration for the determination of the remaining loss carry-forward’ on the main form.
Haven’t filed a return yet? You have four years to submit a voluntary one (Section 169(2), first sentence, No. 2 AO), so the tax office will still accept the return for 2022 until 31 December 2026. You can even have a loss from a second qualification determined up to seven years retroactively, as long as no tax assessment has yet been issued for the year in question (Federal Fiscal Court [BFH], judgment of 13 January 2015, IX R 22/14). BAföG is tax-free, as are most scholarships funded from public money, provided they do not require anything in return (Section 3 Nos. 11 and 44 EStG). A company scholarship that comes with a work obligation, on the other hand, is taxable.
Only a genuine loss is determined, that is, when your income-related expenses are higher than your income in the same year. If you earn more on the side, the costs are simply offset. In both cases you can deduct what your studies cost you:
- Travel to university at €0.38 per kilometre of distance, if you study full-time and not as part of an employment relationship. The university then counts as your first place of work (Section 9(4), eighth sentence, EStG). If you study part-time or alongside a job, you claim these journeys as business trips instead (Section 9(1), third sentence, No. 4a EStG).
- Laptop, tablet and software: according to a letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) dated 22 February 2022, their useful life is one year. You can therefore deduct the full cost in the year of purchase, whatever the price. If you also use the device privately, only the share used for your studies counts.
- Other work equipment costing up to €800 net can be deducted immediately; more expensive items are spread over their useful life.
- Specialist literature and tuition fees.
- €6 for each day you mainly study at home and do not go to university, up to a maximum of €1,260 a year (Section 4(5), first sentence, No. 6c EStG).
Which costs count in detail is covered in our guide Deducting study costs, and you can find an overview of study-related costs here.
Do your tax return yourself or use a tax adviser?
If you are unsure, an income tax assistance association (Lohnsteuerhilfeverein) or a tax adviser can help, for example your parents’ tax adviser. Income tax assistance associations have one limit, though: they may not advise you once you have income from a business or self-employment, or make sales that are subject to VAT. Income that is completely tax-free is exempt, for example as a part-time instructor under Section 3 No. 26 EStG (Section 4(3) of the Tax Advisers Act (StBerG), reworded with effect from 1 September 2026). With a freelance side job, you therefore need a tax adviser. Nobody can promise you a refund without seeing your documents, so be sceptical of anyone who does.
ELSTER, the tax administration’s online tax software, is free. Before you submit, it checks your details for plausibility, and under ‘Check and calculate tax’ it shows you a non-binding calculation of your refund or back payment. I’ve been using ELSTER for over ten years and have never had to submit any receipts. Paid tax programmes, on the other hand, guide you through the return with questions and also submit it electronically to the tax office.
Studentensteuererklärung, for example, is software built specifically for students’ needs. That makes it particularly well suited to filing a return during your studies. It also has a plausibility check and a calculation of your expected refund or loss carry-forward. It also shows you which typical costs students can deduct, and how much.
File your tax return now as a student