You worked seasonally in Germany and wonder if you need to file a tax return? Not every temporary worker has this obligation, but in many cases filing a return can mean getting back overpaid money. Check who must file a declaration, what documents are needed, and whether seasonal work in Germany counts toward retirement.
Seasonal work in Germany and taxes – who must file and who doesn’t?
Not every seasonal worker must file a tax return, but before you decide to do nothing, it’s worth checking if you’re not losing money. Germany has a tax-free allowance (Grundfreibetrag) which in 2025 amounts to 12,096 euros. If your annual earnings didn’t exceed this sum, theoretically you have no obligation to pay income tax. In practice, however, the employer might have deducted tax advances from your salary, which means you have the right to refund of the overpaid amount.
On the other hand, if you earned more than the allowance, filing may be necessary to avoid problems with the German tax office. It’s also important which tax class (Steuerklasse) you were classified under – people in class I (usually seasonal workers) can count on refunds, but for example in class VI tax deductions are very high and getting money back can be more difficult.
Did you earn in Germany below the tax-free allowance? Check if you can avoid filing
Not everyone realizes that seasonal work in Germany without taxes is possible if certain conditions are met. The tax-free allowance is crucial – if your income didn’t exceed the mentioned 12,096 euros, you shouldn’t have had income tax deducted. Moreover, in some cases employers use simplified employment forms like Minijobs or short-term contracts where income tax isn’t deducted at all or is settled as a lump sum. If you have doubts, it’s worth looking at your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung – this is a document showing how much tax was deducted from your salary. If you see a zero amount for tax there, it means you have no obligation to file in Germany. However, if some money was deducted, filing a declaration can enable its recovery.
If you need to file a tax return with the tax office but don’t know how to approach it, use our tax refund app – Taxando. Simple interface and support from a tax advisor (in the PREMIUM package) make preparing tax documents very easy. We encourage you to test it.
Seasonal work in Germany – did the employer deduct your tax? How to check and what to do next?
Whether you need to file taxes after seasonal work largely depends on your employer’s actions. In Germany, the company is responsible for deducting tax advances – however, this doesn’t mean it was done correctly.
- After finishing seasonal work, you should receive the document Lohnsteuerbescheinigung, which is a statement of your earnings and the amount of deducted taxes and contributions. If the employer didn’t provide you with this document, it’s worth contacting them and asking for its issuance.
- The next step is checking if you didn’t pay too much – if you see any deductions in the tax section, you have a chance for refund of overpaid tax.
- If, however, no amount appears there, it means your income wasn’t taxed and in most cases you don’t need to file a declaration.
Seasonal work and double taxation – do you need to report income in Poland?
Many seasonal workers wonder if income from work in Germany must also be settled in Poland. Fortunately, there’s a double taxation agreement between Poland and Germany, which means you pay tax on seasonal work only in Germany.
However, if you have tax residency in Poland, you’re obligated to file a PIT-36 declaration with ZG attachment, even if you didn’t earn any income in Poland. In this case, German income is reported exclusively for calculating the tax rate (so-called tax progression), which may affect the tax amount on any Polish income – if such also occurred.
To summarize: If in a given year you worked exclusively in Germany but still have residence in Poland (tax residency), you still must file PIT in Poland, reporting German income for information – even though you won’t pay tax on this income in Poland.
Documents necessary for tax settlement after work in Germany – checklist
If you want to recover overpaid tax, you must prepare appropriately.
- The most important document is the Lohnsteuerbescheinigung, which you receive from the employer after finishing work. Based on this, the German tax office determines if you’re entitled to a tax refund.
- Besides this, it’s worth keeping all payslips (Gehaltsabrechnungen) you received during work – they may be useful in case of uncertainties.
- If you incurred additional work-related costs, e.g., travel to Germany, accommodation costs, or purchase of work tools, it’s worth collecting invoices and receipts because they can be deducted from income.
What to do if you didn’t file German taxes on time? Possible consequences and solutions
Not all seasonal workers realize that Germany has specific deadlines for filing tax returns – and different ones depending on the year and method of filing.
The standard deadline for people who file independently is usually July 31st of the year following the tax year.
However, if you use help from a tax advisor (Steuerberater) or tax assistance organization (e.g., Lohnsteuerhilfeverein), this deadline can be automatically extended – even until the last day of February of the second year after the end of the given tax year (for example, for 2023 – until the end of February 2025).
In situations where you’re obligated to file a declaration (e.g., you earned income from several sources or meet other criteria requiring filing), missing the deadline can result in negative consequences – calculation of late interest or imposition of fines.
If, however, you had no obligation to file and still didn’t submit a voluntary declaration, you face no sanctions. In this case, however, you may simply lose the opportunity to apply for tax refund when the statute of limitations expires.
In Germany, however, you can file a voluntary declaration even up to four years retroactively. This means that in 2025 you can still settle taxes and recover refunds for 2021.
It’s worth taking advantage of this because many people unknowingly give up refunds, although they could actually recover several hundred or even several thousand euros.
Does seasonal work in Germany count toward retirement?
Whether the period of seasonal work counts toward your future retirement depends on whether contributions to pension insurance (Rentenversicherung) were deducted.
In the case of standard employment contracts, pension contributions are deducted automatically, which means the worked time can increase your future pension benefit – both in Germany and in international settlements (e.g., with ZUS).
For Minijobs, since 2013 the rule applies that pension contributions are deducted from employee salary by default. The employee can submit an application for exemption from this obligation, but it must be a conscious decision confirmed in writing. If they didn’t use this option, even work in a Minijob can be counted toward retirement.
It’s different with short-term contracts (e.g., up to 3 months or 70 working days per year), which are exempt from the obligation to pay pension contributions. In this case, the worked period won’t be considered in future pension benefits.
Therefore, it’s worth checking what contributions were deducted in your case – especially if you’re planning a longer stay and work in Germany in the future.
Maciej Szewczyk ist IT-Berater, Innovationsmanager und vereidigter deutscher Übersetzer, spezialisiert auf polnisches und deutsches Steuerrecht.
Er sammelte Erfahrungen als Berater in IT-Projekten für viele internationale Unternehmen. Im Jahr 2017 gründete er das Startup taxando GmbH, in dem er die innovative Steuer-App Taxando entwickelte, die die Abgabe der jährlichen Steuererklärung erleichtert. Maciej Szewczyk verbindet technologisches Fachwissen mit fundierten Kenntnissen der Steuervorschriften und ist damit ein Experte auf seinem Gebiet.
Privat ist er glücklicher Ehemann und Vater und lebt mit seiner Familie in Berlin.
