Taxfix: Make the German way with taxes an easy way for you

Moving to a new country for work is exciting, but it also comes with a lot of challenges, starting with registering at city hall, then sorting out a bank account, taking out insurance… the list goes on. And all of that is made much harder by the language barrier. 

After settling in, getting to grips with the local public transportation system, managing to not get lost on your way to work, and finally starting to feel at home in your new apartment, you might start to think you have made it, and the bumps in the road are in the past. 

You’ve managed to navigate your way through Germany’s famous bureaucracy and got used to the stickling over details - the German way - just to find that, unfortunately, there’s still more to come. 

Complete your tax return in 22 minutes with the Taxfix app

Taxes in Germany

Specifically, that hurdle you will soon stumble across is your tax return. To point out the elephant in the room straight away: tax offices in Germany are not big on communicating in any other language than German. 

You might have made it to Level B1 or B2, or even got into the C-zone of German language limbo - but none of this will help when you come face to face with the tax return forms the tax office puts in front of you. These forms will crush your confidence in your new language skills. You might start to question whether you’ve learned any German at all over the past few months. 

Taxfix has your back!

The team at Taxfix have one mission: they want to support you to turn your insecurities and fears around tax filing into confidence. 

Did you know that the average tax refund in Germany is around 1.051 euros? But a lot of taxpayers don’t even bother to file their taxes because it is just too complicated. Think of all the money they’re missing out on!

Make the best of the German way

Taxfix designed a questionnaire based on all the relevant topics for your tax return. Instead of filling out complicated forms that nobody can really understand, Taxfix managed to create a catalogue of 70 simplified questions that can be used to fill in the blanks of the tax form.

The app is designed to keep it simple and enable you to sprint through all of the questions as fast as Usain Bolt runs the 100 metre sprint. Well, okay, you might be a bit slower than 9,58 seconds, but compared to the time it would otherwise take you to fill out all the forms, this comparison is pretty much on point. 

In Taxfix’s experience, you will need 22 minutes on average to complete the question flow, and at the end you will see how much of a refund you can expect to receive for being brave enough to tackle the German tax system. 

Automatic filing - so you can put your feet up

Once you’ve answered all of the questions, you can authenticate and submit your tax return. Your answers will automatically be put into the right form and sent to your local tax office via the official ELSTER interface. 

And don’t worry! The Taxfix app works in both German and English - and so does the support team, via phone or mail. 

You pay for what you get

Downloading and using the TaxFix app is free. While costs for tax advisory services can vary between cheap and “why the hell did I even bother getting a refund if I spend the whole thing on a tax advisor?”, Taxfix wants to be as transparent as possible. 

If your refund is estimated to be less than 50 euros (and you’re not obliged to file your tax return), you’d pay nothing. You will only be charged by Taxfix if your estimated refund is higher than 50 euros or if filing is mandatory in your case. Taxfix's flat fee is just 39,99 euros. To end this on a good note: you can claim these costs as deductible tax consulting fees in your next tax return. Whoopee! 

Hand in hand for you

It’s true: firsts can be scary. Especially when it’s your first time filing your tax return in Germany. Therefore, Taxfix and IamExpat decided to say “thank you” by offering you a 50 percent discount on the full price. 

Simply use the voucher code TX_IAMEXPAT50 at the checkout to redeem your offer. 

After submitting, all you have to do is wait for the tax office to do their magic, and feel confident that you’ve successfully filed your taxes for the very first time.