Taxes for Investors & Traders in Germany in Depth
Learn how German capital-income taxation really works behind the bank statement: withholding mechanics, allowances, loss pots, tax-loss harvesting, the Anlage KAP forms, the Günstigerprüfung, foreign withholding-tax reclaims, crypto and private sales, old holdings, family planning and year-end documentation.
Self-study course Self-study course: written lessons, videos and downloadable materials for independent learning. There is no supervision, assessment, individual feedback or tutoring. Self-check quizzes are evaluated automatically in your browser — we do not see your results.
All 13 lessons free
Before you start
- Basic German tax orientation for funds (course ETFs, Funds & Long-Term Investing, lesson on German taxation of funds)
- Familiarity with shares, ETFs, dividends and realised versus unrealised gains
- Comfort with percentages and simple spreadsheet calculations
What you will be able to do
- Calculate the total tax on a capital gain or dividend including Solidaritätszuschlag and Kirchensteuer, using FIFO acquisition costs
- Allocate a Freistellungsauftrag across banks and use unused allowance before year-end with a documented calculation
- Explain the share pot, the general pot and the withholding-tax pot, and offset losses across banks with a Verlustbescheinigung
- Plan a legal tax-loss harvest in Germany, quantify the saving and the costs, and avoid the typical timing errors
- Decide when the Anlage KAP, KAP-INV and KAP-BET must be filed and complete them for income from a foreign broker
- Test whether the Günstigerprüfung or the Teileinkünfteverfahren beats the 25 percent flat rate and calculate a foreign withholding-tax reclaim with its cost-benefit threshold
Lessons in this course
Abgeltungsteuer mechanics in detail: Solidaritätszuschlag, Kirchensteuer, how the bank withholds, FIFO and acquisition costs
Calculate the exact total tax rate with and without church tax, follow the bank's withholding steps and determine the taxable gain of a sale with the FIFO rule and acquisition costs.
Freistellungsauftrag strategy: splitting across banks, joint accounts, the NV-Bescheinigung and using unused allowance before year-end
Allocate the saver's allowance across banks based on expected income, handle spouses and children correctly, and realise gains before year-end to use allowance that would otherwise be lost.
Verlustverrechnungstöpfe: the share pot versus the general pot, cross-bank offsetting with a Verlustbescheinigung and loss carry-forward
Understand which losses go into which pot, how the bank nets them, how to move losses between banks with a Verlustbescheinigung by 15 December and how the tax office carries losses forward.
Tax-loss harvesting legally in Germany: realising losses, repurchasing, timing before year-end and the limits on derivative losses
Plan a tax-loss harvest that is accepted by German courts, measure the real saving after fees and the Teilfreistellung, and avoid wasting losses against allowance-covered income.
Anlage KAP, KAP-INV and KAP-BET: when you must file, section by section, and reporting income from foreign brokers
Know when the capital-income forms are mandatory and when they are optional, what each section asks for, and how to declare dividends, gains and fund income from a broker that withholds no German tax.
Günstigerprüfung and the Teileinkünfteverfahren: when your personal rate beats 25 percent, with worked examples for low incomes
Calculate with the 2026 tariff whether taxing capital income at your personal rate saves money, and test the Teileinkünfteverfahren option for shareholders with a business stake.
Foreign withholding tax reclaim in practice: crediting up to 15 percent, procedures for Switzerland, France and Austria and cost-benefit thresholds
Separate the creditable part of foreign withholding tax from the reclaimable part, follow the reclaim steps for Switzerland, France and Austria, and decide with numbers when a reclaim is worth it.
Crypto Taxation in Depth: One-Year Holding Period, Freigrenze, Staking and Lending Income, Wallet-by-Wallet FIFO and the BMF Guidance
Apply the one-year rule, the €1,000 Freigrenze, the §22 rules for staking and lending rewards and the wallet-by-wallet FIFO method of the BMF letter to a real crypto transaction history.
Private Veräußerungsgeschäfte versus Kapitalerträge: Gold, Xetra-Gold, Crypto, Physical Commodities and Certificates
Decide for each instrument whether §23 (private sale, one-year rule, personal rate) or §20 (capital income, 26.375 percent, no holding period) applies, and calculate the tax difference.
Altbestand and Bestandsschutz: Pre-2009 Shares, Fund Units Bought Before 2018 and the €100,000 Allowance
Work out which old holdings are still tax free, how the fictitious sale of 31 December 2017 splits a fund gain, how to claim the €100,000 allowance and how FIFO can spoil grandfathering.
Family Tax Planning: Junior-Depot, Gifting Securities, Schenkungsteuer Allowances and the Rules Against Abuse
Use a child's own allowances and the gift tax exemptions correctly, transfer securities without losing their tax history, and avoid the mistakes that make the tax office treat the child's money as yours.
Documentation: Jahressteuerbescheinigung, Erträgnisaufstellung, Foreign-Broker Records, Retention Periods and Software
Know which documents your bank produces, what you must build yourself for a foreign broker, how to convert foreign-currency trades into euro gains correctly, and how long to keep everything.
A Year-End Tax Checklist and a Personal Tax Calendar for Investors and Traders
Run a structured year-end review of pots, allowances, holding periods and liquidity for the Vorabpauschale, and build a twelve-month tax calendar with the deadlines that matter in 2026 and 2027.
Living Off a Portfolio: FIRE, Safe Withdrawal Rates and the Entnahmeplan
After this course, continue with Living Off a Portfolio: FIRE, Safe Withdrawal Rates and the Entnahmeplan to apply these tax rules to the withdrawal phase of your portfolio.
View course outline