A Year-End Tax Checklist and a Personal Tax Calendar for Investors and Traders

What you will learn

• A ten-point year-end checklist that turns the earlier lessons into decisions with euro values.
• The fixed dates of the investor's tax year, from the Vorabpauschale in January to the Verlustbescheinigung in December.
• How to estimate the cash you need in January and the refund from the return.
• How to keep the calendar current.

Explanation

Most tax money is lost through missed dates, not wrong forms: an allowance left unused, a loss not certified, a sale one week before a holding period ended. Run the checklist in the first half of December, before bank cut-offs. Dates are as of 2026; check them each year.

The year-end checklist

1. Pots per bank (lesson 3). Losses at one bank and gains at another are only offset through the return, and only with a Verlustbescheinigung requested by 15 December.
2. Sparer-Pauschbetrag (lesson 2). Unused amounts can still be moved before year-end at most banks; otherwise the return applies the full €1,000 (€2,000 for couples), but only if you file.
3. Realise or defer (lesson 4). A loss realised in December offsets this year's gains; a gain deferred to January is taxed a year later.
4. §23 holding periods (lessons 8 and 9). List every coin, metal and delivery-claim ETC with its purchase date; a few weeks of patience can make a gain tax free.
5. Günstigerprüfung (lesson 6). In a low-income year (parental leave, studies), realising gains now rather than next year can be cheaper.
6. Vorabpauschale liquidity. In early January the bank books the tax on the Vorabpauschale of accumulating funds. The BMF publishes the Basiszins each January (3.20 percent for 2026, 2.53 percent for 2025); Vorabpauschale = fund value at the start of the year × Basiszins × 0.7, capped by the actual value increase, minus distributions, then reduced by the Teilfreistellung. Keep cash or a free Freistellungsauftrag at that bank.
7. Foreign withholding tax (lesson 7). Start reclaims while deadlines are open.
8. Gifts (lesson 11). Execute planned gifts before 31 December; notify within three months.
9. Documents (lesson 12). Download trade histories from every foreign broker and exchange now.
10. Church tax. A Sperrvermerk against the automatic church tax query must reach the BZSt by 30 June to apply from the next year; the banks' query runs from 1 September to 31 October.

The personal tax calendar

Worked example

Hypothetical example: a December review for a single person, church tax and fees ignored.

• Bank A: realised share gains €4,200; Freistellungsauftrag €0; tax withheld €4,200 × 26.375% = €1,107.75.
• Bank B: share pot loss €1,500; interest €400 covered by a Freistellungsauftrag of €1,000, so €600 unused.
• Crypto bought eleven months ago with a €900 gain; no other §23 sales.
• Accumulating equity ETF worth €50,000 on 1 January 2026, up during the year.

Decisions. (1) Request a Verlustbescheinigung from bank B by 15 December. In the return: income €4,200 + €400 = €4,600, minus loss €1,500, minus Sparer-Pauschbetrag €1,000 = €2,100 taxable; tax €2,100 × 26.375% = €553.88; refund €1,107.75 − €553.88 = €553.87 (€395.63 from the loss, €158.25 from the unused allowance). (2) Hold the crypto one more month: after twelve months the €900 is tax free in any case. (3) Vorabpauschale for 2026, booked in January 2027: €50,000 × 3.20% × 0.7 = €1,120; after 30 percent Teilfreistellung €784; tax €784 × 26.375% = €206.78. Keep that cash on the settlement account or assign part of next year's Freistellungsauftrag to that bank.

Exclusions: the Vorabpauschale cap, distributions and church tax.

Common mistake

Practice activity

On paper, build a calendar for the coming year: accumulating ETFs worth €80,000 at bank A; shares at bank B with a €2,000 loss in the pot; Bitcoin bought on 20 March; church tax with a wish to opt out of the automatic query; a planned gift of securities to your daughter. List at least six dated entries and the expected Vorabpauschale tax at a Basiszins of 3.20 percent and 30 percent Teilfreistellung.

Key takeaways

• Run the ten-point checklist in early December, when every action is still possible.
• Three dates matter most: January for the Vorabpauschale cash, 15 December for the Verlustbescheinigung, 31 July for the return.
• Count holding periods and allowances per bank, pot and person before you sell.
• Thresholds, the Basiszins and deadlines change; update the calendar every January.

Next step

Continue with the course "Living Off a Portfolio: FIRE, Safe Withdrawal Rates and the Entnahmeplan", where the tax rules of this course are applied to the drawdown phase.