German tax return from your documents
steuer4me builds your German income tax return (Einkommensteuererklärung) from the documents you already have: your employer's annual tax certificate, your bank statements, your owners' association statement. You don't copy figures out of your documents - you enter only a few details once, such as your tax ID and marital status - and every figure links back to the document it came from.
You can already file on paper, with the completed official forms. Filing through ELSTER, the tax administration's online channel, is planned from December 2026.
How it works
Upload your documents
Your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung (your employer's annual tax certificate), bank statements as PDF or CSV export, invoices and receipts, and the WEG-Jahresabrechnung if you own a flat. What no document says - your tax ID, marital status, the purchase price of a rented-out flat - you enter once.
The return builds itself
The documents are read and every transaction is assigned to a category; suggestions made by AI are marked as such. A fixed rules engine computes the tax, never the AI. You review every position and confirm or correct it.
File
Today: the completed official forms with a cover letter, to print, sign and mail. Planned from December 2026: filing through ELSTER, with the official ELSTER preview before you send.
Who it is for
People who live and pay tax in Germany and would rather not fill in German forms line by line.
- You are employed in Germany and receive a Lohnsteuerbescheinigung from your employer.
- You own a flat in Germany, live in it or rent it out, and receive the WEG-Jahresabrechnung from your owners' association.
- You are married and file jointly with your spouse.
- Your income for the year was German income - see below for what is not supported.
What sets steuer4me apart
Built from your documents
You don't copy figures out of your documents. The amounts come from what you upload, including the owners' association statement and a full year of bank transactions. You enter only a few details once, such as your tax ID and marital status.
Every figure traced
Every position traces back to the transaction and the document it came from, so you see where an amount comes from before you confirm it.
Your tax assessment, compared
After a return is filed through steuer4me (planned from December 2026), steuer4me fetches your tax assessment (Steuerbescheid) and compares it with the calculation, position by position. Where it differs, you see where - and when the objection period is expected to end.
No share of your refund
The price depends on the scope of the return, never on a share of your refund.
Official ELSTER preview before you send
With ELSTER filing (planned from December 2026) you see the official preview of the data the tax office receives before you send it. Nothing is sent until you approve it.
The AI does not calculate
Language models read documents and suggest categories. All tax amounts come from a fixed rules engine, whose version is fixed when the case is created.
Prices
Uploading, the analysis, the result preview and the review are free. You pay per return when you file it: when it is sent to the tax office or when you download the completed official forms. No subscription.
Einfach
- Single assessment
- EUR 39.99
- Joint assessment
- EUR 59.99
Employee return with Anlage N, children, pension and insurance contributions, special expenses, extraordinary expenses and household services.
Komfort
- Single assessment
- EUR 99.00
- Joint assessment
- EUR 129.00
Adds rental income, capital income, other income or pensions, the analysis of bank statements or owners' association statements, and large numbers of documents.
Filing is free during the preview.
Some returns are free. The rule and all details are in the terms (AGB, in German); you see the price for your return before you pay.
All prices are final. As a small business under § 19 UStG we charge no VAT.
What steuer4me does not do
Please check this before you upload anything:
- Foreign income is not supported. If you had income from abroad in the tax year - a salary, rent or other income from another country, including foreign income that is exempt in Germany under a tax treaty but still raises your German tax rate (Progressionsvorbehalt) - steuer4me cannot prepare Anlage AUS or Anlage N-AUS and does not calculate that income, and the return cannot be sent through ELSTER. You can print the forms and add those Anlagen by hand.
- The official forms, the ELSTER preview and the cover letter are in German - they are what the tax office receives. The legal pages (Impressum, privacy policy, terms, Programmumfang) are German only, because the German text is the binding one.
- Self-employment and business income (Anlage S, Anlage G, EÜR) are not supported.
- Pensions are only recorded as a fill-in aid for the printout and are not calculated; returns with pensions cannot be sent electronically.
- Returns with capital income of more than one person, or with capital gains tax (Kapitalertragsteuer) withheld, cannot be filed at the moment.
- Tax years before 2025.
Frequently asked questions
Is steuer4me in English?
The app's screens are available in English: switch the language in the menu after you sign in. If you start your return with the app set to English, the explanations written for it are in English too. The official forms, the ELSTER preview, the cover letter and the legal pages are German.
Can I file my return today?
Yes, on paper. steuer4me produces the completed official forms with a cover letter; you print them, sign them and mail them to your tax office. Filing through ELSTER is planned from December 2026.
I had income from abroad. Can I use steuer4me?
Not for that income. Anlage AUS and Anlage N-AUS are not supported, steuer4me does not calculate foreign income, and a return with foreign income cannot be sent through ELSTER. If foreign income is the reason you file, steuer4me is not the right tool for that return.
Which tax years?
You can file the 2025 income tax return. Earlier years are not supported.
Does an AI calculate my tax?
No. AI systems read documents, suggest categories and write explanations. Every suggestion is marked and only takes effect once you confirm it. All tax amounts come from a fixed rules engine.
Who is responsible for the return?
You are. steuer4me is software you use to prepare your own return. We stand behind the calculation within the documented scope; whether your entries and documents are correct and complete is for you to check.
Where is my data processed?
The application, database and document storage run at Hetzner in Germany and Finland. The AI analysis runs at Anthropic and Groq in the USA, under the EU standard contractual clauses and without training on your data. The list of processors (Unterauftragsverarbeiter, in German) names every provider.
How do I get access?
Until launch, steuer4me is an invite-only preview. Write to info@steuer4me.de if you would like to join. With an invitation you sign in under "Sign in".
Join the preview
The preview is invite-only and covers 2025 returns. Write to us if you would like to join.