Have you worked seasonally in Germany? Check if you need to file taxes!

You have worked seasonally in Germany and are wondering if you need to file taxes? Not every seasonal worker is required to do so, but in many cases, filing can mean a refund of overpaid money. Check who is required to file a tax return, what documents are needed, and if seasonal work in Germany counts towards your pension.

Seasonal work in Germany and taxes – who needs to file and who doesn’t?

Not every seasonal worker has to file a tax return, but before you decide to do nothing, you should check if you’re not losing money. In Germany, there is a basic tax allowance, which in 2025 will be €12,096 . If your annual income did not exceed this amount, you theoretically have no obligation to pay income tax. In practice, however, the employer might have deducted tax prepayments from your salary, which means you are entitled to a refund of the overpaid amount .

If, on the other hand, you earned more than the allowance, a tax filing may be necessary to avoid issues with the German tax office. It’s also important in which tax class you were assessed – persons in class I (commonly seasonal workers) can expect refunds, but for example, in class VI, the tax deductions are very high, and a refund may be harder to obtain.

Did you earn under the basic tax allowance in Germany? Check if you can avoid filing

Not everyone is aware that seasonal work in Germany can be tax-free if certain conditions are met. The key is the basic tax allowance – if your income did not exceed the mentioned €12,096, you should not have had income tax deducted. Additionally, some employers use simplified employment forms such as mini-jobs or short-term contracts, where income tax is either not deducted at all or is calculated as a lump sum. In case of doubt, it is worth checking the income tax certificate – this document shows how much tax was deducted from your salary. If you see a zero amount for tax, it means you are not obligated to file taxes in Germany. If money was deducted, filing a return may allow for a refund.

If you have to file a tax return with the tax office but don’t know how to go about it, use our tax refund app – Taxando. The easy user interface and support from a tax advisor (in the PREMIUM package) make preparing the tax documents very easy. We encourage you to test it.

Seasonal work in Germany – has your employer deducted your tax? How to check and what to do next?

Whether you need to file taxes after seasonal work depends significantly on your employer’s actions. In Germany, the company is responsible for deducting tax prepayments – but this does not mean that it did so correctly.

• After the end of seasonal work, you should receive the document income tax certificate , a statement of your earnings and the amount of deducted taxes and contributions. If the employer has not sent you this document, you should contact them and request its issuance.
• The next step is to check if you have overpaid – if you see any deductions in the tax section, you have a chance for a refund of the overpaid tax.
• . If there is no amount, it means your income was not taxed and, in most cases, you do not need to file a return.

Seasonal work and double taxation – do you need to report income in Poland?

Many seasonal workers wonder if income from work in Germany also needs to be reported in Poland. Fortunately, a double taxation agreement exists between Poland and Germany, which means you only pay tax on seasonal work in Germany.

However, if you have tax residency in Poland, you are obliged to submit a PIT-36 declaration with appendix ZG, even if you did not earn any income in Poland. In this case, the German income is declared solely for the calculation of the tax rate (so-called tax progression) , which can affect the tax rate on any potential Polish income – if such also occurred.

In summary:  If you only worked in Germany in the relevant year but still maintain your residence in Poland (i.e., tax residency), you still need to file a PIT declaration in Poland, where you declare the German income for informational purposes – although you do not pay tax on this income in Poland.

Documents needed for tax filing after working in Germany – checklist

If you want to recover overpaid tax, you must prepare accordingly.

• The most important document is the income tax certificate, which you receive from the employer after the job ends. Based on this, the German tax office determines if you are entitled to a tax refund.
• Additionally, you should keep all payslips that you received during your employment – they can be useful in case of any discrepancies.
• If you incurred additional work-related expenses, such as travel to Germany, accommodation costs, or purchase of work equipment, you should collect receipts and invoices since these can be deducted from your income.

What to do if you haven’t filed taxes from Germany on time? Possible consequences and solutions

Not all seasonal workers are aware that there are specific deadlines for filing a tax return in Germany – and they vary depending on the year and type of tax filing.

The standard deadline for individuals filing their own taxes is usually July 31 of the year following the tax year.

However, if you use the help of a tax advisor or a tax assistance organization (e.g., income tax assistance association), this deadline can be automatically extended – even until the last day of February of the second year after the end of the relevant tax year (for instance, for the year 2023 – until the end of February 2025).

In situations where you are required to file a return (e.g., you have income from multiple sources or meet other criteria that require filing), failing to meet the deadline can have negative consequences – interest on overdue payments or fines.

However, if you had no obligation to file and still chose not to file a voluntary return, you are not subject to penalties. In this case, you might simply lose the opportunity to request a tax refundif the statute of limitations expires.

In Germany, however, you can submit a voluntary return retroactively for up to four years . This means that in 2025, you can still file taxes and receive refunds for 2021.

It’s worth taking advantage of this, as many people unknowingly forgo refunds, even though they could potentially receive several hundred or even several thousand euros back.

Is seasonal work in Germany counted towards retirement?

Whether the time spent on seasonal work is counted towards your future pension depends on whether contributions to the pension insurance were made.

For standard employment contracts, pension contributions are automatically deducted, which means that the time worked can increase your future pension – both in Germany and in international settlements (e.g., with ZUS).

Since 2013, the rule is applicable to mini-jobs that pension contributions are automatically deducted from the employee’s salary. The employee can request an exemption from this obligation , but this must be a conscious decision that is confirmed in writing. If this option wasn’t used, even work in a mini-job can be counted towards the pension.

It is different with short-term contracts (e.g., up to 3 months or 70 working days a year), which are exempt from the obligation to pay pension contributions. In this case, the time worked is not considered in future pension benefits.

Therefore, you should check which contributions were deducted in your case – especially if you plan a longer stay and work in Germany in the future.