Tax deadlines for the self-employed in Germany: tax calendar 2026 and 2027

Which tax deadlines do the self-employed have in Germany?

Which deadlines apply to you depends on two questions: are you liable for VAT or a small business (Kleinunternehmer)? And do you run a trade (Gewerbe) or are you a freelancer (Freiberufler)? Small businesses have no advance VAT returns and, since 2024, generally no annual VAT return either. Freelancers pay no trade tax (Gewerbesteuer) and therefore have neither a trade tax return nor trade tax prepayments.

Also distinguish two kinds of deadlines: filing deadlines (by when a return must reach the tax office) and payment deadlines (by when the money must be there). For the advance VAT return both fall on the same day. For annual returns the payment date is only stated in the assessment, usually one month after notification.

• Advance VAT return (UStVA): monthly or quarterly, filing and payment on the 10th.
• EC Sales List (ZM): only for services or supplies to businesses in other EU countries, on the 25th.
• Income tax prepayments: quarterly on the 10th of March, June, September and December, once the tax office has set them.
• Trade tax prepayments: quarterly on the 15th of February, May, August and November, to the municipality.
• Annual returns: income tax return with Anlage EÜR, VAT return, trade tax return – once a year.
• Once at the start: the tax registration form (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) within one month of starting your activity.

Advance VAT return: monthly, quarterly, permanent extension

You must submit the advance return electronically via ELSTER by the 10th day after the end of the return period and pay the amount due on the same day (§ 18 Abs. 1 UStG). Whether you file monthly or quarterly depends on the previous year’s VAT: over €9,000 monthly, up to €9,000 quarterly, up to €2,000 the tax office can exempt you completely. Details are in the guide advance VAT return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung).

Founders used to have to file monthly in the year of founding and the following year. This obligation is suspended for the years 2021 to 2026; the expected tax counts instead. The law only provides for the suspension until 2026 – if you start in 2027, check whether it has been extended.

With the permanent extension (Dauerfristverlängerung) every advance return moves by one month: the UStVA for January is then due on 10 March instead of 10 February. In return, monthly filers make a special prepayment (Sondervorauszahlung) of 1/11 of the previous year’s prepayments by 10 February, which is offset against the December return. Quarterly filers get the extension without a special prepayment; their application must be made by the filing date of the first advance return of the year, i.e. by 12 April 2027.

Tax calendar November 2026 to December 2027

The table shows all regular dates with the actual end of the deadline – weekends and nationwide public holidays are already taken into account. “With PE” stands for permanent extension (Dauerfristverlängerung). The ZM dates only apply if you have intra-Community transactions; the prepayments only if the tax office or municipality has set them.

Filing deadlines for the annual returns

The income tax return with the Anlage EÜR, the VAT return and the trade tax return are due seven months after the end of the year (§ 149 Abs. 2 AO), i.e. on 31 July. If a tax advisor or an income tax assistance association (Lohnsteuerhilfeverein) prepares the return, the deadline ends on the last day of February of the year after next (§ 149 Abs. 3 AO). From tax year 2025 the regular deadlines apply again, without the COVID extensions of previous years.

For returns prepared by an advisor, the tax office can also request them earlier (“Vorabanforderung”, § 149 Abs. 4 AO), for example if you filed late in the past or high back payments are expected; the deadline is then four months from notification of the request.

A return is on time if it has reached ELSTER by 23:59 on the last day. Save the transmission log: it is your proof of receipt. If you are allowed to file paper forms, you must put them in the tax office’s letterbox by the deadline – the postmark date does not count.

There is no “free period” between 31 July and the automatic late filing surcharge: from August onwards the tax office can set a surcharge at its discretion and send reminders threatening a penalty payment. Only after 14 months is it obliged to set the surcharge.

Payment grace period: three days – but only for paying

If you pay by bank transfer up to three days after the due date, no late payment surcharge (Säumniszuschlag) arises (§ 240 Abs. 3 AO). The grace period does not apply to payment by cheque or cash: a cheque only counts as paid three days after it reaches the tax office (§ 224 Abs. 2 AO). With a SEPA direct debit mandate, the tax counts as paid on the due date, even if the tax office debits it later.

There is no grace period for filing the advance return – the former five-day filing grace period was abolished in 2004. If you only submit the UStVA on the 12th instead of the 10th, you file late and risk a late filing surcharge (Verspätungszuschlag), even if the payment arrives within the grace period.

Example: the advance return for October 2026 is due on Tuesday, 10 November 2026. The transfer of €1,840 must be credited to the tax office’s account by Friday, 13 November at the latest. If it arrives on Monday, 16 November, the default counts from 11 November: a late payment surcharge of 1% on €1,800 is due, i.e. €18.

Weekends and public holidays: § 108 AO

If a deadline ends on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it only ends at the end of the next working day (§ 108 Abs. 3 AO). This applies to filing deadlines and to due dates. The payment grace period only starts after the postponed date.

The public holidays at the seat of your tax office or municipality are what count. Regional holidays such as Epiphany (6 January), Corpus Christi, Assumption Day (15 August, Saarland and parts of Bavaria), Reformation Day (31 October) or All Saints’ Day (1 November) can therefore only move a deadline in individual federal states. In 2026 and 2027, however, the tax dates on the 10th, 15th and 25th never fall on one of these regional holidays on a working day.

Applying for a deadline extension

If you cannot finish an annual return on time, you can apply for an extension before the deadline expires (§ 109 AO) – informally, most easily via the messaging function in Mein ELSTER. Give a concrete reason (illness, missing documents such as a certificate, moving house, a longer stay abroad) and a realistic new date. Without a reason the application is often refused.

For returns prepared by a tax advisor, an extension beyond the end of February is only possible if the advisor was prevented through no fault of their own. For advance returns, instead of individual extensions there is the permanent extension. For payments you cannot make, an extension does not help – you need an application for deferral (Stundung) or instalments, see checking your tax assessment and objecting.

• Apply before the deadline expires; a later application is possible but less certain.
• State the reason and new date, keep evidence of illness ready.
• An approved extension protects against the automatic late filing surcharge (§ 152 Abs. 3 Nr. 1 AO).

Example: a web designer’s deadline plan for 2027

Lena is a self-employed web designer with a trade in Cologne, liable for VAT, VAT 2026: €6,400 – so quarterly advance returns. She has clients in Austria (reverse charge, so a ZM per quarter), her income tax prepayments are €1,200 per date and her trade tax prepayments €300 per date. She prepares her returns herself.

Her year therefore has 22 fixed dates: 4 advance returns (11 Jan, 12 Apr, 12 Jul, 11 Oct), 4 ZM (25 Jan, 26 Apr, 26 Jul, 25 Oct), 4 income tax prepayments, 4 trade tax prepayments, plus the 2026 annual returns on 2 August 2027 (income tax with Anlage EÜR, VAT, trade tax) – plus the payments from the assessments. If she applies for the permanent extension by 12 April 2027, the advance returns move to 10 May, 10 August, 10 November and 10 February 2028; the ZM dates stay the same.

Her rule of thumb: enter all dates in the calendar at the start of the year, submit the advance return at least three working days before the deadline and let payment run via a direct debit mandate. Then a late transfer can no longer trigger a late payment surcharge.

Prepayments, EC Sales List and other dates

The tax office sets income tax prepayments based on your last assessment if they amount to at least €400 a year and €100 per date (§ 37 EStG). The municipality sets the trade tax prepayments based on the tax base amount (Messbetrag) (§ 19 GewStG). How to calculate them and have them adjusted is explained in the guide tax prepayments.

If business is worse, apply for a reduction with a current profit estimate – the next dates then drop immediately. If it is better, set money aside for the later back payment; the guide building tax reserves shows how much.

You submit the EC Sales List (Zusammenfassende Meldung) to the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern), not to your tax office. For services to businesses in other EU countries a quarterly report is sufficient; if you supply goods within the EU and these exceed €50,000 per quarter, you must report monthly. Unlike the advance return, the ZM does not benefit from the permanent extension.

Other dates the self-employed easily overlook: if you employ staff, you file the payroll tax return (Lohnsteuer-Anmeldung) by the 10th. After an assessment, the back payment is usually due one month after notification – the exact day is in the assessment. And a one-month objection period runs from the notification of every assessment.

Keeping track of tax deadlines with Kontelio

Under Deadlines and obligations, Kontelio shows all advance VAT returns, ZM, annual returns and the trade tax prepayments from your assessment as a list or monthly calendar. The dates come from your settings (return period, permanent extension, activities); weekends and the public holidays of your tax office’s federal state are taken into account. Kontelio can remind you before every deadline.

Kontelio shows the general deadlines without a tax advisor and does not include the payment grace period. In the Business and Pro plans you check the returns with ERiC and send them directly to ELSTER – without typing the figures into a second program.

Frequently asked questions