Q: Which services are included?

You can find a detailed list of services here .

Question 1

When you subscribe to the Kontist Tax Service through the Kontist App, we will call you to clarify the start date for your financial bookkeeping.

Accepted Answer

The set start date for your financial bookkeeping will impact which tax declarations are going to be submitted on your behalf by the Kontist Tax Advisory. After your start date has been set, you’ll be notified in the mobile App to sign a Power of Attorney and fill out your tax data.

The Kontist App serves as your ticket to all services offered. To use the Kontist Tax Service you need to use the included Kontist bank account, offered by Kontist GmbH as your business account. You can start using the bank account even before the official start date of your financial bookkeeping.

Our tax experts are only able to properly take care of your financial bookkeeping when all your business transactions are visible in the Kontist App.

Question 2

After your onboarding is complete, the Kontist Tax Advisory's accounting team will take over your financial bookkeeping. As no transaction can be booked without a receipt, it is essential that you submit receipts and invoices as soon as you have them.

Accepted Answer

We made it easy for you to submit receipts in three different ways.

You can do so by either

1. scanning and uploading paper receipts in the Kontist App,

2. by sending them us via Email, or

3. by submitting digital receipts in the Kontist Web App.

A push message will remind you in case a receipt is missing - so no need to worry!

Question 3

It is essential that you create legally compliant invoices when you invoice your clients as a business in Germany. If you invoice in Euros, you can use the Kontist Invoicing Tool in the Kontist Web App.

Accepted Answer

You can duplicate previously created invoices for recurring customers.

The invoice dashboard on the Web App gives you an overview of paid and pending invoices. In case you use a different invoice tool, simply forward them to us via Email.

Once the invoice is paid by your client, it will be automatically attached to the incoming transaction matching the invoice amount and will be booked into your bookkeeping as income.

Question 4

As a business in Germany, you have an obligation to take care of your financial bookkeeping. When you are a customer of the Kontist Tax Service, your financial bookkeeping will be done by the Kontist Tax Advisory on top of your business and private tax declarations.

Accepted Answer

In order for us to do our job, all your business-related income and expenses should be reflected on the Kontist bank account - so avoid using other bank accounts or cash.

If you submit invoices or receipts through the app by the end of each calendar month, an intelligent algorithm will automatically assign a bookkeeping category to each business transaction with a receipt. In the app you can view the respective categories - in real time. Each assigned category is then manually verified by the Kontist Tax Advisory and will be booked in the accounting system.

Based on the financial bookkeeping, the Kontist Tax Advisory will then be able to take care of all your tax matters including

Advance VAT return (“Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung”)
Business Evaluation Assessment (BWA)
Yearly income tax declaration (Steuererklärung)

Yes, it is as easy as that!

Lean back and focus on doing what you love while we do what we love - your taxes! :)

Question 5

Whether the German tax system with its infamous bureaucracy still confuses you or you're in doubt regarding your bookkeeping, we're happy to help!

Accepted Answer

The Kontist Tax Service subscription includes access to consultations from Kontist Tax Advisory in English, which cover the following consultation topics:

Consultations based on your transactions
Consultation around creating invoices
VAT analysis of invoices
Consultations on business expenses such as home office, company car, travel expenses
Consultations on reverse-charge procedures
Answers to questions concerning tax declarations, submitted by the Kontist Tax Advisory
Consultations on fixed assets and depreciations

In addition, the Kontist Tax Advisory will be happy to advise you on many other tax issues, such as cryptocurrencies or the purchase of real estate for an additional fee.

Question 6

For whom can we offer Kontist Tax Service?

Accepted Answer

Currently, we can only offer you the Kontist Tax Service if you are a “Freelancer” (German Freiberufler), Sole proprietor (Einzelunternehmen) or Trade business (Gewerbetreibend) and registered in Germany. We do not support the following German business types: AG, GbR, GmbH, KG, Ltd., OHG, or UG.

Additionally, the following guidelines apply cumulatively:

You do not have cash income.
You do not sell and ship physical goods.

For internal administrative reasons, we reserve the right to exclude certain professions or industries from the Kontist Tax Service, including craftspeople, cleaners, artists and restaurant proprietors.

The Kontist Tax Service is only available for solo self-employed individuals who use the Kontist Premium business bank account as their primary business account.

If you are not a Kontist Premium banking customer yet, the upgrade to Premium is already included in the fee.

Question 7

Which services are included?

Accepted Answer

You can find a detailed list of services here.

Question 8

What services does Kontist Tax Service not offer?

Accepted Answer

Kontist Steuerberatung is not yet able to offer the following matters:

Form FW (funding of home ownership) and Form L (agriculture and forestry)

Kontist Steuerberatung does not offer the following:

Tax declarations for past years (only in exceptional cases)
Assistance in applying for or settling Corona aid and other governmental support programs
Consultation about legal forms
Consultation on wage tax
Consultation on social security

Question 9

What if the service starts throughout the year?

Accepted Answer

If you start with the Tax Service throughout the year, all monthly fees for the previous months of the respective year will accrue retroactively.

Question 10

Does my citizenship influence your decision to take me on as a customer?

Accepted Answer

You don’t need to have German citizenship to open a Kontist account, but you do need to have a German address.

However, Solaris as our banking partner excludes the opening of accounts for US citizens. The reason for this is that for US citizens there are additional information obligations towards US institutions (FATCA), which cannot be mapped.

In all other cases, citizenship has no influence on whether you can open a bank account with us. Please note, however, that in order to open an account you will need to verify your identity via the VideoIDent provider IDnow. Depending on the country, IDnow only accepts certain identification documents. You can find a detailed list here.

You qualify for the Tax Service if you're able to open a Kontist bank account.

Question 11

Further questions?

Accepted Answer

Find more questions and answers here. Our terms & conditions can be found here.

Kontist for Expats 💜

Are you self-employed in 🇩🇪 ?

A Tax Advisory specialised for your needs?

Business Registration

Premium Business Banking*

Bookkeeping in Realtime

Automatic Tax Reserves

Business & private Tax Return

Consulting

Don't speak German (yet)?
No problem. We offer all our services in English!

Want to learn more about self-employment & taxes? Join the Kontist Community!

Kontist for Expats 💜

Tax Advisory, reinvented.

Kontist Tax Service

Classical Tax Advisory

Kontist Tax Service

Classical Tax Advisory

How does it work?

When you subscribe to the Kontist Tax Service through the Kontist App, we will call you to clarify the start date for your financial bookkeeping.

After your onboarding is complete, the Kontist Tax Advisory's accounting team will take over your financial bookkeeping. As no transaction can be booked without a receipt, it is essential that you submit receipts and invoices as soon as you have them.

It is essential that you create legally compliant invoices when you invoice your clients as a business in Germany. If you invoice in Euros, you can use the Kontist Invoicing Tool in the Kontist Web App.

As a business in Germany, you have an obligation to take care of your financial bookkeeping. When you are a customer of the Kontist Tax Service, your financial bookkeeping will be done by the Kontist Tax Advisory on top of your business and private tax declarations.

Whether the German tax system with its infamous bureaucracy still confuses you or you're in doubt regarding your bookkeeping, we're happy to help!

It's as easy as that!

Do your thing, not your taxes!

One app, one account and real people.

Everything in one place.

More time for what really matters!

"If you are not sure what you need to do, just leave it to the hands of experts. It’ll give you peace of mind."

Kontist Tax Service

FAQ

For whom can we offer Kontist Tax Service?

Which services are included?

What services does Kontist Tax Service not offer?

What if the service starts throughout the year?

Does my citizenship influence your decision to take me on as a customer?

Further questions?

Kontist for Expats 💜

Are you self-employed in 🇩🇪 ?

A Tax Advisory specialised for your needs?

Business Registration

Premium Business Banking*

Bookkeeping in Realtime

Automatic Tax Reserves

Business & private Tax Return

Consulting

Don't speak German (yet)? No problem. We offer all our services in English!

Want to learn more about self-employment & taxes? Join the Kontist Community!

Kontist for Expats 💜

Tax Advisory, reinvented.

Kontist Tax Service

Classical Tax Advisory

Kontist Tax Service

Classical Tax Advisory

How does it work?

When you subscribe to the Kontist Tax Service through the Kontist App, we will call you to clarify the start date for your financial bookkeeping.

After your onboarding is complete, the Kontist Tax Advisory's accounting team will take over your financial bookkeeping. As no transaction can be booked without a receipt, it is essential that you submit receipts and invoices as soon as you have them.

It is essential that you create legally compliant invoices when you invoice your clients as a business in Germany. If you invoice in Euros, you can use the Kontist Invoicing Tool in the Kontist Web App.

As a business in Germany, you have an obligation to take care of your financial bookkeeping. When you are a customer of the Kontist Tax Service, your financial bookkeeping will be done by the Kontist Tax Advisory on top of your business and private tax declarations.

Whether the German tax system with its infamous bureaucracy still confuses you or you're in doubt regarding your bookkeeping, we're happy to help!

It's as easy as that!

Do your thing, not your taxes!

One app, one account and real people.

Everything in one place.

More time for what really matters!

"If you are not sure what you need to do, just leave it to the hands of experts. It’ll give you peace of mind."

Kontist Tax Service

FAQ

For whom can we offer Kontist Tax Service?

Which services are included?

What services does Kontist Tax Service not offer?

What if the service starts throughout the year?

Does my citizenship influence your decision to take me on as a customer?

Further questions?

Stay up to date with the latest topics on self-employment!

Don't speak German (yet)?
No problem. We offer all our services in English!