Taxes

Anybody who works in Germany has to pay taxes. You must also pay taxes on your income from prostitution/sex work. In other words, you have to give a certain amount of the money you earn to the state. This applies no matter whether you are an employee or self-employed.

Taxes are paid to the tax office.

No, this is done by the authority where you apply for your registration certificate. When you register, you can also discuss basic questions about taxes with the staff. You can find more information about the security of your data here.

And this is where you can find more information about taxes.
 

Which tax office is responsible for you depends on where you live or where you spend most of your time. 

If you live in North Rhine-Westphalia, you can either search for your local tax office yourself using the tax office finder or simply ask us. 

If you are self-employed and work in different locations, it is not always easy to find out which tax office is responsible for you. Often it depends on where you spend most of your time or work most of the time. You can simply ask us and we will try to find out for you.

That depends on how much you earn, if you are married, and whether you have children.

These taxes may apply to you:

• Income tax or wage tax
• Trade tax
• Turnover tax
   

It depends on whether you are self-employed or working as an employee.

If you are self-employed, i.e. you are free to choose your working hours and place of work, you are running a business. In that case, you will have to pay income tax and maybe turnover tax.

If you are self-employed or run a prostitution establishment and your profits amount to more than approx. EUR24,500 a year, you also have to pay trade tax.

If you are an employee, for example if you work in a brothel or club and have an employment contract there, your employer will pay wage tax to the tax office on your behalf. At the end of the year and when your employment ends, your employer will give you a wage tax statement.

You are self-employed if you are free to choose both your working hours and your place of work. If you are the operator of a prostitution establishment, you are also self-employed.

You are an employee if you work for an employer (for example a brothel or a club) and have an employment contract there.

You only have to pay income tax on the profit you make.

Profit is what is left after subtracting any turnover tax (19 per cent) and your expenses (for e.g. health insurance, rent, laundry detergent, condoms, etc.) from your annual income.

If your earnings are low, you do not have to pay income tax. This is called the “tax allowance” (Freibetrag) and the amount changes annually. Feel free to contact us, and we will tell you the current amount. Nevertheless, you must always file an income tax return. 

If you are over the “allowance”, this is what you need to do: Tell the tax office when you started working as a self-employed sex worker. Then you will receive a tax number. 

Write down all your earnings and expenses and keep all records and sales receipts of things you need for your job, for example room rent, work supplies like condoms or detergent. You will need them for your tax return.

The receipts are also proof that you are actually working as a prostitute.

Keep all bills, lease agreements and receipts for 10 years.

If you earn more than EUR22,000 a year, you have to pay 19 per cent turnover tax on your earnings. 

If you earned less than EUR22,000 last year and do not expect to earn more than EUR50,000 in the current year, you are considered a small entrepreneur and do not need to pay turnover tax. However, you will then neither be able to charge turnover tax yourself, for example on your own invoices, from others.

Annually: an income tax return (as a rule by 31 July of the following year) and possibly an annual turnover tax return. 

If you are not a small entrepreneur, you must additionally file an advance turnover tax return every month (if the turnover tax of the previous year exceeded EUR7,500) or every quarter (if the turnover tax of the previous year was less than EUR7,500).

You must complete the relevant forms and submit them to the tax office. You can also do that online: www.elster.de

If you receive income from a trade or business, you must submit the forms online.

You can also ask a tax advisor for support. Or simply contact us, we will be happy to help. 

You can find them at your tax office or on www.elster.de

The staff at the tax office add up all the expenses you have reported on your tax return. The result is deducted from your annual earnings. You only have to pay taxes on the remainder. This is called a “tax deduction”.

The tax office will then estimate your profit and your turnover.

The staff members base their calculations on average values and projections. This can be a lot more than what you actually earned. That's why it's better for you to file a tax return.

If you are employed (for example in a brothel or club), your employer must register you with the tax authorities and pay wage tax on your behalf.

Your employer keeps a certain amount of your money and uses it to pay your wage tax and social security contributions (this means health, nursing care, pension and unemployment insurance).

At the end of the year and when your employment ends, your employer will give you a wage tax statement.

That depends on your monthly wages, on whether you are married, and whether you have children.

There are 6 different tax brackets. Depending on whether you are married and whether you have children, you will be placed in one of the tax brackets.

If you need help with tax brackets, you can contact us.