Beschränkte Steuerpflicht
Limited tax liability for non-residents on German-sourced income.
Beschränkte Steuerpflicht applies to individuals who are not resident in Germany but have German-sourced income. For real-estate owners, this means German rental income is taxable in Germany because the property is located there. The owner generally files a limited German income-tax return and reports the property through Anlage V. A key practical difference is that the basic tax-free allowance is often not available in the same way as for fully resident taxpayers, so even modest rental profits can produce German tax. Double-taxation treaties usually prevent the same income from being taxed twice without relief, but the mechanism depends on the owner home country and may require reporting the German rental result there as well. Anlage V Easy handles the German rental calculation and flags the cross-border boundary; treaty application and home-country filing should be checked separately when amounts are material.
Last reviewed: by Yann Lephay.