# How to Set Up Your Freistellungsauftrag Before the Year Ends

> Your first 1,000 euros of interest and dividends per year are tax free, but only if your bank knows. Split a Freistellungsauftrag across your banks before your bank's year end cutoff.

- URL: https://hsalem.com/freistellungsauftrag-before-year-end/
- Author: Hassan Salem (https://hsalem.com/about/)
- Published: 2026-11-04
- Topics: Expat, Finance, Germany

You opened a savings account or a broker account in Germany, and now you see tax taken from every small interest payment. Most of the time this tax is not needed. You only have to tell your bank about your tax free amount with a Freistellungsauftrag (exemption order).

## The rule in short

Every person has a Sparer-Pauschbetrag (saver's allowance) of **1,000 euros per year**. Married couples and registered partners who file jointly get **2,000 euros** together. Interest, dividends and gains up to this amount are tax free.

But your bank does not know this by itself. Without a Freistellungsauftrag, it takes the Abgeltungsteuer (flat tax on capital income, 25 percent plus Solidaritätszuschlag and maybe church tax) from the first euro.

## What you need

1. Your Steuer-ID (tax ID). It is on your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung (annual payslip summary) and on your tax letters. Without it the order is not valid.
2. A list of all banks and brokers where you get interest or dividends.
3. A rough guess of how much each one will pay you this year.

## The steps

1. **Make a list of your accounts.** Tagesgeld (savings account), broker, ETF savings plan, old accounts you forgot. Every bank that pays you something counts.
2. **Guess the income per bank.** For example, a savings account will pay about 600 euros this year and your broker about 300 euros.
3. **Split the 1,000 euros.** Give each bank its own order. In the example: 650 euros to the savings bank, 350 euros to the broker. The total of all orders must never be more than 1,000 euros (or 2,000 euros as a couple).
4. **Set it up in online banking or the app.** Most banks have it under settings or tax information. For example in the N26 app: open the savings or investment account, go to Einstellungen, then Steuerinformationen, then Freistellungsauftrag, and pick the year and the amount. Paper forms also work at most banks.
5. **Married? Decide together.** You can give one joint order of up to 2,000 euros, or each give your own 1,000 euros. Ask your bank how a joint order works there.
6. **Check it once a year.** Move the amounts when one bank pays more than you planned, or when you open a new account.

## Do it before the cutoff

Each order is for one calendar year. Unused allowance does not move to the next year. The cutoff depends on the bank: many want changes by the last banking day in December. N26, for example, says you can still set it up until 31 January of the next year for the old year. Check your own bank's page.

Many banks also give back tax they already took earlier this year once you set up the order. But this depends on the bank, so do not count on it.

## Missed it?

You can still get the money back with your Einkommensteuererklärung (tax return). In Anlage KAP (capital income form) you ask the Finanzamt to review the tax your bank took (Antrag auf Überprüfung des Steuereinbehalts). Take the numbers from the Steuerbescheinigung (annual tax certificate) your bank sends early next year.

## Common mistakes

1. **Giving 1,000 euros to every bank.** Banks report the used amounts every year, and the Finanzamt will see it if the total is too high. Then you pay the tax later and get a letter.
2. **Forgetting the new account.** Many expats switch to a new online bank for a better interest rate and leave the full allowance at the old one. The old bank does not need it anymore, and the new bank takes tax.
3. **Thinking it only matters for rich people.** With today's interest rates on savings accounts, a normal emergency fund can pay a few hundred euros a year.

Checked in November 2026. Rules change, so please check the official page and your bank before you set it up. This is not tax advice.

## Sources

1. [Finanzamt NRW: Sparerpauschbetrag, Freistellungsauftrag and NV-Bescheinigung (German, official)](https://www.finanzamt.nrw.de/steuerinfos/privatpersonen/einkuenfte-aus-kapitalvermoegen/sparerpauschbetrag-freistellungsauftrag)
2. [BZSt: control procedure for Freistellungsaufträge (German, official)](https://www.bzst.de/DE/Unternehmen/Kapitalertraege/KontrollverfahrenFreistellungsauftraege/Kontrollverfahren_Freistellungsauftraege/kontrollverfahren_freistellungsauftraege_node.html)
3. [VLH: Freistellungsauftrag, Steuer-ID and splitting across banks (German)](https://www.vlh.de/kaufen-investieren/abgeltungssteuer/freistellungsauftrag-hilft-beim-steuern-sparen.html)
4. [ETL: deadlines and corrections for Freistellungsaufträge (German)](https://www.etl.de/aktuelles/sparerpauschbetrag-freistellungsauftraege/)
5. [Finanzfluss: Freistellungsauftrag for couples and reclaiming tax (German)](https://www.finanzfluss.de/geldanlage/freistellungsauftrag/)
6. [steuern.de: Anlage KAP and review of the tax deduction (German)](https://www.steuern.de/steuererklaerung-gestaltungshinweise-anlage-kap)
7. [N26 Support: how to set up a Freistellungsauftrag (German)](https://support.n26.com/de-de/konto-und-personliche-informationen/steuern/wie-erteile-ich-freistellungsauftrag)