Previous years Elster info

[Meandmyboy]

Hi All, I am a single mom with German citizenship working on the German net after working for the Queen for many years. Last year I realised that I should have been filing tax returns as I was renting out a part of my home, so I paid into a lohnsteuerverein and they sorted me out for the years previous and got me up to date. Although as I suspected I didn't owe any tax. This subscription automatically renewed and I found myself going back this year with all my bills for work on house, utilities etc and realised that maybe, now that I have the same steady job and identical income, could I cut out the middle man and do it myself in Elster. I have talked to my German friends, but noone is really in the same situation to advise. What I would love to know, before I make the leap is whether previous year's entries will remain in Elster so that I can copy and paste. Some of my friends buy software especially, but I figure if I am paying out for software then will I actually gain so much. Many thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on this.

[PandaMunich]

Yes, ELSTER asks you whether it should import last year's data into the tax return.

However, I wouldn't recommend doing your tax return in ELSTER, since using ELSTER is a pain.
In it, the tax forms are spread over much too many screens and you nearly get repetitive stress injury from all the clicking you have to do.

Just do yourself a favour and buy a commercial tax software, I recommend Buhl's tax software, that's all you need as an employee with rental income.
For a comparison of the different versions, please see here: https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/Of ... -buhl.html

Plus, the software will give you hints how to save tax, so it more than pays for itself.

For doing the 2025 tax return, you will need the "Buhl tax 2026" (yes, their naming scheme is strange) software, which will only become available at the end of November 2025.
By then, the price will have come down to the usual 16€, at the moment, the Idealo price comparison just shows 2 sources: https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/Of ... -buhl.html

[Meandmyboy]

You are a legend! Thank you so much.