hTTi

SilkeT wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2025 1:50 pm Does this cooling off period apply to all types of incoming funds? Example:
We (husband and I) will be receiving private pension and state pension payments into our UK GBP account. We will need to transfer those funds fairly regularly into our EUR denominated German account. Does such a transfer then lead to the need to calculate currency gains/ losses if it is done within 12 months after receipt of such funds?

No, since that was income "earned in GBP".

SilkeT wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2025 1:50 pm It is not clear to me as to whether "incoming funds" means (i) funds which were converted from EUR to a foreign currency (and then at some point converted back from such foreign currency into EUR) or (ii) funds/ income in such foreign currency entering the foreign account (and at a later stage transferred into EUR.)

Only the former.
Your case is the latter, all your GBP were "earned in GBP", i.e. there was no purchase of GBP.

This part of the Brandis/Heuermann (Brandis is a judge and Heuermann a retired judge of Germany's highest financial court, the BFH) "Ertragsteuerrecht" commentary on § 23 EStG in Randziffer 194 allows you to ignore those amounts:

• Fremdwährungsbeträge, die aus Forderungen gegen Dritte resultieren (Lohn- u. Kaufpreisforderungen, Zinsforderungen, Dividenden u. ä.) können mangels Anschaffung i. S. d. Abs. 1 Satz 1 Nr. 2 kein steuerbares privates Veräußerungsgeschäft auslösen. So sind beispielsweise auf dem Fremdwährungskonto gutgeschriebene Zinsen keine „angeschaffte“ Valuta (zutr. BMF v. 25.10.04,BStBl I 04, 1034 Tz. 42).
  Umgekehrt ist auch die Verwendung von Fremdwährungsbeträgen zur Erfüllung von Verbindlichkeiten (vertragl. [Rückzahlungs-]Verpflichtungen) und generell für Ausgaben der privaten Lebensführung kein steuerbarer Vorgang (→ Rn. 196).

• Foreign currency amounts resulting from receivables from third parties (wage and purchase price receivables, interest receivables, dividends, etc.) cannot trigger a taxable private sale transaction in the absence of acquisition within the meaning of para. 1 sentence 1 no. 2. For example, interest credited to a foreign currency account is not an ‘acquired’ currency (see BMF of 25 October 2004, BStBl I 04, 1034 para. 42).
  Conversely, the use of foreign currency amounts to fulfil liabilities (contractual [repayment] obligations) and generally for private living expenses is also not a taxable transaction (→ para. 196).

Of course, this may change should the state change the rules again.
But as of now, you do not need to worry about money "earned in GBP" as long as that money is kept in a current account, there cannot be a currency speculation profit.
However, if that money earned in GBP should ever enter a savings account, it automatically gets assigned a fictive purchase price in € and you will start having to calculate currency profits.

Thanks Panda Munich, for the very detailed explanation! I had already started building yet another xls model in my mind. Glad I can offload that now.