The status does not exempt you from order: correct details on every invoice, the EUeR once a year and an eye on the limit. The yearly cycle takes hours — if kept monthly.
✓ Verified: 18/07/2026
WHAT TO DO
Discipline is cheaper than talent here: consecutive numbering, one bookkeeping hour a month and a scan folder turn the May declaration into a 40-minute task. Chaos turns a tiny business into a source of tax-office dread.
That discipline can simply be bought: sevDesk↗ and Lexware Office↗ handle the numbering themselves and assemble the EÜR from booked entries. For a Kleinunternehmer one setting matters: the § 19 UStG mode must be switched on, otherwise the software shows VAT on invoices you are not allowed to charge.
My invoice template lives in the cloud with auto-numbering: a new invoice takes two minutes. Quarterly I reconcile the table against the bank statement.
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Lea recommends:
Build the tax reserve immediately: about 25–30 percent of every profit to a sub-account. The first assessment with back payment plus advance payments must not come as a surprise.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do I need a cash register or software?▾
No: for services invoices and bank statements suffice. Software pays off from dozens of invoices a month; no law forbids the table.
What if I accidentally exceed the limit in December?▾
It depends on the limit: if annual turnover only crosses the 25,000 € prior-year threshold, the current year stays in the status and standard taxation starts on January 1st. The 100,000 € limit, by contrast, applies at once (guillotine effect): VAT is due from the transaction that exceeds it. Switch your invoices in time.
Do I pay income tax on the side business?▾
Yes, profit is always income-taxable — the status only exempts VAT. Profits up to 410 € a year stay declaration-free for employees; above that they go into the return.