Income tax is withheld from a student’s pay even though yearly earnings often stay below the tax-free allowance. A tax return recovers the difference, and it can be filed for several past years.
✓ Verified: 02/08/2026
WHAT TO DO
DOCUMENTS3
The final step is about money already deducted that often comes back. Student employment has a quirk: tax is calculated monthly while the tax-free allowance applies to the year. As a result, what is withheld across a few active months frequently exceeds what you actually owe for that year.
You can file for free yourself through the official portal ELSTER↗. If working through the forms holds no appeal, guided services explain each question in plain language and calculate the deductions for you: Wundertax↗ is built partly around student returns, and Taxfix↗ works as a question-and-answer dialogue.
For three years I filed nothing, convinced there was nothing to reclaim on a student salary. Then I filed for the past years at once and received a noticeable sum — simply because I had not worked all twelve months of the year.
👩🏼💼
Lea recommends:
Keep one folder with the annual income statement and your receipts. A student return is half an hour of work when the papers sit together, and half a day of digging when they have to be recovered from post and email.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why is tax withheld at all when earnings are small?▾
Your employer calculates monthly as if that salary continued all year. If you did not work every month, or earned unevenly, your annual total falls below the tax-free allowance while too much was withheld. The annual recalculation only happens through a return; it does not occur by itself.
What can be claimed as expenses?▾
The law treats as work-related expenses the costs connected to earning income: travel to work, professional literature, work equipment, union fees, relocation for a job. For students, study costs often belong here too, though their tax treatment depends on whether this is a first or a further qualification.
Is filing worth it even without a refund?▾
Sometimes yes. If you had costs but almost no income, a loss can be carried forward into later years and reduce tax once you start earning after graduation. The mechanism does not apply in every case and depends on the type of education, so it is worth checking against your own situation.
Do student pension contributions actually achieve anything?▾
Yes. Months with paid contributions count as insurance periods and appear on your account at the pension insurer. The amount matters little for a future pension, but the months can count towards qualifying periods for certain benefits, so the statement is worth reading once.