Do I have to file at home while living in Germany?
For most people the answer turns on whether the ties that made them resident have actually ended. For a US citizen or green-card holder it does not: the return is due in Germany exactly as it would be at home. Everything else on the file follows from which of those you are.
Is there a treaty between my country and Germany?
That is verified rather than assumed: we confirm which treaty text governs Germany and your home country for the year in question, because a protocol can move a rate or an article between years. If there is no treaty, unilateral credit rules are what prevent double taxation.
I own property in Germany. Where is the rent taxed?
Rent from immovable property is almost always taxable where the property is situated, frequently by withholding on the gross amount, with your home country taxing the same income and giving credit. A net-basis election, where one exists, is usually the difference between tax on profit and tax on turnover.
Is German church tax creditable against my Canadian tax?
Not by assumption. A foreign tax credit is available for foreign income taxes, and a German payslip carries several deductions that are not all of that character. Church tax is calculated by reference to the income tax figure but is collected for a religious body, and a credit claim that folds it in with the rest of the withholding is a claim you may not be able to support if it is examined. The right order is to take the payslip and the German annual assessment apart first, identify what is income tax on income the home country is also taxing, and claim that. Keep the assessment; the credit stands or falls on it.
My German payslip has deductions I do not recognise, which ones matter?
For a home credit claim, only the ones that are income taxes on income your home country is also taxing. German payroll settles a great deal at source, and the run includes elements set by your tax class, social contributions, and a church element where you are registered for one. Each is treated differently at home: some support a credit, some may be relieved another way, and some are not creditable at all. Do that characterisation before the home return is filed rather than after an enquiry arrives. The annual German assessment, not the payslip alone, is the document that settles what was finally due.
Do I keep filing in Canada while on a German contract?
Usually for at least part of the assignment, and the real question is which part. Residence at home is a question of ties rather than of address, and a German contract does not by itself sever them. If you remain resident, the German salary goes on the home return and relief comes by credit. If residence ends, it ends on a date the documents have to support, and the year of the move is split. Fix the date first. Almost every downstream error on these files — the credit, the reporting of accounts, the treatment of a house left behind — starts with an unsettled residence date.
I am American working in Germany, do I file both returns?
Yes. American filing follows citizenship, so the US return continues while you are in Germany, alongside the German obligation on employment income earned there. The relief mechanisms differ from the ones a Canadian in the same seat would use, and they interact: choices made in one year constrain the later ones, so this is not a decision to take return by return. German payroll also settles much of the tax at source, which means the figures going on the US return have to be built from the German annual assessment rather than from the payslips alone.
Does my German tax class change what I claim back home?
Indirectly, and it catches people out. Your class governs how much is withheld through the year, not how much is finally due; the German assessment corrects the difference. If a home credit claim is built on the withholding rather than on the final German liability, it is wrong in whichever direction the assessment moves. It also means a German refund arriving after your home return is filed is not a windfall — it reduces the foreign tax you actually bore, so the credit already claimed has to follow it down. Plan the sequence around the assessment before filing at home.
I am German and now live in Canada, what still has to be filed?
Canada taxes you on worldwide income once you are resident there, so German income continues to appear on your Canadian return — pension, rent, interest, business income. Germany may keep taxing the German-source part, and relief for that tax is claimed in Canada. Separately, holdings left behind may have to be reported at home whether or not they produce income, which is a disclosure duty rather than a tax charge. The two questions are answered from different documents, and answering only the tax one is the common mistake.
Can I claim the child tax credit if I live abroad?
Partly, and the split matters. The non-refundable part can reduce US tax if the child meets the identification requirement in time. The refundable part is calculated on earned income, so excluding your salary with the foreign earned income exclusion removes the very figure it is built on — which is one of the clearest cases where the exclusion costs more than the credit route. Modelling both is the only way to know. See exclusion against credit.
Where do I report foreign tax paid on Form 1040?
Not directly. Foreign tax withheld shows up first on the payer statement — a 1099-DIV, 1099-INT or K-1 — and from there goes onto Form 1116, which computes the allowable credit by category. The credit then lands on Schedule 3 and flows to the 1040. Under the small-amount election it can go straight to Schedule 3 without the form, which is quicker and forfeits the carryover. See Form 1116.
