We are in the final stages of launching GermanPedia's first mobile app. It'll be a free app to prepare for the German citizenship test.
No more apps that feel they were built in the 90s, and watching a 30-second ad to learn. You can track your progress, learn in three different modes, take unlimited mock tests, English translations, and explanations, and more.
Essentials
Finance : Germany is replacing the Riester pension with a new Altersvorsorgedepot (retirement savings depot). In the new plan, you can invest in eligible ETFs, such as MSCI World. You also get a state subsidy. You won't pay tax during the savings phase. However, you are taxed at your personal tax rate after retirement. This makes it unattractive for individuals who expect a higher personal tax rate after retirement. The Bundesrat is expected to vote on this reform on 24 April 2026. Read more ->
Rights : Recent court rulings have forced private sickness benefits insurers to pay sickness benefits to self-employed women from day one of the maternity protection period (1 S 117/21, Az. 25 C 218/24, and Az. 41 C 631/25). Usually, insurers deduct waiting days during Mutterschutz or deny benefits entirely. Not anymore. [1]
Health : Accessing psychological support in Germany. Here are the key takeaways from the webinar.
Go prepared to your Hausartz to get an emergency code. This could get you an appointment with a psychiatrist sooner. Record the causes and how it is impacting your daily life.
If you need urgent support and can't find an appointment, contact your local SPDi office. They can offer you free and quick initial support.
For faster appointments, consider going to Uni Clinics.
For your child's mental health, you have access to three resources: the school, the pediatrician, and the Jugendamt.
If you own a rental property in Germany, you can reduce your tax burden by shortening the depreciation period (AfA).
The default depreciation rate is 2%. This means the tax office considers the 50 years (50 × 2% = 100%) to be the building's useful life.
If you can prove that your building's life is shorter than 50 years, you can increase your depreciation rate (§ 7 Abs. 4 Satz 2 EStG).
Recent court rulings by the BFH (2021 and 2024) allow you to use any expert method to determine the useful life of your building. This made it easier to prove the shorter building's life.
How much can you save by increasing the depreciation rate?
Purchase price: 700,000 €
Building share: 500,000 € (depreciable)
Standard rule: 2% per year → 50 years
Your marginal income tax rate: 42%
Standard depreciation:
2% of 500,000 € = 10,000 € AfA per year.
Tax savings = 10,000 € × 42% = 4,200 € per year.
Shortened depreciation (expert says remaining useful life 25 years):
500,000 € / 25 years = 20,000 € AfA per year or 4% depreciation rate.
Tax saving: 20,000 € × 42% = 8,400 € per year.
You doubled your tax savings.
For heavily worn buildings, an expert might even justify remaining useful lives of 16 or 12 years (this is a 6–8% depriciation rate per year). This increases your tax savings further.
If you are looking to buy a property in Germany, check out our book. It explains everything you must know about buying and investing in German real estate.
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Deadline : Make advance tax payments on time. Suppose in your last tax assessment (Steuerbescheid), the tax office asks you to make quarterly advance tax payments. You are responsible for making these payments on time. The tax office will not send you the reminders. If you miss the deadline, you should expect to pay a 1% fine on the advance payment amount per month. The deadlines are: 10 March, 10 June, 10 September, and 10 December.
Phishing : Fraudsters are abusing the POSTIDENT identification procedure to take out loans in other people’s names. The loan amount is usually 20,000 euros or more. Here are the two ways scammers are operating.
You'll receive a letter that appears to be from your bank. It asks you to confirm your details via POSTIDENT. However, the enclosed POSTIDENT coupon actually authorizes a loan from another bank.
Suppose you are selling items privately (e.g., collections or furniture). The supposed buyer may pressurize you to identify yourself via POSTIDENT for a "security guarantee." In reality, the identity is used to take out a loan in your name.
Always check the company name that appears in POSTIDENT. Never share TANs or activation codes with third parties. If there is any suspicion, stop the process, contact the bank, and file a police report. [1]
Phishing : A new scam email impersonates Disney+ and claims that your subscription payment failed. It aims to steal your login or payment details. Don’t click any links in such emails. Check your Disney+ app/website for any billing issues. [2]
Phishing : A phishing email impersonating Spotify. The email asks you to re-verify your account as part of a routine security check. If you are unsure about your account status, check your Spotify app to confirm. [2]
Travel : The EU Entry/Exit System (EES) is fully operational across all Schengen borders from April 9. Non-EU nationals must now register biometric data (fingerprints + facial photo) at all German/Schengen external borders. [3]
For emergencies:
BSI Lagezentrum: +49 228 999582 5110
BaFin Consumer Protection: consumer@bafin.de
Police: 110.
Most visited AI websites in Germany
Germans clearly favor ChatGPT over any other AI. The sad part is that Mistral AI (an EU company) couldn't make the top 10 list. Read more ->
Need help communicating complex ideas visually? We help you turn data into your most persuasive story. Contact us to learn more.
AI Corner
Learn : If you want to build a real product using Claude Code, Cursor, or any other AI tool you like, you need this repo. You get a complete system to build a product out of the box. It includes skills, memory optimization, continuous learning, agents, and more. This will save you months of setting up your project structure, refactoring unoptimized code, and teaching the AI best practices (which you yourself might not know). You can use it as is, or learn from it and modify it to suit your needs.
Learn : It's inspiring and eye-opening to see how others are using AI. I am a strong believer that we are limited by our imagination, not by AI models. Keeping that in mind, here are 12 ways to use AI.
Health : We all know the German health system is struggling. AI could rescue the failing system. Researchers at Oxford University introduced an AI model for the early detection of heart failure. If the health system starts using AI for early disease detection, it not only improves patients' health but also reduces the cost burden on health insurance companies. The reason is simple: prevention is cheaper than treating the disease.
Trend : Perplexity first plugged in your health data. Then they started filing your taxes. Now they plugged in your financial data. The trend is clear: soon, you won't open any websites or apps. You'll talk to your agent.
Can you tell which of these images is AI-generated?
It was a trick question. Both are AI-generated and are generated using the exact same prompt.
The only difference is that the first (left) image was generated last year, and the second (right) image was generated 7 days ago. [Reddit]
Latest News
Merz said he wants about 80% of the 1 million Syrians in Germany to return to Syria within three years. This has triggered criticism from coalition partners, human‑rights groups, and business associations, who warn about security risks and labor shortages if many Syrians leave. [1]
The German government passed the Klimaschutzprogramm 2026 on 25 March. The package targets an additional 27 million tonnes of CO₂ savings by 2030, backed by €8 billion in new funding. The main highlights are
€3 billion EV subsidy program covering up to 800,000 cars.
€500 million fund will expand EV charging infrastructure
The US–Iran talks ended without a peace deal. US officials say Iran refused to give a clear commitment not to pursue nuclear weapons, while Iran blames Washington for the breakdown. The ceasefire is still in place. [3]
Germany's Defense Minister clarified that men aged 17 to 45 can travel abroad freely, and approval for trips longer than three months will be suspended as long as military service remains voluntary. [4]
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New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany We are looking for tax advisors interested in organizing the webinar on how to save taxes. If you are a tax advisor or know one who might be interested, reach out to us by simply replying to this email. Essentials Finance : Women in Germany receive an average of 24% less statutory pension than men. Though Mütterrente and Kinderberücksichtigungszeiten offset most of the...
New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany If you thought you only pay the government in the form of your payroll taxes, think again. The most obvious taxes you pay are Payroll tax -> Your employer deducts it from your gross salary Taxes you pay from your net income VAT -> You pay it on every product or service you buy in Germany. Insurance tax -> Paid on every insurance you buy. Airport fees and taxes -> Paid...
New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany A live Q&A webinar to ask your questions directly to an immigration lawyer. Developing our German citizenship test preparation app took us less than 3 days. But it's taking us weeks to get it published on App Store and Play Store. 😔 We hope to launch the app by the end of this week. Essentials Finance : From May 1, 2026, federal and municipal public sector employees'...