I hope you had a relaxing holiday or are having one. First of all, I would like to thank you all for the kind words and for sharing the webinar topics.
You should expect even more deep dives in different areas in April. We are currently looking for a tax advisor to share tax tips during the webinar. If you know one, let us know.
Over the past few days, we have received several requests for recordings of past webinars. Here is the link to access all past recordings.
Essentials
Finance : Germany's inflation rate rose sharply to 2.7% in March 2026. The main driver is higher oil prices due to the war in Iran. The Bundesbank warns the inflation rate could climb toward 3% if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Health : Drastic health insurance reforms are proposed to save the failing German public health system. Here are the 8 out of 66 reforms you should be aware of.
No free health insurance for a non-working partner. The non-working partner must pay €240 per month.
Increasing the minimum co-payment from 5€ to 7.5€. Similarly, increasing the ceiling from 10€ to 15€.
Reduced the reimbursement for dental prosthetics from €600 to €520.
Reducing the sick pay by 5%. Additionally, proposing a partial sick pay model.
Raising the taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks. Beer and wine are not affected.
Public health insurance will not cover homeopathic treatments and skin care screening.
You must get a second opinion for tonsils, hips, and knee surgeries. The goal is to reduce the number of surgeries.
The federal government must bear the complete cost of health insurance contributions for people receiving basic income support (Grundsicherung).
Health Minister Warken's goal is to get the reform approved by July 2026 so that it can be implemented from January 27. Read more ->
Health : Public health insurance will now cover annual low‑dose CT lung cancer screening for eligible heavy smokers. The eligibility criteria are
Age 50–75 years.
Current or former heavy smokers
Former smokers are included only if they quit recently.
The new rule starts from 1 April 2026. You require a consultation and risk assessment with your Hausarzt. Your Hausartz will issue a decision on whether a CT scan is required. [1]
If you want to switch to private health insurance, consult an insurance broker. Download and take the following cheatsheet with you during the consultation. Ask the broker to fill it out and sign it. This is your written proof of consultation. We recommend Mr. Ruppel, and you can book a free call with him here.
8 ways to increase your net monthly income in Germany
Submit a tax reduction application at the tax office if your work-related expenses are more than the flat rate of 1230€ (as of 2026). This allows your employer to take the actual work-related expenses into account when calculating the tax on your monthly salary. More expenses reduce your taxable income. Hence, increasing your net income.
Pick the right tax bracket. If one spouse earns significantly more than the other, choose tax class III/V.
Negotiate tax-free employer benefits instead of a gross salary increase. The most common tax-free benefits include food coupons, public transport tickets, and childcare subsidies. You can ask your employer to restructure part of a pay rise into tax-free benefits, as this also reduces their employer-side social security contributions.
Leave the church to stop paying the church tax. is 8% (Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg) or 9% (all other states) of your income tax bill. If you are in the 30% tax bracket and earn €50,000 gross, you pay about €800 in church tax per year.
Contribute more to the company pension plan. Every employer is legally required to contribute at least 15% on top of your contribution. Contribution to the company pension plan is tax-free.
Take advantage of the new 5% degressive depreciation rule for the new-build properties. By investing in a new build, you can deduct 5% of the building’s value from your taxes. If you are a high earner, this creates a substantial annual tax deduction that reduces your taxable income.
Apply for a non-assessment certificate if your total income from all sources is lower than the basic tax-free allowance (12,348€ (in 2026)). Once approved, you can submit it to your banks. Your bank or broker will stop withholding taxes on your interest, dividends, or other capital gains.
Apply for a tax exemption order at your bank and trading account. You get €1,000 of capital gains allowance. This means you don't pay any capital gains tax on up to €1,000 of capital gains per year. You can submit an exemption order at your bank. This way, your bank won't deduct the withholding tax on up to 1000€ of capital gains.
Phishing : A fraudulent email pretending to be from the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt). The email claims to be conducting a crypto tax audit and urges you to review your cryptocurrency data within 5 days. The message contains official-sounding references, such as the EU Directive DAC8, and threats of penalties. You should ignore such emails. Always handle tax matters through the official ELSTER portal or local tax office. [2]
Phishing : A phishing email posing as Commerzbank, claiming your photoTAN app is expiring. It asks you to take urgent, quick action. Ignore such emails and verify the information on Commerzbank’s official website or app. [2]
Fake shop : One of our subscribers reported being a victim of a fake shop (Elecx[dot]de). They bought a MacBook from this shop; however, they never received an invoice, tracking link, or the product. This website ranks on the top page of Google and seems legitimate. However, it's a fake shop.
Product Recalls : REWE Bio+vegan 'Soja Natur' (500g) -> possible hard-plastic fragments might be present that can cause mouth/throat or internal injuries. You can return it to Rewe even without a receipt to get a full refund. [3]
Proposals : Lower taxes for lower - and middle-income groups by increasing taxes on higher-income groups.
Proposals : Increase the VAT rate from 19% to 21%. If this proposal passes, expect prices of every daily item to increase by at least 2%.
Proposals : Reform joint taxation for married couples. Currently, if one partner earns more than the other, you can choose tax class 3/5 to save taxes. This promotes the single-breadwinner concept, allowing the other partner to take care of the family. The new proposal aims to end the single-family breadwinner model. According to studies, women mostly choose mini jobs because the monetary benefits of part-time or full-time jobs are not much. The reason is that most of the income goes into taxes. Officials believe that under the new reform, as both partners will be taxed similarly, the single-breadwinner concept will become less attractive. It'll encourage more women to take part-time or full-time jobs. This will help address the labor shortage and improve pension points for women.
For emergencies:
BSI Lagezentrum: +49 228 999582 5110
BaFin Consumer Protection: consumer@bafin.de
Police: 110.
Germany's public budget balance
In the past six years, Germany's public budget has been negative. Germany has had a deficit of more than 100 billion euros every year since 2020. Read more ->
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AI Corner
Design :Google Stitch introduced the DESIGN.md file. This is a file where you can specify how your application should look. It allows an AI agent to design your application consistently. Here is a repo that is a collection of DESIGN.md files of several famous websites, such as Claude, Airbnb, Linear, etc. You can use these DESIGN.md files as reference and inspiration for creating your own. I would rather ask AI to create one. Don't forget to share the links with AI so that it knows how and what to create.
Design : You can now use Canva's "magic layer" feature to turn any flat image into an editable design.
Learn :We find the learning paths created by Claude easy to understand, especially when you are starting to learn how to use AI. Give it a try. Although the best way to learn AI is to start using it in your daily life for almost everything.
Learn : Learn how to build and deploy AI agents, implement techniques like RAG, build production-ready generative AI, etc. Google created this document to give you an overview of how you can build and deploy your custom AI agents or a system to scale your business. This guide will walk you through the fancy terms people use in the AI world, explain what they mean, and show you how to build your own AI agent. It also offers developers options to code and non-technical people to build agents without code. You can download the document for free here.
Latest News
You must get permission from the Bundeswehr before leaving Germany for more than 3 months. Male German citizens with age between 17-45 must follow this new rule (since Jan 2026). You must contact the Bundeswehr career center via email or phone to ask about the process. [§ 3 WPflG para 2]
From 28 April 2026, all new laptops in the EU must support charging via USB‑C. The legal basis is Directive (EU) 2022/2380. The new law standardizes laptop charging, enabling wider charger reuse and reducing e‑waste. [1]
Nuremberg and AfD legal ping pong: The AfD sued the City of Nuremberg for joining an anti-extremism alliance. AfD argued the city violated political neutrality. The city won the case in the lower court (Verwaltungsgericht), lost the case in the higher court (VGH), and then won again at Germany's highest administrative court (BVerwG). The BVerwG hasn't closed the case. It has sent it back to the middle court (VGH) with a new legal test to apply. Read more ->
Community Corner
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New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany We had our biggest webinar ever. It's all thanks to you and your support. 370+ registrations and many people who couldn't register requested recordings after the webinar. We aim to continue to offer such webinars. But, to make them relevant, we need your feedback. Please share which topics interest you most. We will find the experts in those areas and organize the...
New here? Check out GermanPediaDid someone forward you this? Subscribe to this newsletter. Your unfair advantage in Germany We brought you another free webinar with a labor law lawyer. If you want us to organize a webinar on a particular topic and/or with a specific professional, simply reply to this email and share. Essentials Health : The age for mammography screening is reduced from 50 to 45. If you are in the age group 45 to 49, you can get the mammography screening for early breast...
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