Before you start

Steuer-ID, issued automatically after your Anmeldung
An understanding of which tax class applies to you
Records of foreign income, foreign accounts and relocation costs
An ELSTER account, if filing yourself

Step-by-step

1
Give payroll your Steuer-ID the moment it arrives
Until the employer has it, wage tax is withheld under the least favourable class and a large amount comes off your pay. It is reconciled later, but a cash-flow squeeze during a move to an expensive city is worth avoiding by chasing the number rather than waiting for it.
Via employerWho: YouAs soon as issued
2
Check your tax class rather than accepting the default
Class 1 applies to single people, class 2 to single parents, and married couples choose between 4/4, 3/5 and the Faktorverfahren. A couple with very unequal incomes can improve monthly take-home with 3/5, though the annual liability is identical either way and settles at filing. Changing class is a short form.
OnlineWho: You
3
Verify your church tax position on the first payslip
If you declared membership of a recognised church at Anmeldung, Kirchensteuer at 9% of your income tax is deducted automatically in NRW. Check the payslip line rather than assuming. Leaving the church is a formal act at the registry with a fee, taking effect from the following month rather than retrospectively.
In personWho: You
4
File a return for your relocation year even if you are not obliged to
Removal costs, travel to view flats, double rent during the transition, German lessons, work equipment and the commuting allowance are all deductible. New arrivals frequently assume filing is only for the self-employed and leave a substantial refund with the Finanzamt.
OnlineWho: YouBy 31 July of the following year for mandatory filers
5
Declare foreign income and foreign accounts
German tax residents are taxed on worldwide income subject to double taxation treaty relief. Germany participates in automatic exchange of financial account information, so undeclared foreign accounts are visible to the Finanzamt. Sort this in the first year rather than being asked about it in the third.
OnlineWho: You
6
Use a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein for a salaried return
Employee tax assistance associations prepare salaried returns for an annual membership fee scaled to income, far below a Steuerberater's rate, and Germans use them routinely. They cannot handle business income or self-employment — for those, or for anything cross-border, you need a Steuerberater.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Steuer-ID
Lohnsteuerbescheinigung — the annual employer certificate
Receipts for relocation costs, work equipment and professional training
Records of foreign income and foreign accounts
Certificate of tax residence from your previous country, for treaty claims

Things most newcomers don’t know

North Rhine-Westphalia charges church tax at 9%, and the election was made on your registration form.

Kirchensteuer is 9% of your income tax liability in NRW, against 8% in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg — so the same declaration costs more here than it would in Munich or Stuttgart. It is withheld automatically from payroll with no separate notification, and most newcomers never connect the payslip line to the five-minute conversation at the Bürgerbüro. Check your first payslip specifically for it.

Source: Finanzverwaltung Nordrhein-Westfalen

The relocation year is the return most worth filing, and the one most often skipped.

Costs of a work-related move are deductible: transport, trips to view flats, double rent during the transition, and a flat-rate allowance for incidentals on top. Add German lessons, work equipment and the commuting allowance and a first-year return frequently produces a four-figure refund. New arrivals assume filing is optional therefore unnecessary — and you have up to four years to correct that.

Source: Bundesministerium der Finanzen

Your Steuerklasse changes monthly take-home, not what you actually owe.

The tax class only determines how much wage tax is withheld each month. The real liability is computed when the return is assessed, and any over-withholding comes back. A married couple choosing 3/5 improves monthly cash flow but does not reduce the annual bill, and the lower-earning partner in class 5 sees a startling deduction rate that is not the true rate. Newcomers read the class as a rate and panic.

Source: Bundeszentralamt für Steuern

Compare a German offer on net, not gross — social contributions are heavy.

Pension, health, unemployment and long-term care insurance are deducted on top of income tax, split with the employer, and together take a substantial share of gross pay. A German gross figure converts to net far less favourably than the equivalent in the UK, the Gulf or much of eastern Europe. Run the federal gross-to-net calculator before negotiating, not after accepting.

Source: Deutsche Rentenversicherung

Common mistakes to avoid

Declaring church membership at registration without realising NRW charges 9% of your income tax for it.
Skipping the relocation-year return and leaving a likely four-figure refund unclaimed.
Reading your Steuerklasse as a tax rate rather than a withholding setting.
Comparing a German gross salary against a foreign one without modelling social contributions.
Forgetting that as a German tax resident your worldwide income and foreign accounts are in scope.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.