Australian tax for German passport holdersYou are back in Germany. Your Australian tax is not.
Years you left open, a Medicare levy your passport usually takes off, and super that becomes claimable the moment you leave.
Replies in about an hour. Tell us the years you worked and we will tell you where you stand.
Doing it yourself
A German passport changes the return.myGov does not know that.
Four things on a German file are settled somewhere other than the form.
You will never log into myGov, link an ID, or work out which form is which. We deal with the ATO directly.
Can you still claim Australian tax back from Germany?
Yes. An Australian tax return can be prepared and lodged from anywhere, and leaving does not close a year or reduce what you are owed. The superannuation half can only be claimed after you have left and your visa has ceased, so being home is a requirement rather than an obstacle.
What is different about a German passport?
Four things about a German passport change the answer.
The Medicare levy usually comes off
Germany has no Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia, so a German working holiday maker is generally not entitled to Medicare. That is the reverse of the British position, and it is what makes the 2 per cent levy exemption available. The exemption needs a Medicare Entitlement Statement; without one the levy stays on the return.
Germany is on the Addy list
The ATO applies the Addy decision to working holiday makers who were Australian residents for tax purposes and are nationals of the United Kingdom, Chile, Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway or Turkey. Where it applies it restores the tax free threshold and resident rates for those years.
Two tax years that never line up
The German tax year is the calendar year and the Australian year runs 1 July to 30 June. Arriving in February or flying home in September leaves an Australian year open that most people never think about again.
Age 35 from 1 July 2026
Since 1 July 2026 German passport holders can apply for a working holiday visa up to and including age 35. A second or third visa still depends on specified regional work: 88 days for the second, six months for the third. More visa years usually means more Australian tax years.
Do Germans pay the Medicare levy in Australia?
Usually not, once the exemption is claimed. Germany has no Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia, so a German working holiday maker is generally not entitled to Medicare and pays for treatment privately.
Not being entitled is exactly what makes the 2 per cent levy exemption available. It is not applied for you: the return needs a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia, and without one the levy stays on by default.
The levy only applies to residents for tax purposes, so residency comes first. More on how the levy works on our Medicare page.
What tax rate applies to a working holiday maker?
Working holiday maker rates apply to your Australian wages whether or not you are a resident for tax purposes, unless the Addy position above changes that.
Your employer had to be registered with the ATO as an employer of working holiday makers for the 15 per cent rate to apply. If not, they had to withhold at the foreign resident rate, which starts at 30 cents in the dollar from your first dollar.
That money is not gone, but it only comes back on a lodged return, and only into an Australian bank account. Full breakdown on our tax return page.
What happens to your superannuation once you are home?
It sits there. Your employer paid 12 per cent of your ordinary earnings into a superannuation fund on top of your wages, never out of them, from your first dollar and with no minimum monthly amount. Since 1 July 2026 it also has to be paid with every pay run and reach the fund within seven business days, so an employer skipping it shows up in weeks rather than after a quarter.
After a long stay and several jobs you will usually have more than one fund account, each charging fees against a balance you are not watching. Once you have left and your visa has ceased it is claimed as a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment, with 65 per cent withheld, so roughly a third of the balance reaches your account.
Unlike a tax refund, a DASP payment can be made to a German bank account. There is no deadline on the claim. More on our superannuation page.
Are you late, and does it matter?
Australian returns can be lodged from 1 July. A self lodged 2025-26 return is due 31 October 2026, which this year means Monday 2 November. Past that, the year is late rather than lost, and late returns are still lodged and still refunded. The 2026 deadline guide has the detail.
What we do with a German file
Anyone can press submit. The work happens before that, and on a German file it is the questions nobody else asks: which years are open, which residency position is true for each, and whether the levy was ever yours to pay.
- Work out which Australian tax years you have open, including the ones you left behind when you flew home.
- Take a position on your residency for tax purposes for each of those years, and apply the Addy decision where it applies.
- Apply for the Medicare Entitlement Statement where the levy exemption is warranted, so the 2 per cent does not stay on by default.
- Chase down every employer income statement, including the ones you have forgotten, and check what each withheld.
- Find superannuation left in funds you no longer have the logins for, and claim it as a Departing Australia Superannuation Payment once your visa has ceased.
None of that asks anything of you beyond the years you worked and what you can still lay hands on.
Our guarantee: if your tax refund is less than our fee, we refund the difference. If you owe money to the ATO instead, the fee covers the work completed and is non-refundable.
Working holiday tax is the only thing we do. Your return is reviewed and signed off by a registered tax agent before it is lodged with the ATO.
Replies in about an hour.
Questions German travellers ask
Do Germans pay the Medicare levy in Australia?
Usually not, if the exemption is claimed. Germany has no Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia, so German working holiday makers are generally not entitled to Medicare, and that is what makes the 2 per cent levy exemption available. It is not automatic: the exemption needs a Medicare Entitlement Statement from Services Australia, and the levy only applies to residents for tax purposes in the first place.
Can my tax refund be paid into my German bank account?
No. The ATO pays a tax refund only into an Australian bank account, so keep yours open until the refund has landed or tell us at the start if it is already closed. Superannuation claimed through DASP is different and can be paid to an account overseas.
I stayed two years. Do I need to lodge two tax returns?
Usually two or three. The Australian tax year runs 1 July to 30 June, so each one you earned in needs its own return. A year you left unlodged is late rather than lost, and it can still be lodged today.
Do I have to declare my Australian income to the Finanzamt?
That depends on your German tax position for the years involved, which is a German question with its own rules. We deal with the Australian side and will say plainly where something belongs to a German Steuerberater.
Is there a deadline, and am I already late?
A self lodged return for 2025-26 is due 31 October 2026, which this year means Monday 2 November. Past that, the year is late rather than lost, and late returns are still lodged and still refunded.
Worth reading next
This is general information, not personal tax advice, and nothing here is advice on your German tax position. Residency for Australian tax purposes depends on your own circumstances in each year, which is why German files are looked at individually.