Hi Irina,
the situation for freelancers in Germany is comparable to the situation in Spain; everyone complains about the ‘high’ autonomo fees in Spain, but social security and healthy insurance in Germany come to very comparable rates/amounts in the hundreds of euros per month.
Germany also requires quarterly VAT filings; however, you can choose whether or not you want to file quarterly advance payments on your annual income tax - you can also opt to pay your entire income tax when you file at the end of the year/beginning of the next year. You could therefore put the taxes you owe aside and invest them until your taxes are due.
The tax rate depends on how much you earn on a scale that’s very similar to Spain. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to set aside roughly one third of your revenue for taxes, and then reduce the amount owed through expenses and tax credits. Same as in Spain, there is a lump sum of untaxed income.
As a generalization, Germany doesn’t treat solopreneurs or solo freelancers very well, meaning that you get tax breaks and credits etc. when you employ people, but not when you’re a single (in the double sense, no employees and unmarried) freelancer, resulting in the comparatively high social security and health insurance costs. Germany has a special kind of health insuance for “artists” which includes many creative freelance jobs, such as design, writing (even content and copy writing), or people working in film and music. If you happen to have one of these artistic jobs, you can apply for the artist health insurance and they will cover half of your health insurance and social security fees, i.e. the half that usually an employer would cover.
The other particularity that Germany has is: you can ask to be VAT exempt if your revenue hasn’t exceeded €22,000 the previous year and you expect less than €50,000 in revenue in the current year. That way, you invoice with a net amount only and don’t have to include VAT on your invoices. You don’t need to file VAT and you don’t need to pay it - however, you also can’t claim it back on any of your expenses. That solution is great if you don’t have many expenses and limited revenue. German clients sometimes don’t like these freelancers, because they can’t claim back VAT from your invoices; however, they’re legally obligated to pay your invoices, of course.
The things that you can claim as a business expense in Germany is also very similar to Spain; for example, it’s difficult to claim a home office unless it’s a dedicated office room in your home with a door and you only use it for work. The pandemic has introduced a flat home office tax credit, though.
There are limited credits or tax breaks you can get for founding a business, but typically there is a job creation requirement - again, as a solo freelancer, you hardly get any break during your first year of business.
Filing taxes in Germany works very much the same way, you file online with a digital certificate, or you can have your accountant file them for you. Be aware that digital services are actually less advanced in Germany than in Spain, which includes broadband internet service throughout the country. In the digital realm, Germany is a developing country.
I hope this helps!
Best, Jakob
