Reclaim German pension contributions
- Apply for your maximum German pension refund (rentenversicherung)
- We can apply for your unclaimed pension refund from as far back as 1994
- Simply online process – no complicated forms!
Who can claim a German pension refund?
To be eligible to claim a German pension refund (Rentenversicherung), you must:
- Be a resident of a non-EU country (excluding Turkey, Israel, the former Yugoslavian states and UK) and currently living outside the EU
- Have paid contributions into the German Pension Fund for less than 60 months (5 years)
- Have left Germany at least two years previously
German pension contribution refund FAQs
If you’re a resident of a non-EU country (excluding Turkey, Israel and the former Yugoslavian states) and have worked in Germany, you may have paid into a pension fund and we can get those pension contributions back for you. Our average German pension insurance refund is €5,410! Pension Insurance Contributions (Rentenversicherung) are usually about 9.75% of your salary so it’s worth checking out if we can get that back for you.
To get a refund, you must be a non-EU citizen (excluding Turkey, Israel and the former Yugoslavian states) and you must be currently living in non-EU country. The other requirements are that you paid pension insurance for less than five years in Germany and you’ve been out of the country for more than two years. We can apply for unclaimed pension refunds as far back as 1994 and to do it we’ll need your payslips for all the years you worked in Germany or all your Yearly statements from Germany (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung).
Tax Quick Refund will get you back all the pension insurance contributions you paid into your German pension fund. The average pension refund we get for our German clients is €5,410.
Firstly, simple register online and you will receive a free estimation of what you can expect to claim.
The Tax Quick Refund team will then guide you through the application process and advise you of the information we need in order to secure your refund.
If you like the estimation and want to proceed we will advise you how to pay the upfront fee and what documents you need to sign and certify.
Thousands of people choose our service because:
- We get you the maximum legal refund
- Freerefund estimations
- Every customer gets a Personal Online Tracking Account – you can follow your application every step of the way
- All our German Pension refund applications are legal and compliant with German tax law.
- Document retrieval service available
- 24/7 customer support
- Multi-lingual service
- Money sent worldwide and in your local currency
We know it’s easy to lose documents in the move back home or to not even receive them in the first place. That’s why we have a dedicated document retrieval team who deals with employers all over the world and can organise replacement documents for you. If you’re missing payment documents, just contact us at germany @TaxQuickRefund.com and we’ll sort it out for you.
No. To date, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU has not entitled UK citizens to claim pension refunds from Germany.
If you worked in Germany after 1994 and have been out of the country for more than two years, we can claim your refund straight away so apply for your German Pension Refund today.
If it’s less than two years since you left Germany, you need to wait until two years have passed before you apply.
As soon as we receive your pension refund, you’ll have it. We’ll contact you immediately when we receive your refund to organise the easiest way to get it to you.
Once we get your documents, it will take us just a couple of days to prepare your German Pension Application.
On average it takes approximately six months after your application is submitted before you receive your pension refund. However, the process can take longer.
You can watch the step-by-step progress of your application through your online account. We’ll set you up with this when you register. Rather talk to a person? The Tax Quick Refund Live Chat team are online 24/7 to support you.
- For pension refunds from Germany, we charge 16.5% + handling fee of the refund received, subject to a minimum fee of €120. Minimum fee should be paid upfront.
No, but we do guarantee to get you the most money back that we legally can.
Naturally, the German authorities have the final decision on your pension refund based on their systems and tax codes, but our estimate is based on your documents and our experience in filing thousands of applications every week since 1996!
Am I due a German tax refund?
In addition to your pension refund, we can also help you to apply for your German income tax refund. The average German tax refund is €1,020. The amount you get back depends on a number of factors such as what type of job you worked at, how long you were in Germany and the amount of tax you paid. When you apply for a German tax refund, we will look at your individual circumstances to find out how much you’re owed.
Useful German pension refund facts
- If you worked in Germany after 1994 and have been out of the country for more than two years, you may be eligible to claim your pension refund.
- The average German pension refund we get for our clients is €5,410.
- Once your application has been lodged, it takes about six months to process.
- When we receive your documents, it takes us just a couple of days to prepare your German Pension Application.