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The Brandenburg Gate — declaring P2P interest under German Kapitalerträge rules.
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P2P Lending Tax Guide for German Investors 2026

How P2P lending interest is taxed in Germany: Abgeltungsteuer 25%, Solidaritätszuschlag, Kirchensteuer, Sparerpauschbetrag, Anlage KAP, and foreign-platform reporting for 2026.

By Daniel Brenner, Senior Editor · Updated 2026-05-19

P2P Lending Tax Guide for German Investors 2026

A plain-language walkthrough of how returns from P2P lending platforms are taxed in Germany — Abgeltungsteuer, Solidaritätszuschlag, Kirchensteuer, the Sparerpauschbetrag (annual tax-free allowance), and how to report foreign-platform income on Anlage KAP.

⚠️ NOT tax advice. This guide is editorial information only, written for a general retail audience. German tax law is genuinely complex, the treatment of P2P income can vary based on platform structure (interest vs claims assignment vs profit participation), and rates and allowances change. Consult a qualified Steuerberater (tax advisor) for your specific situation before filing. CrowdIndex is not a tax advisor.

TL;DR

  • P2P lending interest received by a German tax resident is normally treated as Kapitaleinkünfte (income from capital) under §20 of the German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG).
  • The tax rate is the flat Abgeltungsteuer of 25% on the gross interest, plus Solidaritätszuschlag (“Soli”) at 5.5% of the Abgeltungsteuer amount, plus Kirchensteuer(church tax) at 8% (Bayern, Baden-Württemberg) or 9% (rest of Germany) of the Abgeltungsteuer amount if you are registered as a member of a tax-collecting religious community.
  • A Sparerpauschbetrag (saver’s lump-sum allowance) of €1,000 per single filer / €2,000 per jointly assessed couplefor 2026 exempts the first slice of capital income from tax entirely.
  • Most German banks and German-licensed brokers withhold Abgeltungsteuer at source. Foreign P2P platforms (Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Irish, Swiss) typically do not. You are responsible for declaring this income yourself on Anlage KAP of your German income tax return.
  • If the foreign country withholds tax on the interest at source, you can usually claim a foreign-tax credit (Anrechnung) against your German Abgeltungsteuer under §32d Abs. 5 EStG, up to the limit set in the relevant double-taxation treaty.
  • Default losses on P2P loans are treated as losses from capital income and can offset other capital income — but only within the §20 EStG bucket, with specific loss-offset restrictions that have changed several times since 2020. Get advice on this point specifically.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This is editorial information, not tax advice. Rates, allowances, and reporting rules change with each Jahressteuergesetz. Always verify against current Bundesfinanzministerium and Finanzamt guidance, and consult a Steuerberater for your personal situation.

📊 CrowdIndex Editor’s Pick. Maclear ranks #1 of 19 European P2P platforms on CrowdIndex (Score 9.2/10) — Swiss-positioned, 14.5%–14.9% advertised yields, multilingual including German. Tax-wise: Maclear is a foreign platform from a German perspective and will not withhold German Abgeltungsteuer; you report the gross interest on Anlage KAP yourself. Read the full Maclear review →

1. German Tax on P2P Returns — Abgeltungsteuer Mechanics

In Germany, the income tax system divides income into seven categories (Einkunftsarten). Income from capital — interest, dividends, certain kinds of investment income — falls under §20 EStG (Einkommensteuergesetz). For most retail investors, this category is taxed not at the progressive personal income tax rate, but at a flat tax called Abgeltungsteuer, introduced in 2009.

The headline rate of Abgeltungsteuer is 25% on the gross interest amount. On top of this you pay:

  • Solidaritätszuschlag (Soli) at 5.5% of the Abgeltungsteuer amount itself (not 5.5% of the interest — 5.5% of the 25% tax). This means an effective add-on of about 1.375 percentage points of the gross interest. The Soli was substantially reduced for ordinary income tax in 2021, but it still applies in full to Abgeltungsteuer on capital income.
  • Kirchensteuer (church tax) at 8% in Bayern and Baden-Württemberg, or 9% in the rest of Germany, again calculated on the Abgeltungsteuer amount — but only if you are registered as a member of a tax-collecting religious community (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish community, etc.). If you are konfessionslos (no registered religious affiliation), no Kirchensteuer is due.

So the effective total tax on each €100 of gross P2P interest, for someone above the Sparerpauschbetrag, looks like this:

ComponentCalculationAmount
Gross interest—€100.00
Abgeltungsteuer25% × €100€25.00
Solidaritätszuschlag5.5% × €25€1.375
Kirchensteuer (if 9% Land)9% × €25€2.25
Effective taxwith Kirchensteuer€28.625
Effective taxwithout Kirchensteuer€26.375
Net after taxwith Kirchensteuer€71.375
Net after taxwithout Kirchensteuer€73.625

The flat 25% rate is genuinely a benefit for high earners — if your marginal personal income tax rate is 42% or 45%, paying 25% on capital income is a meaningful saving. For lower earners whose marginal rate is below 25%, there is a special election called Günstigerprüfung (favourability check): you can ask the Finanzamt to tax your capital income at your lower marginal rate instead. The tax office runs the calculation automatically when you tick the relevant box on Anlage KAP.

Important: Abgeltungsteuer applies to interest. If a P2P platform’s economic structure technically pays you something other than interest — for example, profit participations, claims-assignment returns, or special-purpose-vehicle distributions — the tax classification can shift. CrowdIndex-Scramble’s claims-assignment model and CrowdIndex-Indemo‘s defaulted-debt-investment (DDI) profit-share structure are the kinds of products where you should ask a Steuerberater whether the income is still §20 EStG capital income or whether a different category applies.

2. Sparerpauschbetrag — The Annual Free Allowance (€1,000 / €2,000 in 2026)

Germany has a built-in tax-free allowance for capital income called the Sparerpauschbetrag(saver’s lump-sum allowance). For tax year 2026 :

  • €1,000 per single filer (raised from €801 effective 2023)
  • €2,000 per jointly assessed married couple / civil partnership

This allowance is not a deduction against gross interest; it is a slice of capital income that is fully exempt from Abgeltungsteuer, Soli, and Kirchensteuer. The first €1,000 of P2P interest (and bank interest, and dividend income, and other §20 EStG income combined) per single filer is therefore tax-free. Only income above €1,000 is subject to the 25% + Soli + Kirchensteuer mechanics described in section 1.

Freistellungsauftrag — telling your bank not to withhold

For income earned through German banks and German-licensed brokers, the standard mechanism is the Freistellungsauftrag (“exemption order”). You tell each institution how much of your €1,000 allowance to allocate to that account. The bank then refrains from withholding Abgeltungsteuer on income up to that allocated amount.

The total Freistellungsaufträge you issue across all institutions cannot exceed €1,000 (or €2,000 for joint filers). The Bundeszentralamt für Steuern cross-checks via the German tax-ID system, so issuing two €1,000 exemption orders at two different banks will get flagged.

Foreign P2P platforms and the Sparerpauschbetrag

Here is the trap that catches most German P2P investors: a Freistellungsauftrag has no effect on a foreign platform. Foreign P2P platforms (Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, Irish, Swiss) are not German banks, do not file with the German tax authority, and do not honour Freistellungsaufträge. They simply pay you the gross interest.

This does not mean you lose your Sparerpauschbetrag on that income — you absolutely still get the €1,000 allowance. But the mechanic is different:

  1. The foreign platform pays you gross interest (no German tax withheld).
  2. On your annual tax return, you declare the gross interest on Anlage KAP.
  3. The Finanzamt applies the Sparerpauschbetrag automatically when calculating your final liability.
  4. You pay the resulting Abgeltungsteuer + Soli + Kirchensteuer (if any) with your annual tax bill.

The cash-flow effect: you have full use of the gross interest during the year, and you pay the resulting tax once a year. The total tax is the same as if a German bank had withheld at source — you just settle annually instead of monthly.

3. Anlage KAP — Reporting P2P Income on Your German Tax Return

The form that captures all capital income — bank interest, dividends, capital gains on securities, and P2P lending interest from foreign platforms — is Anlage KAP (annex KAP to your annual income tax return, Einkommensteuererklärung).

You file Anlage KAP via:

  • Elster Online (elster.de) — the official German tax e-filing portal, free, in German
  • A Steuerberater — recommended if your P2P portfolio is non-trivial or if you have foreign-tax credits to claim
  • Commercial tax software — WISO Steuer, smartsteuer, Taxfix, and similar tools support Anlage KAP

What goes where (general guidance — verify current line numbering for tax year 2026)

The Anlage KAP form has separate lines for different sub-categories of capital income. The line numbering changes each year, so always check the current Elster form. As a general guide:

  • Line: Kapitalerträge, die nicht dem inländischen Steuerabzug unterlegen haben (“capital income that has not been subject to German withholding tax”) — this is the bucket for foreign P2P platform interest. You enter the gross EUR amount of interest received during the tax year.
  • Line: Ausländische Quellensteuer (“foreign withholding tax”) — if the source country withheld tax on the interest (rare in EU P2P; more common with Swiss platforms paying out under the German-Swiss double-taxation treaty), you enter the foreign tax amount here to claim the foreign-tax credit. More on this in section 4.
  • Line: Verluste aus Kapitalvermögen (“losses from capital income”) — for documented default losses. See section 5.
  • Tickbox: Günstigerprüfung beantragen — request the favourability check if you think your personal marginal rate is below 25%.
  • Tickbox: Kirchensteuer-Abzug — confirms whether church tax should be applied.

Documentation you should keep

Foreign P2P platforms do not produce German-format Steuerbescheinigungen (tax certificates). You need to keep your own records:

  1. Year-end statement from each platform — most platforms (Mintos, PeerBerry, Twino, Maclear, etc.) generate an annual investor statement showing total interest earned, fees paid, defaults, and recoveries. Download and archive this in PDF.
  2. Transaction log / CSV export — most platforms allow a full CSV export of every transaction. Keep this in case the Finanzamt asks for a detailed breakdown.
  3. Proof of foreign withholding — if any foreign tax was withheld, keep the platform’s confirmation document showing the amount.
  4. Currency conversion records — if you held loans denominated in a currency other than EUR, you need to convert at the ECB reference rate on the date each interest payment was received, or apply the year-end conversion rule consistently. Most EU P2P platforms operate in EUR by default, so this rarely applies.

Tax-return documentation should be retained for at least 10 years under German tax law (in case of audit), even though the standard reassessment window is shorter.

4. Foreign P2P Platforms — Withholding & Foreign-Tax Credit (Anrechnung)

Most EU-licensed P2P platforms — those covered in our P2P-Regulation-Explained guide — do not withhold tax at source on interest paid to non-resident retail investors. The platform pays you gross, you settle with the German Finanzamt yourself.

A few situations involve foreign withholding tax (Quellensteuer):

Swiss platforms — Verrechnungssteuer

Switzerland has a 35% Verrechnungssteuer (anticipatory tax) on Swiss-source interest. Whether it applies to a specific Swiss P2P platform depends on the legal structure of the interest payment. CrowdIndex-Maclear is positioned as a Swiss platform via PolyReg SRO membership, but its actual loan structure routes through borrowers across multiple jurisdictions — so whether Swiss Verrechnungssteuer applies on Maclear interest paid to German investors is a question for a Steuerberater, not a generic answer.

If 35% Swiss withholding tax does apply, the German-Swiss double-taxation treaty caps the creditable amount at 15%. The remaining 20% would need to be reclaimed from the Swiss tax authority (Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung, ESTV) via a formal refund procedure.

Other EU member states — no withholding (typically)

Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian, and Irish ECSP platforms generally do not withhold tax on interest paid to EU retail investors. The EU has substantially harmonised cross-border interest taxation, and the platforms operating in these jurisdictions structure their payments to be tax-neutral at source. You declare the gross amount on Anlage KAP and pay German tax at the Abgeltungsteuer rate.

Claiming the foreign-tax credit (Anrechnung) — §32d Abs. 5 EStG

If foreign tax has been withheld on your P2P interest, you can claim a credit against your German Abgeltungsteuerunder §32d Abs. 5 EStG, capped at the rate set in the relevant double-taxation treaty. The credit is applied on Anlage KAP via a dedicated line for “Ausländische Quellensteuer.”

A simplified worked example, for illustration only(not legal advice, ):

  • You earn €1,500 gross interest from a Swiss-source P2P payment.
  • Swiss Verrechnungssteuer of 35% (€525) is withheld at source.
  • Under the German-Swiss DTT, you can credit up to 15% (€225) against your German Abgeltungsteuer.
  • Your German Abgeltungsteuer on €1,500 is €375 (25%); credit of €225 reduces this to €150 net German tax.
  • The remaining €300 of Swiss withholding (35% – 15%) can in principle be reclaimed from the Swiss tax authority via a refund procedure — this requires filing form 85 / DA-1 (depending on year) with the ESTV. The procedure is real but administratively heavy; many small-investor-sized refund claims are not pursued in practice because the cost of filing exceeds the recoverable amount.

Bottom line on foreign tax: for most EU-licensed P2P platforms, no foreign tax is withheld and the German tax outcome is the simple Abgeltungsteuer + Soli + Kirchensteuer on the gross interest. For Swiss-structured payments, the question is genuinely complex and warrants a Steuerberater conversation.

5. Verluste — How Default Losses Are Treated for Tax

P2P loans default. Some recover; some do not. The German tax treatment of these losses has been a moving target since 2020 and is one of the points where this guide most strongly defers to a Steuerberater.

General position

Losses from capital income are treated as Verluste aus Kapitalvermögen under §20 EStG. The current rules (after the legislative changes of 2020, 2021, and several subsequent Jahressteuergesetze):

  • Losses on capital income can be offset against other capital income within the same §20 EStG bucket. So a default loss on one P2P loan can be netted against interest on other P2P loans, against bank interest, and against dividend income in the same year.
  • Losses cannot be offset against income from other categories (employment income, business income, rental income). Capital losses live in their own ring-fenced bucket.
  • Unused capital losses can typically be carried forward to future tax years and netted against future capital income. The Finanzamt issues a separate Verlustfeststellungsbescheid (loss-determination notice) confirming the carry-forward amount.
  • There have been specific restrictionson offsetting losses from “Forderungsausfälle” (claim losses) and from certain derivatives, with annual caps that have been litigated up to the Bundesverfassungsgericht. The legal position is genuinely unsettled and has shifted several times.

Practical issues

The biggest practical issue with P2P default losses in Germany is proving the loss to the Finanzamt’s satisfaction. The tax office historically asks:

  1. When did the loss crystallise? Is the loan formally written off by the platform? Is it still in recovery? A loan in recovery is not yet a tax-deductible loss — only a final write-off or a confirmed irrecoverable receivable counts.
  2. What documentation supports the loss? Platform write-off notification, recovery proceedings outcome, final-settlement statement. Foreign-platform documentation is sometimes challenged for not matching the German format the Finanzamt expects.
  3. Is the loss in the right category? Some platforms structure products such that losses might be treated as claim-realisation losses rather than interest forfeit — the category affects which offset rules apply.

This is precisely the area where a Steuerberater earns their fee. A bad loss-categorisation can cost meaningful tax and create disputes with the Finanzamt.

6. Resources — Where to Verify Current Rules

German tax rules change with each annual Jahressteuergesetz (Annual Tax Act), and the practical guidance from the Finanzamt evolves through BMF circulars and case law. The authoritative sources:

  • Bundesministerium der Finanzen (BMF) — bundesfinanzministerium.de — publishes the official guidance circulars (BMF-Schreiben) interpreting §20 EStG and Abgeltungsteuer rules.
  • Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt) — bzst.de — handles cross-border tax matters including foreign-tax credit reclaim procedures.
  • Elster.de — elster.de — the official tax e-filing portal, with current forms and line-by-line help text.
  • Your local Finanzamt — for written enquiries (verbindliche Auskunft) on specific complex cases. There is a fee, but the answer is binding.
  • A licensed Steuerberater — listed in the Steuerberaterkammer of your Bundesland (e.g., stbk-muenchen.de, stbk-koeln.de). For meaningful P2P portfolios with multiple foreign platforms, this is the right starting point.

For the regulatory side of P2P — which platforms are licensed under MiFID II, ECSP, Swiss SRO, or unregulated — see our companion guide P2P-Regulation-Explained. Regulation determines who supervises the platform; taxation determines what you owe the Finanzamt. The two are independent dimensions.

7. Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to pay tax on P2P interest in Germany if my total interest is below €1,000? If your total capital income (P2P interest + bank interest + dividends + other §20 EStG income, combined across all sources) is below the Sparerpauschbetrag of €1,000 for a single filer (€2,000 jointly assessed for 2026), the income is fully exempt from Abgeltungsteuer, Soli, and Kirchensteuer. You may still need to declarethe income on Anlage KAP if it comes from foreign platforms — the Finanzamt will then confirm no tax is due. The allowance is per filer per year and is not transferable between spouses if assessed separately.

Does Maclear withhold German tax for me automatically? No. Maclear is a foreign platform (Swiss-positioned via PolyReg SRO membership) and is not a German bank. It does not honour Freistellungsaufträge and does not withhold Abgeltungsteuer. You receive gross interest and are responsible for declaring it on Anlage KAP yourself. Whether Swiss Verrechnungssteuer is withheld depends on the structure of the specific interest payment — confirm with a Steuerberater.

Does Mintos withhold German tax? CrowdIndex-Mintos is a Latvian MiFID II Investment Firm regulated by Latvijas Banka. As a Latvian-source payment to a German resident, it generally does not involve Latvian withholding tax on interest under the EU framework, and Mintos does not withhold German tax. You declare the gross interest on Anlage KAP. The same pattern applies to other Latvian-licensed platforms (CrowdIndex-Nectaro, CrowdIndex-Twino, CrowdIndex-Indemo, CrowdIndex-Capitalia) and to Lithuanian and Estonian ECSP-licensed platforms.

How do I report P2P losses when a loan defaults? Default losses go on Anlage KAP as Verluste aus Kapitalvermögen, but only once the loss is realised — i.e., the platform has formally written off the loan or recovery proceedings have concluded irrecoverably. A loan in recovery is not yet deductible. Losses offset other capital income in the same year; unused losses carry forward. The Finanzamt will scrutinise the documentation, so keep the platform’s write-off notification and any recovery-outcome statement. Strongly recommended to consult a Steuerberater on this — the categorisation rules have shifted multiple times.

Do I need to declare P2P income if I am not yet a German tax resident? This guide assumes you are a German tax resident (unbeschränkt steuerpflichtig) — i.e., you have your habitual residence in Germany. If you are non-resident or have residence in multiple countries, the question of where the interest is taxable shifts to the relevant double-taxation treaty between Germany and the platform’s source country, and to the rules in your country of residence. This is a question for a Steuerberater with international tax experience, not a generic article.

8. Bottom Line

For a German tax resident, P2P lending interest is treated as Kapitaleinkünfte under §20 EStG and taxed at the flat Abgeltungsteuer rate of 25%, plus Solidaritätszuschlag at 5.5% of the tax amount, plus Kirchensteuer at 8–9% of the tax amount if applicable. The annual Sparerpauschbetrag of €1,000 (single) / €2,000 (jointly assessed) for 2026 shields the first slice of capital income entirely. Foreign P2P platforms (which is virtually all of them, from a German perspective) do not withhold German tax — you declare the gross interest on Anlage KAP and settle annually with your tax return. Default losses are deductible against other capital income once realised, with documentation discipline. None of this replaces a Steuerberater conversation if your P2P portfolio is non-trivial.

See our full ranking of 19 European P2P platforms →

💡 Top platform on CrowdIndex

Maclear is our #1 of 19 rated platform — Swiss SRO-positioned with 14.5%–14.9% advertised yields, multilingual including German, and the only documented case in our research of a CEO covering investor losses from personal funds on a default (Vibroedil, July 2025). For German tax purposes, treat Maclear as a foreign platform: no German tax withheld at source; declare gross interest on Anlage KAP; confirm Swiss Verrechnungssteuer treatment with a Steuerberater.

See the full Maclear review →

⚠️ Disclaimer (repeat). This is editorial information for general audiences, not personalised tax advice. German tax law is complex and changes regularly. The Abgeltungsteuer rate, Sparerpauschbetrag, Soli, and Kirchensteuer rates cited above should be verified against current Bundesfinanzministerium and Finanzamt guidance for the tax year you are filing. The treatment of specific P2P product structures (claims assignment, profit participations, defaulted-debt investments) can deviate from the standard §20 EStG interest-income pattern. Consult a qualified Steuerberater for your specific situation. CrowdIndex is not a tax advisor and accepts no responsibility for tax decisions made on the basis of this article.

Affiliate disclosure. CrowdIndex earns commissions when readers sign up to platforms through links in this guide. This is how we fund our research. It does not change our editorial ranking or the tax framing in this article. Read the full affiliate disclosure →.