What a German tax advisor (Steuerberater) costs freelancers

In Germany, asking a tax advisor (Steuerberater) for a price rarely gets you a single number. The reason is the tax advisor fee regulation (Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung, StBVV): for most services it does not set a fixed price but a range that depends on the value of the matter. A reformed version with higher fee tables and new rules for flat fees has applied since 1 July 2025. Once you understand the mechanics, you can read a quote properly and see which levers are in your hands.

How the StBVV sets fees

The StBVV has three ways of billing a service. Which one applies is stated in the section covering that service.

Value-based fee: the amount at stake times a fraction

Most services are billed under § 10 StBVV as a value-based fee (Wertgebühr). The starting point is the amount at stake (Gegenstandswert), for example the total of your business income. For that amount, the advisor reads a "full fee" (10/10) from one of the tables A to D annexed to the regulation. The section for the specific service then sets a range in tenths of that full fee, for example 5/10 to 30/10.

Where in the range your bill lands is decided by the advisor at reasonable discretion under § 11 StBVV. The main factors are the scope and difficulty of the work, the importance of the matter, your income and financial situation, and any particular liability risk.

Time-based fee: per quarter hour

The time-based fee (Zeitgebühr) under § 13 StBVV applies where the regulation expressly provides for it or where the amount at stake cannot be estimated. It is 16.50 to 41 euros per started quarter hour (as of October 2026), which works out to 66 to 164 euros per hour. Before the reform, the amending regulation shows it was 30 to 75 euros per started half hour.

Fee agreements and flat fees

You and the advisor may depart from the tables. Under § 4 StBVV, a fee agreement (Vergütungsvereinbarung) must be in text form, labelled as a fee agreement, clearly separated from other arrangements, and must not be part of the power of attorney. A lower fee is allowed under § 4a for out-of-court matters if it stays in reasonable proportion to the work, responsibility and liability risk.

The old special rule for flat fees in § 14 StBVV was deleted in the reform. Monthly flat fees are now agreed under the general rules of §§ 4 to 4b, as Haufe summarises; the same article notes that the value tables rose by around six percent. VAT is added on top of the fee unless the advisor's practice is itself a small business exempt from charging it (§ 15 StBVV).

Watch out: if a fee agreement does not meet the form requirements of § 4, the advisor cannot charge more than the statutory fee on the basis of it (§ 4b StBVV). But if you paid voluntarily and without reservation, you cannot claim the money back merely because of the formal defect.

Which service falls under which section

For freelancers and the self-employed, these items matter most (as of October 2026):

Two details hide in the wording. The fee for the income tax return under § 24 StBVV covers the return "without determining the individual income". The EÜR is therefore billed separately under § 25. Conversely, under § 33 (8) the advance VAT returns are included in the bookkeeping fee when the advisor does your ongoing bookkeeping.

A worked example

Say you are a freelancer with 60,000 euros of business income, more than your expenses, and 40,000 euros of positive income. For the EÜR, the amount at stake falls into the band up to 62,500 euros in table B, where the full fee is 303 euros (as of October 2026). The range of 5/10 to 30/10 gives 151.50 to 909 euros.

For the income tax return, table A shows a full fee of 1,125 euros at 40,000 euros (as of October 2026). At 1/10 to 6/10, that is 112.50 to 675 euros. Both ranges exclude VAT and expenses. They are the statutory frame, not a quote: where you land depends on the § 11 factors or on what you agree.

What moves the bill up or down in practice

You can hardly influence the amount at stake; it grows with your business. The room for manoeuvre is elsewhere.

Your position in the range. Under § 11, scope and difficulty come first. A folder of sorted, legible receipts with clear categories is less work than a shoebox of loose thermal slips, and the range is wide enough for that to show on the bill.

Extra time-based fees. For preparatory work on the EÜR that goes considerably beyond the usual, the advisor may add the time-based fee under § 25 (2). For annual financial statements, the same applies to preparatory work up to the reconciled trial balance (§ 35 (3)). Chasing missing receipts, filling gaps, deciphering faded slips: that is exactly the kind of work that can fall into this category.

Who assigns the accounts. For ongoing bookkeeping, § 33 distinguishes between the advisor assigning receipts to accounts (Kontieren) and you delivering pre-assigned receipts. At an amount at stake of 60,000 euros, table C shows a full fee of 145 euros (as of October 2026). With account assignment (2/10 to 12/10), that gives 29 to 174 euros a month; from pre-assigned receipts (1/10 to 6/10), 14.50 to 87 euros. Whether your preparation counts as pre-assigned is something to settle with the advisor.

The handover format. Digital booking data the advisor can import directly saves them retyping it. Ask up front which format they accept, for example a DATEV booking batch (Buchungsstapel).

Tip: under § 9 StBVV, the invoice must be in text form and list each fee separately, with a short description, the section applied and, for value-based fees, the amount at stake. With those details and the table, you can recalculate every item yourself.

What this means for you

• Ask for a fee agreement in text form that states the type and scope of the engagement. For a flat fee, clarify what is included and what is billed on top at the time-based rate.
• Check every invoice for the section, the amount at stake and the fraction applied. If something is missing, ask.
• Hand over receipts continuously and sorted, not once a year as a pile. That avoids preparatory work that can be billed as extra time.
• Ask about billing from pre-assigned receipts (§ 33 (3)) if you categorise your receipts yourself.
• Agree on the data format before you hand over the first quarter.

Bonro takes over part of that preparation: you photograph the receipt, text recognition runs on your device, and the category is mapped to an SKR03 account that you check and can change before saving. The result is a DATEV booking batch with a continuous document number sequence, and a read-only link lets your advisor view the receipts and download the exports directly. Try Bonro