Estably
Estably and the German tax return
Estably Vermögensverwaltung AG is based in Vaduz and supervised by the Financial Market Authority Liechtenstein (FMA). For its brokerage offering, Estably acts as an introducing broker of Interactive Brokers: the account is held at Interactive Brokers, Estably arranges it and serves German-speaking clients. Until July 2023 the same offering ran under the Banx Broker brand.
As with all IBKR-based brokers: Estably does not withhold German capital gains tax and does not issue an annual tax certificate under German law. German investors calculate their capital income themselves and report it in their tax return.
BubbleTax is an independent provider and has no business relationship with Estably. The name only describes which brokerage accounts the report works for.
What Estably clients have to calculate for the German tax return
- Gains and losses from stocks, ETFs, options and futures under the FIFO method (Section 20 (4) sentence 7 EStG)
- Foreign currency gains from USD, GBP and other currency balances (Section 20 (2) sentence 1 no. 7 EStG)
- Dividends and withholding tax with the correct credit under the applicable double taxation treaty
- Corporate actions such as stock splits, spin-offs and mergers
- Vorabpauschale and partial exemption for funds and ETFs under the German Investment Tax Act (InvStG)
- Conversion of every transaction into euros using the reference rates of the European Central Bank
BubbleTax is compatible with Estably data
Because the account is held at Interactive Brokers, you export the same Flex Query XML file as direct IBKR clients. BubbleTax reads that file and creates a complete tax report from it.
How it works
- Export the Flex Query: create the account statement in XML format in your Estably account at Interactive Brokers
- Upload to BubbleTax: upload the XML file
- Get your report: download your tax report with the values for Anlage KAP, KAP-INV and SO
The report contains every value you need for the German tax return, ready to transfer into ELSTER or to hand to your tax advisor.
In brief
The technical terms on this page, one paragraph each. Legal bases in brackets.
- Flex Query
- The configurable data export in the Interactive Brokers account management, also used by introducing brokers such as CapTrader or LYNX. BubbleTax needs it as an XML file with nine sections. Once set up, you export it again for each tax year.
- FIFO
- First In, First Out: when you sell, the units bought first count as sold first (§ 20 Abs. 4 Satz 7 EStG). This determines the acquisition cost and thus the gain or loss. IBKR uses other methods by default; BubbleTax rebuilds the positions under FIFO.
- Vorabpauschale
- A notional minimum return on fund units (§ 18 InvStG): the amount by which a fund's distributions in a calendar year fall short of the base return. It mainly affects accumulating ETFs that distribute little or nothing. BubbleTax calculates it from your holdings and distributions.
- Partial exemption (Teilfreistellung)
- A fixed share of fund income stays tax-free, depending on the fund type (§ 20 InvStG): 30 percent for equity funds, 15 percent for mixed funds, 60 percent for real estate funds, 80 percent for foreign real estate funds. It applies to distributions, the Vorabpauschale and gains from selling the units.
- InvStG
- The German Investment Tax Act governs how income from investment funds and ETFs is taxed at investor level: distributions, Vorabpauschale and disposal gains (§ 16 InvStG), with the Vorabpauschale (§ 18 InvStG) and partial exemption (§ 20 InvStG). These values belong in Anlage KAP-INV.
- Spin-off
- A corporate action: a company splits off a part and books shares of the new company into your account. For tax purposes it has to be determined whether the new shares replace the old ones and how the acquisition cost is allocated (§ 20 Abs. 4a EStG). BubbleTax detects spin-offs from the Flex Query section Corporate Actions.
- Anlage KAP
- The income tax return form for capital income: dividends, interest, gains and losses from shares and derivatives, creditable withholding tax. The report names the line for every value.
- Anlage KAP-INV
- The form for investment income without German withholding at source, as with IBKR: distributions, Vorabpauschale and gains from selling fund units (§ 16 InvStG).
- Anlage SO
- The form for other income. Relevant for investors in the case of private sales transactions under § 23 EStG; the report shows such values separately from capital income.
See for yourself before you pay.
Upload your Estably Flex Query XML and get your full tax report.