TradeZero Europe and German tax reporting
TradeZero Europe B.V. is an investment firm based in Amsterdam. It is authorised and supervised by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and provides execution-only brokerage services.
Tax report
BubbleTax and TradeZero Europe have signed a partnership agreement to support German tax reporting for TradeZero Europe clients.
- How it works: For each completed tax year, you may request a detailed Data Export from TradeZero Europe, free of charge. If you choose to use BubbleTax, you enter into a separate contract with BubbleTax and upload your export. BubbleTax then prepares your tax report.
- Tax year 2026: The TradeZero Europe Data Export will be available on request in the first quarter of 2027. For subsequent tax years, the export will be available in the first quarter of the following year.
BubbleTax's report presents the relevant figures for Anlage KAP, with each figure traceable to the underlying transactions.
Good to know
- Using BubbleTax is optional. You contract directly with BubbleTax; TradeZero Europe is not a party to that contract.
- The tax report supports you in preparing your tax return. It does not replace individual tax advice.
- TradeZero Europe can answer questions about the Data Export. BubbleTax can answer questions about its tax report in German and English.
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.