For holders of American retirement accounts who live in Germany, or who are moving there.
What the guide covers
- Why the income tax treaty, and not the Internal Revenue Code, decides who taxes the pension, and why it assigns it to Germany under Article 18.
- The 30 per cent withholding of section 1441 and the Form W-8BEN that reduces it to nothing.
- How Germany taxes the distribution under section 22 number 5 EStG, before and after the 2025 reform.
- The Roth account, the annuity, and the timing of the move, as the remaining planning choices.
- The United States citizen in Germany under the saving clause.
- The inherited account under the estate tax treaty and German inheritance tax.
The full title
The Taxation of U.S. Retirement Account Distributions in Germany. IRA or 401(k): U.S. Withholding, the Treaty That Reduces It to Nothing, and the German Tax on Your Distributions After the 2025 Reform
The guide is sent as a PDF against an email address. The link that arrives is valid for twenty-four hours.
Request the PDFThe firm is led by attorney Caroline Esche Ashford, PhD, JD. A graduate of Columbia University Law School, her practice focuses on international estate planning and the cross-border taxation and administration of estates and trusts, including the German taxation of American retirement account distributions. Dr. Ashford is also licensed to practice law in Germany. She advises in French and German as well as English.
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