⏱️ 27 min read · 5,204 words · Updated Jun 24, 2026

Understanding Freistellungsauftrag Germany explained is essential for making informed decisions in today’s market.

If you’ve opened a brokerage account in Germany or even just looked into investing while living there, you’ve probably stumbled across the term Freistellungsauftrag. It sounds bureaucratic and intimidating.

“But it’s actually one of the most useful tools you have as a taxpayer in Germany, and understanding it can save you real money every single year.”

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“The Freistellungsauftrag is your personal exemption order for capital gains tax.”

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In Germany, the government automatically withholds 26.375 percent tax on profits you make from investments. That includes dividends, interest, and capital gains from selling stocks, ETFs, or funds. The Freistellungsauftrag tells your bank or broker how much of your tax-free allowance you want to use before they start deducting that tax.

Think of it as a permission slip. Without it, your bank takes the full tax off the top and you have to file a tax return to get it back. With it, the right amount is never taken in the first place.

Here’s the thing most people get wrong. They think the Freistellungsauftrag is something you set once and forget. It’s not. It needs to be renewed, adjusted when your situation changed, and split correctly if you have accounts at multiple banks. Getting it wrong means either leaving money on the table or getting a surprise letter from the tax office.

Let me walk you through everything.

Throughout this guide, we’ll explore Freistellungsauftrag Germany explained and how it directly impacts your financial future.

What Exactly Is the Freistellungsauftrag?

The word itself translates roughly to “exemption order.” In German tax law, it refers to the Sparerpauschbetrag, which is the saver’s exemption allowance. As of 2025, this allowance is 1,000 euros per year for unmarried individuals and 2,000 euros for married couples who file jointly.

That 1,000 euros is the total amount of capital income you can receive completely tax-free. Capital income includes three main things. First, interest on savings accounts and fixed-term deposits. Second, dividends from stocks and ETFs. Third, capital gains from selling securities at a profit.

The tax rate on capital gains in Germany is a flat 25 percent, plus the solidarity surcharge of 5.5 percent on top of that tax, which brings the total to 26.375 percent. If you live in a church and pay church tax, it goes even higher. So having 1,000 euros per year shielded from that is not trivial.

The Freistellungsauftrag is the form you submit to your bank or broker to activate this exemption. Without submitting it, your financial institution is legally required to withhold the full tax on every euro of capital income you earn. They don’t know your personal situation. They don’t know if you have losses to offset. They just take the money and send it to the tax office.

I’ll be honest. A lot of people in Germany don’t submit a Freistellungsauftrag at all, either because they don’t know about it or because they think it’s too complicated. That’s literally leaving money with the government interest-free until you file a tax return and wait months for a refund.

“The Freistellungsauftrag isn’t optional if you’re investing in Germany. It’s the difference between the government holding your money for free and keeping it in your pocket from day one.”

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How the Freistellungsauftrag Works in Practice

Let’s say you have a brokerage account with Trade Republic, Scalable Capital, or ING. You buy some ETFs during the year. By December, you’ve earned 300 euros in dividends and capital gains. If you haven’t submitted a Freistellungsauftrag, your bank has already withheld 26.375 percent of that 300 euros. That’s about 79 euros gone.

But if you submitted a Freistellungsauftrag for the full 1,000 euros, none of that 300 euros would have been taxed. The bank sees your exemption and lets the income pass through untouched.

The form itself is Straightforward. You provide your name, address, tax identification number, and the amount of the exemption you want to allocate to that specific institution. Most banks now let you do this digitally through their app or online banking portal. It takes about two minutes.

Here’s where it gets slightly more complex. You can split your Freistellungsauftrag across multiple banks. If you have accounts at three different banks, you might allocate 500 euros to one, 300 to another, and 200 to the third. The total across all institutions cannot exceed your annual allowance of 1,000 euros.

If you accidentally allocate more than 1,000 euros total, the tax office doesn’t just ignore the excess. Technically, the bank that processes the over-allocation is supposed to tax the amount above your limit. In practice, this creates a mess that requires amending your tax return. So always double-check your total allocations at the end of the year.

One important detail that catches people off guard. The Freistellungsauftrag does not carry over to the next year automatically. If you don’t use your full allowance in 2025, you can’t apply the remainder to 2026. Each year is its own cycle. You need to submit a new order for each calendar year.

Most banks will remind you at the end of the year to renew it. But “most” isn’t “all.” Don’t rely on reminders. Put it in your calendar for December or January.

Who Needs a Freistellungsauftrag?

The short answer is anyone who earns capital income in Germany. That covers a wider range of people than you might think.

If you have a savings account earning interest, you need one. If you own stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds, you need one. If you have a fixed-term deposit or bonds, you need one. Even if you just have a checking account that pays a small amount of interest, technically that interest is subject to capital gains tax.

Freelancers and self-employed people often have investment income on top of their business income. They need a Freistellungsauftrag just as much as employees do. Students with a small brokerage account need one too. There’s no minimum income threshold that exempts you from the requirement to submit the form. The requirement is on the bank’s side. They must withhold tax unless you tell them not to.

The only people who genuinely don’t need one are those who have zero capital income and zero interest income. If your money sits in a non-interest-bearing account and you own no securities, the Freistellungsauftrag is irrelevant to you.

But let’s be real. If you’re reading an article about the Freistellungsauftrag, you probably have some form of investment income. So you probably need one.

Freistellungsauftrag for ETF Investors

This is where things get interesting for the growing number of people in Germany building ETF portfolios. ETFs are treated the same as any other fund when it comes to capital gains tax. Distributions from distributing ETFs are fully taxable. Accumulating ETFs still generate a deemed distribution, known as the Basiszins, which is calculated using a base interest rate set by the government.

For the 2025 tax year, the base interest rate is 1.98 percent, adjusted from the previous year. That means on accumulating ETFs, you’re taxed on a portion of the fund’s income even if you haven’t sold anything. The Freistellungsauftrag covers this deemed distribution too.

Let’s put some numbers on this. Say you have 50,000 euros in a global accumulating ETF Portfolio. The deemed distribution calculation means roughly 594 euros of taxable income would be attributed to you. If your Freistellungsauftrag covers that amount, you pay zero tax on it. If you haven’t submitted one, your broker withholds the full 26.375 percent.

As your portfolio grows, your deemed distributions grow with it. At 100,000 euros, you’re looking at around 1,188 euros in taxable income, which exceeds your 1,000 euro allowance. In that case, the excess 188 euros gets taxed. But the first 1,000 is still protected if your Freistellungsauftrag is in place.

This is why the Freistellungsauftrag is especially important for ETF investors. Your taxable income from accumulating funds can be significant even when you’re not selling anything. Without the exemption order, you’re paying tax on paper gains that you haven’t actually realized.

How to Submit Your Freistellungsauftrag

The process varies slightly depending on your bank, but the core steps are the same everywhere.

First, log into your online banking or brokerage app. Look for the section related to tax settings, Steuer, or Freistellungsauftrag. Most major German banks have this under a clearly labeled menu.

Second, enter the amount you want to allocate. If you only have one bank, enter the full 1,000 euros. If you have multiple banks, decide how to split it.

Third, confirm your personal details. Your tax identification number, the Steuer-ID, is essential. It’s the 11-digit number you received from the Federal Central Tax Office. If you don’t know yours, check your last tax return or the letter you got after registering your address in Germany.

Fourth, submit the form. Most banks process it within a few days. Some apply it retroactively to the beginning of the year if you submit it early enough in the year. Others only apply it from the date of submission onward. Check with your specific bank to know which policy applies.

Fifth, and this is the step people forget, verify that it actually took effect. Log back in after a week and check your tax settings. Some banks have a display showing your remaining Freistellungsauftrag balance for the year. Make sure the number looks right.

If you change banks mid-year, you need to cancel the Freistellungsauftrag at the old bank and submit a new one at the new bank. The old bank won’t do this for you automatically. If you forget, you could end up with no exemption at either institution for the remainder of the year.

Common Mistakes People Make

The most common mistake is simply not submitting one at all. Estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands of taxpayers in Germany fail to claim their Sparerpauschbetrag every year. The total amount of overpaid tax that sits with the government because of this is staggering.

The second most common mistake is forgetting to split the allowance correctly across multiple accounts. You end up with 1,200 euros allocated when your limit is 1,000. That 200 euro overage gets taxed at the full rate, and you have to sort it out later.

Another mistake is not updating the Freistellungsauftrag after a major life change. If you get married, your allowance doubles to 2,000 euros. If you get divorced or your spouse passes away, it drops back to 1,000. These changes require you to adjust your allocations.

Some people also assume that the Freistellungsauftrag covers all types of income. It doesn’t. Rental income, business income, and salary income are completely separate. The Freistellungsauftrag only applies to capital income as defined in Section 20 of the German Income Tax Act.

And here’s one that surprises people. If you have capital losses, the Freistellungsauftrag doesn’t interact with them in the way you might expect. Losses can be used to offset gains, but the exemption allowance is applied before loss calculations in most cases. The interaction between losses and the Sparerpauschbetrag is one of the more nuanced areas of German tax law, and it’s worth consulting a Steuerberater if your situation is complex.

Freistellungsauftrag vs. Tax at Source: What’s the Difference?

People sometimes confuse the Freistellungsauftrag with the withholding tax itself. They’re related but not the same thing.

The withholding tax, known as Kapitalertragsteuer, is the tax that gets deducted from your capital income. The Freistellungsauftrag is the mechanism that tells your bank how much of your income should be exempt from that withholding.

Think of it this way. The tax is the water flowing through a pipe. The Freistellungsauftrag is the valve that controls how much flows through. Without the valve, everything gets taxed. With the valve set correctly, the right amount passes through tax-free.

The solidarity surcharge, Solidaritätszuschlag, is automatically applied on top of the capital gains tax. It’s 5.5 percent of the tax amount, not 5.5 percent of the income. So on a 25 percent tax, the surcharge adds another 1.375 percentage points, bringing the total to 26.375 percent.

Church tax, Kirchensteuer, adds another 8 or 9 percent of the tax amount depending on the state you live in. If you’re in Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg, it’s 8 percent. In most other states, it’s 9 percent. This can push the total withholding to around 27 or 28 percent.

The Freistellungsauftrag applies to the entire withholding, not just the base 25 percent tax. So when you set your exemption, you’re shielding yourself from the full combined rate.

Freistellungsauftrag for Couples and Families

Married couples who file a joint tax return, known as Ehegattensplitting, get a combined Sparerpauschbetrag of 2,000 euros. This is double the individual allowance, which makes sense since the joint return treats the couple as a single taxable unit.

But here’s the practical challenge. Each spouse typically has their own bank accounts and brokerage accounts. The 2,000 euro allowance needs to be split between them. There’s no rule about how to split it. You can allocate 1,000 to each, or 1,500 to one and 500 to the other, or any other combination that adds up to 2,000.

The optimal split depends on how much capital income each spouse earns. If one spouse has a large investment portfolio and the other has none, it makes sense to allocate more of the allowance to the person with more capital income. The goal is to use the full 2,000 euros without exceeding it at any single institution.

Children can also have a Freistellungsauftrag, but it’s more complicated. Minors are subject to the same tax rules as adults in Germany, but the allowance is typically managed through the parents’ tax return. If a child has significant capital income, the parents need to file a separate tax return for the child and apply the exemption there.

In practice, most families with children don’t need to worry about this unless the child has substantial investment income. A small savings account with a few euros of interest won’t trigger any tax liability.

What Happens If You Don’t Submit One

Nothing catastrophic happens immediately. Your bank withholds the tax. Your money still grows. You still have your investments. But you’ve given the government an interest-free loan.

To get the overpaid tax back, you need to file a tax return, known as the Einkommensteuererklärung, and claim the Sparerpauschbetrag as a credit. For capital gains, this is done through the Anlage KAP on your tax return.

The problem is that filing a tax return takes time, and the processing time at the tax office can be months. In some cases, it takes over a year to get your refund if the tax office is backed up. During that time, your money is sitting with the government instead of working for you.

There’s also the psychological factor. Getting a large tax refund feels great, but it’s your own money coming back. You were without it for months. The Freistellungsauftrag prevents this situation entirely by making sure the right amount of tax is withheld from the start.

For people who don’t normally file a tax return, the Freistellungsauftrag is even more important. If you’re not planning to file a return, you have no mechanism to reclaim overpaid withholding tax. The Freistellungsauftrag is your only protection.

Freistellungsauftrag at Major German Banks

Different banks handle the Freistellungsauftrag slightly differently. Here’s a quick overview of how some of the most popular ones work.

ING allows you to set up the Freistellungsauftrag directly in the online banking portal. You can allocate amounts to multiple depots and sub-accounts. The interface is clear and shows your remaining allowance for the year.

Deutsche Bank has a similar process through its online banking. You can submit the form digitally, and it typically takes a few business days to process. They also allow you to set up a standing order that automatically renews your Freistellungsauftrag each year.

Commerzbank handles it through the Freistellungsauftrag section in their online banking. The process is straightforward, but their interface is less intuitive than some of the newer digital banks.

Trade Republic, the popular neo-broker, lets you set your Freistellungsauftrag directly in the app. It takes about 60 seconds. They also show you how much of your allowance you’ve used so far this year, which is a nice touch.

Scalable Capital offers the same functionality through their app and web platform. They also provide a tax statement at the end of the year that shows exactly how much was withheld and how much of your Freistellungsauftrag was applied.

DKB allows you to manage your Freistellungsauftrag through their online banking. The process is standard, and they apply the exemption from the date of submission.

The key takeaway is that every major German bank and broker supports the Freistellungsauftrag. The process is never complicated. It’s just a matter of finding the right menu and entering the right numbers.

Freistellungsauftrag and International Investors

If you’re not a German tax resident but you have investments in Germany, the situation changes. Non-residents generally don’t have a German Sparerpauschbetrag. The Freistellungsauftrag is a benefit for German tax residents.

However, if you’re a tax resident of another country but you work in Germany and have a German brokerage account, you may still be considered a German tax resident for income tax purposes. This depends on the specifics of your situation and any applicable double taxation agreement.

Double taxation agreements, or DBA in German, can affect how your capital gains are taxed. Some agreements give the exclusive tax right to your country of residence, while others split it between Germany and your home country. If you’re in this situation, you need professional tax advice. The Freistellungsauftrag alone won’t solve the puzzle.

For EU citizens living in Germany, the rules are the same as for German citizens. If you’re a tax resident in Germany, you get the Sparerpauschbetrag regardless of your nationality. Your passport doesn’t matter. Your Steuer-ID does.

Historical Changes and What’s Coming Next

The Sparerpauschbetrat has changed several times over the Years. Before 2009, it was much higher at 1,370 euros for individuals. It was then slashed to 801 euros as part of a series of tax reforms. It was later raised to 81 euros in a bizarre legislative error that was quickly corrected. Since 2018, it’s been set at 801 euros for individuals and 1,602 for couples.

Wait, I need to correct myself. The current rate of 1,000 euros for individuals and 2,000 euros for couples was introduced in 2023 as part of a government reform to make investing more attractive. Before that, it was indeed 801 and 1,602 euros respectively. The increase was significant and long overdue in my opinion. The old allowance hadn’t kept pace with rising interest rates and investment returns.

Looking ahead, there’s ongoing political discussion about whether the Sparerpauschbetrag should be increased further or restructured entirely. Some proposals suggest replacing the flat allowance with a progressive exemption that benefits small investors more than large ones. Others want to simplify the process by making the exemption automatic, eliminating the need for the Freistellungsauftrag altogether.

None of these proposals have been enacted as of 2025. But it’s worth keeping an eye on legislative developments, because changes to the Sparerpauschbetrag directly affect how you manage your Freistellungsauftrag.

Freistellungsauftrag Germany Explained: The Practical Side

Let me give you a real-world scenario that illustrates why this matters.

Anna is 32, lives in Berlin, and has been investing in a MSCI World accumulating ETF through Trade Republic for three years. Her portfolio is worth about 45,000 euros. In 2024, she earned approximately 540 euros in deemed distributions and dividends. She never submitted a Freistellungsauftrag because nobody told her she needed one.

Her broker withheld 26.375 percent of that 540 euros. That’s about 142 euros gone. Anna didn’t notice because it was deducted automatically. She never filed a tax return because her employer handles her salary tax, and she didn’t think she needed to.

If Anna had submitted a Freistellungsauftrag for 1,000 euros, that 142 euros would still be in her brokerage account, compounding over time. Over 20 years, assuming a 7 percent annual return, that 142 euros alone would grow to over 550 euros. And that’s just one year of overpaid tax.

Now multiply that by every year she invests without the exemption. The cost of ignorance is real and it compounds just like returns do.

This is not a hypothetical. This is the situation for a significant portion of retail investors in Germany. The Freistellungsauftrag is free to submit, takes minutes, and saves real money. There’s no rational reason not to do it.

“Not submitting a Freistellungsauftrag in Germany is like tipping the government 26 percent on money you didn’t owe them. It takes two minutes to fix. There’s no excuse.”

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Interaction With Other Tax Rules

The Freistellungsauftrag doesn’t exist in isolation. It interacts with several other elements of the German tax system that you should be aware of.

First, the Vorabpauschale. This is the advance payment on the deemed distribution for certain investment funds. If you hold funds that are classified as “new types of investment funds” under the Investmentsteuergesetz, you may be subject to the Vorabpauschale even if the fund doesn’t distribute anything. The Freistellungsauftrag covers this liability too.

Second, the tax loss carryforward. If you realize capital losses, they can be carried forward to offset future gains. The interaction between carried losses and the Freistellungsauftrag is handled by your broker’s tax statement. In most cases, losses are applied first, and then the Freistellungsauftrag covers any remaining gains up to your allowance.

Third, the partial income tax exemption for equity funds. Since 2018, 30 percent of the income from equity funds is tax-free. This means only 70 percent of dividends and gains from funds that hold at least 51 percent equities is taxable. The Freistellungsauftrag applies to the taxable portion. This is a significant benefit for ETF investors that many people overlook.

Fourth, the Günstigerprüfung. If your personal income tax rate is lower than the flat 25 percent capital gains tax, you can request that the tax office applies your lower personal rate instead. This is relevant for low-income earners. The Freistellungsauftrag still applies, but the Günstigerprüfung can further reduce your tax burden on capital income that exceeds your allowance.

Freistellungsauftrag for Freelancers and Self-Employed

Freelancers and self-employed people in Germany face a unique situation. Their business income is taxed at their personal income tax rate, which can be as high as 45 percent including solidarity surcharge. But their investment income is still subject to the flat 25 percent capital gains tax.

This means the Freistellungsauftrag is potentially even more valuable for freelancers. If you’re in a high tax bracket, you definitely want to shield as much capital income as possible from the 26.375 percent withholding. The 1,000 euro allowance is the same regardless of your income level, but the relative benefit is greater when your marginal tax rate is high.

Freelancers also tend to have more variable income than employees. In good years, they might invest heavily. In lean years, they might need to sell investments. The Freistellungsauftrag needs to be managed with this variability in mind. If you know you’ll have a large capital gain in a particular year, make sure your allowance is allocated to the account where that gain will be realized.

One thing freelancers should watch out for is the interaction between their business investment deductions and the Freistellungsauftrag. If you invest in securities through your business, the tax treatment is different from personal investments. The Freistellungsauftrag only applies to personal capital income, not business income.

Digital Tools and Automation

The good news is that the process of managing your Freistellungsauftrag has gotten much easier in recent years. Most modern brokers and banks have built intuitive interfaces for setting up and tracking your exemption.

Some third-party tools can also help. Apps like Taxfix, Wundertax, and Sorted allow you to manage your German tax affairs from your phone, including tracking your Freistellungsauftrag usage. These apps can remind you to renew your exemption each year and flag potential issues like over-allocation.

A few brokers have started offering automatic renewal features. You set your Freistellungsauftrag once, and the bank automatically renews it for the next year at the same amount. This is convenient but not without risk. If your situation changes and you forget to update the allocation, you could end up with the wrong amount split across your accounts.

I’d recommend using automatic renewal as a safety net, not as your primary strategy. Check your allocations at least once a year, ideally in December when you have a full picture of your capital income for the year.

Freistellungsauftrag Germany Explained: Key Numbers for 2025

Here’s a summary table of the key figures you need to know for the 2025 tax year.

These numbers are what you’re working with. The total effective tax rate on capital gains in Germany, including solidarity surcharge and potentially church tax, can approach 28 percent. That’s a meaningful drag on your returns, which is exactly why the Freistellungsauftrag matters so much.

What About the Future?

German tax law is never static. The coalition government that took office in 2023 made several promises about capital gains tax reform, though progress has been slow. The most discussed proposal is to make the Sparerpauschbetrag automatic, removing the need for the Freistellungsauftrag entirely.

This would be a significant improvement. The current system places the burden on taxpayers to know about and submit the form. An automatic exemption would ensure that everyone benefits, regardless of their tax literacy. But as of mid-2025, no legislation has been passed to implement this change.

Another proposal on the table is to increase the Sparerpauschbetrag to 1,500 euros for individuals and 3,000 for couples. This would be a welcome change, especially given that the allowance was stuck at 801 euros for over a decade before the 2023 increase. But again, this is still just a proposal.

There’s also discussion about introducing a tax-free allowance for crypto gains, which currently don’t benefit from the Sparerachtsauftrag at all. Germany taxes crypto gains at the full rate if the assets are held for less than a year, and the Freistellungsauftrag doesn’t apply to them. This is an area where the law is clearly lagging behind reality.

My advice is to work with the rules as they exist today, not as they might exist tomorrow. Submit your Freistellungsauftrag, use your full allowance, and adjust if the law changes. Don’t wait for reform that may never come.

FAQ

Can I submit a Freistellungsauftrag retroactively? – Freistellungsauftrag Germany explained

Yes, but only for the current tax year and only if your bank processes it retroactively. Some banks apply the exemption from the beginning of the year if you submit it early enough, typically before mid-year. Others only apply it from the date of submission. If you missed the deadline for the current year, you can still claim your Sparerpauschbetrag by filing a tax return with the Anlage KAP form.

What happens if I over-allocate my Freistellungsauftrag? – Freistellungsauftrag Germany explained

If the total amount you’ve allocated across all banks exceeds your annual allowance, the excess amount is subject to full withholding tax. The bank that processes the over-allocation is responsible for taxing the excess. You can correct this by filing a tax return, but it’s much easier to simply check your allocations and make sure they add up correctly.

Do I need a separate Freistellungsauftrag for each broker?

Yes. Each bank or broker requires its own Freistellungsauftrag. The exemption is not shared or pooled automatically across institutions. You need to submit a separate form to each one, and the total across all institutions cannot exceed your annual allowance.

Does the Freistellungsauftrag apply to cryptocurrency gains?

No. Cryptocurrency gains are treated separately under German tax law. The Freistellungsauftrag only covers traditional capital income such as interest, dividends, and gains from securities. Crypto gains are taxed at your personal income tax rate if held for less than one year, and they are exempt if held for more than one year, but the Sparerpauschbetrag does not apply to them.

Can I change my Freistellungsauftrag mid-year?

Absolutely. You can increase, decrease, or cancel your Freistellungsauftrag at any time during the year. The changes take effect once your bank processes them. If you need to reallocate between banks, you would reduce the amount at one bank and increase it at another.

Is the Freistellungsauftrag the same as the Sparerpauschbetrag?

Not exactly. The Sparerpauschbetrag is the actual tax-free allowance amount, which is 1,000 euros for individuals. The Freistellungsauftrag is the form or order you submit to activate that allowance at your bank. Think of the Sparerpauschbetrag as the benefit and the Freistellungsauftrag as the mechanism to claim it.

What if I have capital losses? Do I still need a Freistellungsauftrag?

Yes. Capital losses and the Freistellungsauftrag work independently. You should still submit the exemption order to protect your gains from withholding. Losses can be carried forward to offset future gains, but that’s a separate process handled through your tax return or your broker’s loss compensation calculations.

Sources

• German Federal Ministry of Finance on capital gains tax
• Trade Republic Freistellungsauftrag guide
• German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz) Section 20

Conclusion

The Freistellungsauftrag is one of those things in German tax law that sounds complicated but is actually simple once you understand it. It’s a form that takes minutes to submit and saves you real money every year. There’s no downside to having one in place.

Here’s what you should do right now. First, check every bank and broker where you have an investment account. Second, log into each one and verify that you have a Freistellungsauftrag in place for 2025. Third, make sure the total across all accounts doesn’t exceed 1,000 euros, or 2,000 if you’re married and filing jointly. Fourth, set a reminder for December to review and renew for the next year.

If you don’t have one at any of your accounts, submit it today. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today. The process takes two minutes at most banks, and every day you wait is a day where your capital income might be getting taxed unnecessarily.

The German tax system isn’t known for being friendly to individual investors. The Freistellungsauftrag is one of the few bright spots, a small but meaningful protection that the government offers to encourage saving and investing. Use it. It’s your money.