Tax System (reference)

Authority order

When a tax question comes up, consult sources in this order:

1. docs/INDEX.md + project docs (docs/*) — check what this project has already documented/decided first.
2. BMF circulars / official ELSTER forms — this is the actual source of truth in German tax law. Line numbers, rates, and loss-bucket rules must trace back here.
3. 2026+TaxGuide.pdf at /mnt/c/Users/Kostan/Downloads/2026+TaxGuide.pdf — plain-language clarification only. Never treat it as authoritative, and never accept a line number, rate (e.g. Basiszins, Teilfreistellung %), or loss-bucket rule from it without verifying against the BMF/ELSTER source.

PDF caveat

• Reading the PDF requires poppler-utils (for pdftotext), which is not currently installed on this WSL host. One-time fix: sudo apt-get install poppler-utils. Until then, the Read tool will fail on this file — don't assume it succeeded without checking.

Hard rule

• Never assert a line number, rate, or loss-bucket rule sourced only from the PDF. Always cite (or go verify) the corresponding BMF circular or official form before treating it as correct.

Cross-links

• See [[ibkr-tax]] for broker-statement-to-form mapping (Interactive Brokers / Freedom Finance specifics).

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Source: docs/superpowers/specs/2026-07-21-agent-team-and-skills-design.md §3, §4.2