Do I still pay German taxes after leaving Germany?

When you move out of Germany and deregister, you generally stop being subject to unlimited German tax liability (unbeschränkte Steuerpflicht) — the kind that covered your worldwide income. But specific German-source income can still create limited tax liability (beschränkte Steuerpflicht): rental income from a property located in Germany, pension payments from German systems, income from a German business or profession, and certain capital gains under specific conditions.

Whatever your situation, the year of departure itself requires a German tax return. The return splits the year between the unlimited and limited periods, and there's no way around it — even people who have only employment income that ended cleanly at the move date need to file. After that, ongoing German-source income usually means annual filings even from abroad.

Tax treaties between Germany and your destination country decide which country has primary taxing rights for each kind of income, and how to avoid double taxation through credit or exemption.

For higher-net-worth expats, exit tax (Wegzugsteuer) may apply on the unrealised gains of substantial shareholdings (1% or more in a corporation) — this needs to be checked well before departure, because by the time you've moved, the planning options have narrowed.

The cleanest practical approach is to involve a Steuerberater somewhere in the 6–12 months before the move — partly to plan the year-of-departure return, partly to identify any ongoing filings, and partly because the destination-country tax handling needs to be coordinated alongside, not bolted on later.