Deadline for German tax returns

Hi there. I just have a quick query. I started a job at the end of November 2002 and haven't got round to filing my tax return yet. Silly me!

I thought that I had until the end of 2003 and kept putting it off. Now I find that I only had until 31.May.2003 to file it. Is this correct? Can I be fined?

I would really appreciate any info. Thanks a mill.

We filed ours last month (October 2003 for 2002 returns). No problem and are getting some back. Just do it.

End of May if you do it yourself, end of September if you use a Steuerberater. In both cases, if you can provide a good reason you can get extensions without being fined. You may have to pay interest on anything you owe them, however... (although they pay you interest if they owe you anything!).

Best thing is to send a quick letter saying that due to business commitments you are delayed and giving them a date you hope to be able to submit by. Fines don't start being levied until you get the first reminder letter. In Munich the Finanzamts are overloaded - they aren't too bothered with people who are a little late. Out in the sticks (e.g. Freising, Ebersberg), things are a little tighter.

The Finanzamt like to be informed - so long as you talk to them they are happy. Go quiet and they chase you.

Even better, get a Steuerberater - they have better excuses, and often save you money in any case.

With both a good Steuerberater, and a pocket full of good excuses, it's late 2004 I still haven't submitted for 2002.

YL6

you technically have until december 31, 2005 for your 2003 tax return.

i got in my 2001 return in on december 30, 2003. then again, they didn't really need my tax return anyhow.

I filed my 2001/2002/2003 tax return in LK Ebersberg in May 2004. They didn't care that they were late and I had my $$ back for all three yrs within about 4-6 weeks, with no penalties.

I was here working for the last 4 months of 2001. I finally did the tax thing in the end of 2003 and surprise, I ended up with over 3000€ in my pocket. I got back pretty much every penny I had paid to the government for the first few months of working. It was great, like winning the lottery. No penalties, etc. Just do it.

Tax payers who's only source of income is employment income (“Lohnsteuerkarte�) should be aware that the deadline for filing a tax claim for the year 2003 expires in many cases on 31.Dec.2005. After this date it is not possible to claim entitlements for 2003.

Contact me today if you need any assistance with filing.

[img]http://www.toytowngermany.com/xtra/adverts/zitzelsberger.gif[/img]

This is a paid placement posting.

A quick question related to taxes.

When is the deadline for filing the tax return for 2005?

Henrik

As far as I know it's April 6th, 2006. Someone else please correct me if I'm wrong.

And if you miss the deadline, no problem. Do it with next years tax return. Doing two years in one go is allowed.

Thanks for the info.

I just spoke to and advisor and asked what the deadline was. They said that it has now changed and you must file your return by the 31st December 2006 for the previous year.

This one will test the combined knowledge of all you clever people...

As all good queries start...

"I have a friend" (honest, Guv!) who has been here a couple of years and has done bugger all about filing tax returns and trying to claim money back. Has been here since Q4 2004. Now, the big question is when does the ability to retrospectively file and claim any avalable tax refunds run out? ie is 2004 now put to bed and gone forever?

My "friend" would be very grateful for a hint...

Topics merged by admin

I also have a "friend" who is a terribly lazy procrastinator. Is it still possible to file for 2005/2006 and get a refund? Does it really all have to be done online now?

I also have a "friend" here who hasn't actually told the tax man he's even here yet (since april last year) after some interesting advice from a tax accountant, who said "wait for them to contact u as in theory because of EU practices the uk tax office should inform the german tax man your here!" (get paid by a uk company into offshore account & don't have a german bank account as no need so far)
But said"friend is now a bit concerned & would feel better if he did inform the tax man, just concerned over what they might say after not telling them for so long!
any advice would be appreciated.

simon: if your friend is getting his salary from a U.K. company directly, question is if he is not legally "entsendet" (i.e. dispatched) to do a job in Germany in which case, as I understand it, he is not taxed here in Germany. can you clarifiy his actual employment position a bit more?

Not dispatched here from work, purely erm "his" choice to come over to germany & continue working just from a different location.
He doesn't get tax taken off in the uk after having a residency ruling saying he's not resident in uk & also had a letter from the inland revenue saying he should be subject to social security legislation of member state in which is residing , so currently in process of having to get some public health insurance.

If your friend has advised the UK Inland revenue that he's living in Germany, then the UK IR will almost certainly advise the Germans in the fullness of time. The Germans will attempt to make contact with him to determine if he has any income to declare or should have registered with them or submitted a tax return. If he did have income to declare but has not registered/declared it within the time allowed they will levy penalties which could be severe. It's a general pre-requisite to pay tax dues in parallel to income. As an employee that means "pay as you earn" and as self employed that means a regular (usually quarterly) pre-payment according to your mutually agreed estimated income or tax liability.

So if my "friend" has decided to get off his arse & do something about paying some tax, who would he go & see for sorting it out bearing in mind he's been here slightly over a year already?
Would he just need to go & get a tax number from somewhere, or would it be best talking to another tax accountant & doing it through them?
Any advice much appreciated.

You might need to join a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein, a club that helps tax return. They did it for me this year and I got >2500 EURO back. The annual fee for that club depends on your income which should be around 100~200EURO.

I have to submit a tax return for 2006, I gave all the details to a Steuerberater in Aug 06, but he still hasn't done anything at all !
I now have my doubts that he will do it by the end of 2007 as he seems too busy.
Where does this leave me? Will I get fined for late submission? Does anyone know how much the fines are? Can I pass the fines on to the Steuerberater for incompetance?

Topics merged by admin

Did you mix up the dates in your post? How could someone know all the details for a tax return for 2006 before 2006 has ended? Maybe he didnt consider this as a binding mandate and is still waiting for you to give him the rest of the necessary information... Anyway, like in every (not just business) relation the key is communication. Call him and ask when the tax return will be done. If you expect to get a lot of money back, tell him you want it as soon as possible. If he is not a complete moron, deadline will be no problem, as he can ask the "Finanzamt" for prolongation of your time limit.

I had a snafu regarding my 2005 taxes and ended up just paying what the finanzamt told me their estimation was. Then, way after the fact, the tax person submitted my stuff and I am getting a large refund (any day now). So if your tax person is too late with their submissions, that is the protocol.

The thing with mine was that they lost all my materials except a couple of pieces of paper (proving I had indeed given them my stuff originally). The preparer said that if there was a fine, they would be responsible for paying it. There ended up being no fine and my return is just reaaaaly delayed and I had to pay the estimated tax, which I will get back.

I was also informed by my tax preparer that the new law mandates that all taxes be completed within the following calendar year. Not sure about my tax preparer's urlaub so I will get my 2006 stuff to him asap.

My boyfriend and I just saw our tax guy yesterday (Dec 2007). We gave him all our tax information for 2005 and 2006. He said that tax returns for 2005 must be filed by the end of the year 2007. So, basically, 2 years is what you have.

Don't worry.

Erm, I don't think so. You have till the end of 2007 to do your 2006 taxes. It used to be have to be done earlier than that, end of October I think, and you could apply for an extension, but that changed recently. Now you don't get an extension but you have longer to submit, i.e the end of the year. If you're only submitting your stuff for 2005 now, I think you are going to have problems.

I don't think we'll have a problem, but, I will let you know once he's finished with his work. This guy does this for a living and knows a lot so I think he would know if it was too late. But, we'll see.

Not everyone is required to submit a tax return. Sometimes they are voluntary, usually if you are in permanent employment over the year with the same employer who is deducting tax at source, and where your tax affairs are very simple - no additional claims, complications or income. In such cases then the limit for submitting your return is December 31st, 2 years AFTER the year of the return (so for tax year 2005 by December 31, 2007). This date cannot be extended. If you are required to submit a tax return (e.g. self employed, tax class 4 or 5, additional income, additional state subsidies, etc.), then you must submit your return by May 31st of the year after the return year (so for 2006 by May 31, 2007), but this can be extended - if you use a Steurerberater then there is an automatic extension to September 30. Further extensions can be applied for, so long as there is good reason. The Finanzamt don't turn down reasonable extension requests with good grounds, but may not repeatedly extend if they think you are taking the piss. if you do submit following an extension and have additional tax to pay it may be liable for interest on the extension period.

OK so I am absolutely useless when it comes to tax returns. I have recieved a bill for 2007 from the finanzamt, I never submitted a tax return for that year. If I pay the bill then do the tax return and it ends up that they owe me money will I still get it back, or since I'm late once I pay it is the money gone?

From memory, if you are voluntarily filing a tax return you have 2 years to do it, so for 2007 you should still be able to. Only if you are legally obliged to file do the other deadlines apply (and even then, you'd probably get a month or two grace if you were slightly late filing - we've had no problems the last two years with filing around a month late, but it's probably at the whim of a Beamter).

As for pay first and file later, I've no idea. Paying probably implies acceptance and so you probably ought instead to send an objection (Widerspruch) or something along those lines (possibly as well as paying), but you probably need to ask someone who knows, like a professional tax advisor, or the Finanzamt themselves.

@Wizadora

Even if you do pay them money now, do the tax return and it ends up that they owe you money, you will get it back, no question about it.

If you can't/won't/be damned to pay the amount now, you should immediately (it has to be within a month of the date on their demand) write the Finanzamt a letter titled "Einspruch" (you don't agree) and ask for "Aussetzung der Vollstreckung" (= freezing their whole demanding money process) telling them that you intend to do a voluntary income tax return for 2007. Then do your income tax return, find some expenses from 2007 to deduct, e.g. invoices for books you needed for work/doing your taxes, qualification courses for work and the associated stationary you needed for them, your ticket to get to work, invoices for the stationary/postage you needed to write job applications and invoices for the taxi/bus/train/plane to get to job interviews, copying costs, 20% of the Hausmeister&cleaner costs you pay as part of the Nebenkosten with your rent, 20% of all invoices you have paid for repairs, your medical/dental/lawyer/car repair after an accident bills= "außerordentliche Belastung", moving costs, part of your internet&phone bills (of course you do some work from home!), Praxisgebühr you pay every quarter when you visit your doctor, medical drugs not paid by your health insurance, costs for glasses. The list is endless, just collect all invoices with year 2007 on them and start deducting. The Finanzamt may not accept some of them but you should always try. Within 2 months you will get a new "Bescheid" with a smaller amount.

If you know some German, you could use a tax return software like Taxman, it will lead you step-by-step through the tax return, suggest all possible deductions and fill in the forms correctly. If you don't want to submit paper forms, do an electronic tax return (Elster = ELektronische STeuerERklärung) with Taxman or the simpler (=just the paper tax forms online) free program ElsterFormular. The advantage of submitting electronically is that (starting with the tax year 2003) you don't have to attach copies all the invoices you use for deduction, but you still have to have them should the Finanzamt want to see them. However, after submitting electronically you still have to print and sign a sort of summary of your tax return and send it by snail mail to the Finanzamt.
Taxman for 2007, 24,95€, including program on CD-ROM: http://www.amazon.de/Einkommenssteuererkl%.../ref=pd_sim_b_1
ElsterFormular, free: https://www.elster.de/arbeitn_home.php and https://www.elster.de/elfo_home.php
The new tax law passed in 2008 (Jahressteuergesetz 2008) has repealed the previously valid 2 year period for doing a voluntary tax return (i.e. for students, employees and retired people). Now you have 4 years to do a tax return (staring with the income tax return for the year 2005). This means, for example, that you can submit the voluntary tax return for 2005 until 31.12.2009. The one for 2007 you can submit until 31.12.2011.

People who have to submit income tax returns (i.e. self-employed) have an even longer time period, 7 years, to submit tax returns.

Even if you're in the voluntary group and you would like to do your older tax returns for the years 2001 to 2004, there's still hope. The highest German law court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) still has to decide whether it isn't unfair to give one group of people 7 years and the other only 4 years. So if the Finanzamt doesn't want to accept your income tax returns for the years 2001-2004, just do an "Einspruch" immediately and tell them in it that they have accept them because of the "Verfassungsbeschwerden vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht 2 BvL 55/06 und 2 BvL 56/06". This means that when the court decides to extend the 7 year period to the voluntary group as well, your income tax returns for 2001 to 2004 will be processed and you'll hopefully get some money back.

Explanation with § in German: http://www.steuerlinks.de/steuli-191.html#c93364

Wow!! Thanks for all the info, much appreciated!

You are obliged to do a tax return, if the law says so, or if the "Finanzamt" demands you to do so. The normal period of grace is five months after the end of the year. Tax advisors get a prolongation to the end of the year for their clients. In certain special cases another prolongation up to the 28.2. (or even the 30.04.) of the following year is possible. No matter what kind of grace period you might have, the Finanzamt can ask you to do your tax return earlier.

If you dont do so, they can try to force you, by threatening and finally constituting a "Zwangsgeld" (up to 25000€). If you do it too late, they will also ask for a "Verspätungszuschlag" and interest on the outstanding tax. They also have the option to estimate your income and demand tax accordingly. But this doesnt free you from your obligation to do your tax return (especially if the estimate was too low).

@Wiz: Im not sure I understand what you mean by "bill". If this "bill" is a "Steuerbescheid 2007", I would be really surprised if you havent already gotten other letters from the Finanzamt, which you ignored. Or is it just a reminder, that you should do your tax return and that there will be a fee for being late? One could conclude from the actions of the Finanzamt that you are obliged to do a tax return, so everything bein said about voluntarily doing it does not apply to you.

The most important action:
talk to a tax advisor immediatly

PM is right about the 1month period. If it actually is a Steuerbescheid 2007 based on an estimate, you need to declare your "Einspruch" against that Steuerbescheid. If this isnt done in time, you will still have to do a real tax declaration but if it turns out you earned less than they estimated you might still have to pay the higher amount.

The information about the 4 or 7 year period is easy to misunderstand. It doesnt relieve you from your obligation to do your tax return within the period of five months/ one year. This regulation only says that the tax assessment can be changed within the period of 4 years. But there are all kinds of limitations that make it difficult or impossible for a tax payer to reduce a once assessed tax, whereas the authorities can easily raise the amount, if they come across prove that you have earned more. Not to forget the penalty payments and interests that will be charged for being too late. Someone who relies on the fact that he has 7 years to do his income tax return will be in for a very ugly surprise.

Well I went to the Finanzamt today and they said if I pay it and then follow up with the tax return they will refund me any difference and that I would have until the end of next year to do so.

Thanks again for the info!