Tax claims waived

You can apply for a tax remission informally at the competent authority. Describe the reasons why you need a tax remission. You should submit your application as early as possible before the payment date. The competent authority will inform you about the next steps.

In most tax cases (especially income tax or sales tax), the local tax office is responsible. This is usually the tax office to which you must submit your tax return or tax return, or from which you have received the tax assessment.

Local excise and expenditure taxes are usually the responsibility of local governments. Local consumption and expense taxes are, for example, the dog tax, the second home tax or the amusement tax.

In addition, there are also taxes for which federal authorities are responsible, such as the customs authorities or the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt). These types of tax include, for example, motor vehicle tax.

• Tax office search at the Federal Central Tax Office

You must apply for tax relief from the authority to which you are obliged to pay. As a rule, this office has also sent you the tax assessment or asked you to pay.

A tax remission is only possible in exceptional cases in the following cases:

Remission on grounds of personal equity:

A remission for personal reasons is possible if the payment of the outstanding amounts would destroy or seriously endanger your economic existence. In principle, the statutory attachment protection provisions under the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) secure your economic existence. Any decree must not be in favour of other persons or companies, but must have an impact on your specific situation. In order to check whether a remission can be made, you must disclose your entire income and financial circumstances to the tax office; if necessary, the tax office requests further documents.

Another prerequisite is that you have not caused your own economic distress. Furthermore, in the past, you must have fulfilled your tax obligations (e.g. filing tax returns, tax payments) in full and on time.
 

Decree on grounds of objective equity:

A remission for reasons of objective equity is only possible in exceptional cases if the tax authority has lawfully assessed the tax, but this assessment is not (no longer) compatible with the purpose of the underlying law. You must demonstrate that the legislature, had it considered your case, would have decided it in accordance with the tax remission sought. A legal consequence unfavourable to you, which the legislature has deliberately ordered or accepted, does not justify an objective equitable measure.

In principle, you cannot base your application on the fact that a final tax assessment is incorrect. The equitable remission is not intended to compensate for the consequences of culpable failure to observe the time limit for lodging an objection or bringing an action.
 

Special rules may apply to taxes that are not administered by the tax offices.

Together with your application, you should submit documents or evidence that clarify the reason for your application for remission. If you apply for a remission for reasons of personal equity, you must disclose your entire income and financial circumstances to the tax office. In this context, you must also explain why the payment of the outstanding amounts would destroy or seriously endanger your economic existence.

Special rules may apply to taxes that are not administered by the tax offices.

None.

None.

Special rules may apply to taxes that are not administered by the tax offices.

• § 227 Tax Code (AO)

If your application for remission is rejected, you can lodge an objection with the authority that rejected the remission. Normally, you must submit the objection in writing or electronically (e.g. by e-mail) within 1 month of receipt of the rejection.

23.07.2020