For most people, the tax return is a torture. Fortunately, there are smart helpers in the jungle of numbers.
But what do Elster and other tax programs bring?
The tax return * is a chore for many of those affected.
In which cases does Elster help - and what is the difference to other control programs?
Experts explain the advantages and disadvantages of tax programs.
Use tax programs for the tax return?
According to
Stiftung Warentest
, a good 23 million
tax returns are submitted
to the tax offices
every year
- and 77 percent of them are created using software.
Practical: "
Digital tax returns
are now even given preferential treatment," quotes the German press agency Jörg Geiger from the Chip magazine, "Because with
Elster,
the tax offices
themselves provide a kind of free state alternative to purchase tax programs. In principle, Elster is the" paper form online ". But it is also clear: Elster does not offer tips on saving.
Experts
therefore
recommend
Elster
for
simple tax cases
,
i.e.
those without children, real estate or even care allowances.
The good thing about it, the dpa report continues: Elster takes over the data from the previous year.
Users can also import their receipts from employers, health insurers and, for example, pension payment offices *.
Read here
:
Is your tax assessment incorrect?
How to get more money from the Treasury
Tax return: computer program, app or browser application
If, on the
other hand,
you want
specific tips for
your
tax return
and would like to be guided step by step, you can use a
computer program
, an
app
or a
browser application
.
Is it much faster with the app?
"In 30 minutes it will be done for very few," says Jörg Geiger in the dpa report. Even the small view on the smartphone is not so convenient. The basis is therefore a chat that leads step by step through the program, According to the expert, it is often impossible to correct an error later, and additions later are not possible without starting from the beginning.
Video: Can I offset purchases for the home office?
Read here
: There is so much time left for the 2019 tax return
Stiftung Warentest: Almost no program calculates one hundred percent correctly
The
Stiftung Warentest
*
has examined the offers of 14 different tax programs for its magazine "Finanztest" - from downloads to apps.
Only three offers received the grade "good" (issue 5/2019).
What the testers liked was the chats and the simplicity of some browser or smartphone applications, but not the calculations.
In the dpa report, the project manager at Stiftung Warentest, Stefan Fischer, has his say: some of the programs made blatant mistakes.
But that doesn't just apply to apps.
The result of the "financial test": Even the test winners do not calculate one hundred percent correctly. "
Here you can find out
:
Tax return 2019: These items will bring you back a lot of money from the state
Tax return: Complicated cases are more for the tax advisor
Overall, the differences between desktop and browser versions are getting smaller and smaller, Dorothee Wiegand from the "c't" specialist magazine is quoted in the report.
Desktop programs still have a head start, but web services are covering more and more cases.
Both offer, similar to Elster, to query and import data from the tax authorities - for which, however, users have to remain loyal to one provider.
That saves time, avoids rotating numbers and a lot of trouble, according to the expert.
With all the help that the programs offer, it is particularly difficult for blended families with different constellations of maintenance, care and child benefit.
Experts agree: the more complicated the tax case, the more likely it is for the
tax advisor
.
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ahu
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* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen editorial network.
