For some, the tax return will soon be due again.
Others only do the stress on themselves every few years.
Surrendering them retrospectively can be worthwhile.
Not every German is obliged to submit a tax return year after year.
Employees in particular can do this on a voluntary basis - those who have a lot of paperwork at home are happy to take advantage of this.
Filing your tax return retrospectively: this is how it works
Everyone else, on the other hand, can sit back and relax - and
submit
the
tax return retrospectively
.
After all, you already pay monthly income tax.
The editors will explain to you which conditions you have to meet and which deadlines you should pay attention to.
For the 2019 tax year, the
assessment
period ends on December 31, 2023, as reported by
t-online.de
(as of February 17, 2021).
It is also still possible to submit tax returns for 2018 (due to a convenient weekend until January 2, 2023) and 2017 (until December 31, 2021).
Read more here:
Attention taxpayers: What you need to consider when filing your 2020 tax return
Submit your tax return retrospectively for four years
In principle, a tax return is useful to get an overview of whether you have paid too much or too little tax during the year and / or whether you are using any tax exemptions.
If you don't do this, you could face hefty back taxes, for example.
However
,
there are groups of
people who are obliged to submit a tax return every year by the corresponding deadline of the following year
.
This includes:
Self-employed
People with additional income from small businesses
People who do several jobs at the same time
Married couples in tax bracket IV with a factor or with a combination of tax brackets V and VI
But if you are not obliged to do so,
experts even advise you to file a tax return retrospectively
.
The reason for this: Often times, you can expect that you have paid too much and get your money back.
After all, you already pay taxes during the year according to your income tax bracket.
Submit your tax return retrospectively: Refund interest from the tax office
In addition, they could be
entitled to
so-called
reimbursement
interest, as
reported by
t-online.de
.
This means that the tax office pays interest on the repayment amount.
According to the United Income Tax Aid, you have to get the final tax assessment at least 15 months after the respective tax year, writes the portal - for the 2019 income tax return on April 1, 2021. The tax refund will then be paid by the state at 0.5 percent per month.
However, according to the report, the refund interest counts as taxable investment income.
Read about this:
Claim a home office flat rate - this is how it works with the tax return
In 2009 the Federal Fiscal Court decided by law to increase the deadline for retroactive tax returns from two to four years. This usually means:
You can file a tax return for the past four years retrospectively by December 31st
. But: This must be available to the tax office by this day. However, since a lot can accumulate in four years, tax experts often recommend going to the income tax aid association or tax advisor in these cases.
Basically, it is recommended - to make the work of wage tax assistance or the consultant easier - all receipts and documents that accumulate over the year to be neatly sorted and filed in folders or the like.
But what to do if you sweat after the four-year deadline?
Then you have missed it for better or for worse - an extension of the deadline is no longer possible at this point in time
.
Find out here
why it is so important to keep all receipts for up to ten years
.
Why you even benefit from a retroactive tax return
On the other hand, with a retrospective tax return, you rarely have to expect that you will have to
pay additional money
. If this is the case, however, tax experts recommend withdrawing your submitted tax return. All you have to do
is submit an objection to the tax office by letter within four weeks of receiving your tax assessment
. This means that the tax return is deemed not to have been submitted - and you do not need to pay later.
But students also benefit from waiting for the four-year deadline.
After all, they often do not have to submit a tax return during their studies.
If you then submit this retrospectively, you can, for example,
fully deduct expenses for a second degree after completing your studies
.
You can have these costs deducted as income-related expenses as soon as you start drawing your first salary at work.
These are then usually offset against the taxes on the first salaries - and you pay less wage tax in the first year of employment.
Find out here
how you can legally bypass the submission deadline
.
But be careful:
This regulation does not apply to the first degree (e.g. Bachelor of Arts)
.
The tax office only recognizes any study costs as special expenses and not as advertising costs.
A loss carryforward is therefore not possible.
Find out more
: Tax return - did you provide incorrect information?
This is what you need to do now.
Students can even make a loss carryforward for up to seven years retrospectively
Good to know: In some cases, you can
submit your tax return retrospectively for up to seven years
.
This is possible if you want to assert a so-called loss carryforward.
This is particularly beneficial for trainees and students.
The tax authorities are said to have already considered several times to only recognize the four-year period, but so far students & Co. can still
make use
of a
loss assessment
retrospectively for seven years
.
In this, you claim your study costs (losses) in a tax return to the tax office.
That means, in the end, you will get money back in the form of a tax refund.
Read here:
Tax returns made easy - which tax programs or apps can help you with this
So if you are a student and
have successfully completed
a
second degree (master's or bachelor's degree with previous professional training)
, you will receive an immediate tax refund after carefully checking your loss carryforward.
However, if you do not have all the documents together for such a long time, it is sufficient to
claim study costs through lump sums
.
Often the tax office does not ask for proof.
(jp / ahu) *
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