A current letter from the Ministry of Finance reduces the bureaucracy: Tax assessments remain open for the time being - with regard to double taxation of pensions.
What does that mean?
Many retirees fear
double taxation of
their pension.
Proceedings are currently ongoing at the Federal Constitutional Court (Ref .: 2 BvR 1143/21 and 1140/21).
A decision is still pending.
Regardless of this procedure, as the German Press Agency reported on September 1, the following applies: Seniors do not have to file their own objection to their tax assessment *.
According to the Association of Taxpayers, this will be superfluous, since the tax assessments will remain open ex officio for the time being.
The tax experts still see a need for action.
Tax notices for pensioners are issued provisionally
The
Federal Ministry of Finance wrote in a letter dated August 30, 2021
the provisional catalog has been adapted, as the Bundesverband Lohnsteuerhilfevereine (BVL) announced on its website: "All income tax assessments for assessment periods from 2005 will now contain a provisional note in view of any double taxation of pensions," the BVK informs. But: In addition, the note is added that the taxpayer must submit further documents after the decision of the BVerfG or the BFH in order to prove double taxation. "Specifically, this means for the pensioners concerned that the tax offices will not automatically check the tax assessments, but only after submitting the necessary documents, which must therefore be kept," explains Jana Bauer from the BVL according to the announcement.
According to the BVL, the provisional notice applies to all pension payments that are subject to downstream taxation.
These include
life annuities, pensions from statutory pension insurance, pensions from agricultural old-age funds, old-age provision from professional pension funds and Rürup pensions
.
Action required despite provisional notice
"The filing of an objection is therefore unnecessary for numerous pensioners who feared possible double taxation," says Bauer. To be on the safe side, according to the BVL, those affected should check the decision to see whether it also contains the provisional notice. The provisional tax assessment leads to the fact that the tax assessment is not final. However, pensioners would have to cooperate later so that the tax assessment could be changed in their favor.
According to the Association of Taxpayers, the letter also shows that the tax assessments are not automatically changed retrospectively in favor of the pensioners, as dpa writes.
Regardless of the outcome of the ongoing proceedings, the tax office would have to object to the double taxation and this would have to be proven by documents, so the conclusion.
On May 31, the Federal Fiscal Court announced two landmark rulings on the possible double taxation of pensions.
You can find out more about this here.
You can also read:
Early retirement with a part-time job: Why it could be particularly worthwhile in 2021
Sources: dpa, BVL press release of August 31, BMF letter of August 30, 2021: Provisional tax assessment
(ahu) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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