German pre-filled tax return
The pre-filled tax return is a service provided by the German tax authorities. Certain data which is provided by third parties (health insurance companies, employers etc.) to tax authorities can be automatically entered into a citizen's tax return if the citizens give the necessary authorization.
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The German tax authorities re-use the data provided to them from other relevant parties (insurance companies, employers etc.). Therefore taxpayers do not have to re-enter data but can simply check the data provided through the pre-filled tax return.
Summary
The pre-filled tax return is a service provided by the German tax authorities. If citizens choose to file their tax returns digitally, they have the option to use the pre-filled tax return. Certain data which is provided by third parties (health insurance companies, employers etc.) to tax authorities can be automatically entered into a citizen's tax return if the citizens give the necessary authorization. Citizens can then complete the tax return and submit it digitally.
Currently, the following data can be automatically retrieved by citizens:
- personal information (name, religious affiliation, address, bank information)
- information from the employment tax statement
- information on wage replacement benefits (e.g. unemployment assistance and social welfare)
- information on retirement benefits
- information on basic health insurance and statutory nursing care insurance dues
- information on pension plan dues
Insurance companies and employers have to submit the data to the tax authorities by February 28th of the respective year in order for the data to be used in the tax return.
Therefore, citizens do not have to manually re-enter the same data; tax authorities re-use data other agencies have already shared with them. This service provides several benefits to citizens:
- fewer mistakes due to no manual data entry
- saves time
- more transparency (citizens can see and check what data tax authorities receive from insurance companies and employers)
- reduces the administrative burden for citizens overall
| URL | https://www.elster.de/elsterweb/infoseite/belegabruf_%28privatpersonen%29 |
|---|---|
| Focus | Citizens |
| Start date | 1 Jan 2014 |
| Domain | Taxation |
| Scope | National/Federal |
| Country | Germany |
| Nature and status of project | Rolled Out |
| Is the OOP case/enabler mandatory? | Opt-in |
ENABLING ASSETS OR COMPONENTS
Legal interoperability
Law for the modernisation of the taxation procedure (July 2016), http://dipbt.bundestag.de/extrakt/ba/WP18/712/71245.html
This law was passed in order to modernize the taxation procedure. It supports the expansion of the pre-filled tax return. More data should be made available to be prefilled by the tax authorities in order to reduce the administrative burden for citizens.
Data handling / data exchange
Type of data sharing
Actual data
Data handler
| Stakeholder name | Stakeholder type |
|---|---|
Citizen | Citizen |
Tax authorities | Government |
Employers | Business |
Health insurance companies | Business |
Other state agencies | Government |
Architecture
This exchange of data follows very strict data protection laws. Due to the very sensitive data, the data can only be retrieved by authorization of the data owner.
Source: https://scoop4c.eu/cases/german-pre-filled-tax-return
Disclaimer: Please note that this article is a result of the SCOOP4C Pilot Project, not an application of a CEF Building Block.