Bundesportal | Filing an income tax return: General information

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Publisher

Hamburg

Last update or date of publication

March 9, 2026

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Income tax is levied on your taxable income – that is, on income you have earned in a calendar year. This includes, for example,

Wages and salaries,
Profits from self-employment or business,
Income from renting and leasing,
pensions as well
certain capital gains.

Not everything you earn is taxable. Many of your expenses can be claimed on your tax return. This reduces your taxable income and means you pay less tax. Examples include expenses related to your job or business.

The final amount of income tax is calculated at the end of the year. To ensure the tax office receives money during the year, there are advance payments such as wage tax. If you are employed, wage tax is deducted directly from your salary and transferred to the relevant tax office. If you rent out property or are self-employed, you must make advance payments.

The income tax return is the formal notification to the tax office containing all tax-relevant data for the year. In the income tax return, you declare your income and deductible expenses.

As an employee, you are not required to submit a declaration. You can submit one voluntarily to potentially receive a refund.
As a self-employed person, business owner, landlord, or person with multiple incomes, you must file an income tax return every year.

Submit supporting documents with your income tax return only if explicitly instructed to do so in the forms and instructions. You must keep all other supporting documents and submit them only if requested by the tax office. Generally, you can submit supporting documents by mail, email, fax, or in person at the tax office. You can usually submit copies of the original documents.

Preconditions

You are always free to file an income tax return voluntarily. In certain cases, you are required to do so.

If you have been requested to do so by the tax office, you are obliged to submit an income tax return.

If a tax-free allowance has been entered for your wage tax deduction, you usually have to submit an income tax return as soon as your annual salary exceeds a certain limit.
Exceptions apply only to the following tax-free allowances:

Lumpts allowance for people with disabilities
Lump sum for surviving dependents
Child tax allowance

The income thresholds for taxable earnings are regularly adjusted and can change from year to year. You are required to file an income tax return if your total earnings in a given year exceeded the threshold.

Hints

Even if you are not required to file an income tax return, you can still do so voluntarily. Any overpaid taxes can only be refunded this way.

Examples (not exhaustive):

Employees with additional income (e.g., fees, rent) exceeding €410
Employees receive, for example, unemployment benefits or parental allowance exceeding €410.
The employee received wages from several employers simultaneously during the calendar year.
Spouses with tax classes III/V
Pensioners with statutory pension, possibly other income
Employee receives reimbursement of health/long-term care insurance contributions exceeding 410 euros
Generating income from rentals

Since 2019, you can prepare your income tax return much more easily than before. The relevant online and paper forms have been modernized, so that much of the information can now be automatically entered.

You generally submit your income tax return to the tax office in whose district you live. If you submit your income tax return online, this happens automatically. Alternatively, you can also submit your paper income tax return to any other tax office in Hamburg. There, it will only be received and forwarded, not processed. If you have any questions about your tax case, always contact your responsible tax office directly. Only they can review and process your case.

If you fail to submit your income tax return on time, the responsible tax office may impose a late-filing penalty or a fine. Your tax base may also be estimated by the responsible tax office.

fee
Advance payment
no

Basis for legal action

Law on the Modernization of Tax Procedures of 18 July 2016 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1679)
https://www.bgbl.de/xaver/bgbl/start.xav#/text/bgbl116s1679.pdf?_ts=1773053410223

Section 25 Paragraph 4 of the Income Tax Act (EStG)
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__25.html

Section 46 Paragraph 2 No. 8 Income Tax Act (EStG)
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__46.html

Sections 169-170 of the German Fiscal Code (AO)
https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ao_1977/__169.html

Legal Remedies

Objection
Lawsuit before the tax court

Procedure

You apply for income tax assessment by submitting your income tax return. To do this, first apply for your tax identification number from the relevant authority.

You fill out your income tax return and submit it along with any required attachments and documents.
- You can submit your income tax return in writing or online via ELSTER or other tax software or app.
- If you, as an employee, earn additional income from agriculture and forestry, from a business or from self-employment exceeding 410 euros annually, you must submit your income tax return online.
The responsible authority will review your income tax return and request any missing documents or information from you if necessary.
The relevant authority calculates your income and expenses and determines how much income tax you will have to pay.
You will receive an income tax assessment. This will show whether you are entitled to a refund or whether you have to make an additional payment.

Deadlines

If you file your income tax return voluntarily, you must submit it no later than four years after the end of the relevant tax year. (Example: For the 2021 tax year, the deadline is December 31, 2025.)
If you are required to file an income tax return and
- If you complete these yourself, you must submit them by July 31st of the following year (example: for the year 2024 by July 31st, 2025).
- If a tax office or a wage tax assistance association prepares your income tax return for you, it must be submitted no later than February of the year after next.

You can request an extension of the deadline from the relevant authority before the regular deadline expires.

As an employer, insurance company or other institution, you have until the end of February of the following year to electronically transmit tax data such as wage tax statements, pension statements or contribution data for retirement provision (Riester/Rürup) and health and long-term care insurance to the tax authorities.

Processing time

The processing time depends on the individual case.
You will receive your tax assessment no earlier than mid-March of the following year.

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