Submitting your income tax return

In principle, the tax office at the place of residence is responsible.

In principle, the tax office of residence is responsible for each partner.

In the private sector, there are generally no statutory retention periods for tax purposes - except for tradesmen's invoices in connection with a property (= 2 years from issuance of invoice) and for donation receipts/confirmations of donations (= 1 year from notification of tax assessment).

However, it is advisable to retain tax-relevant documents (invoices for tax-reducing expenses, bank statements, tax certificates, etc.) until the tax office has completed processing the tax return or until the deadline for appealing the tax assessment has expired. However, if receipts are important for several years (e.g. medical certificates), they should be kept for a correspondingly longer period.

Income from capital assets is tax-free up to the amount of the saver's lump sum of € 1,000 in the case of individual assessment or € 2,000 in the case of joint assessment.

However, taxes on investment income such as savings interest, dividends and capital gains from the sale of securities are withheld directly by the respective bank and paid to the tax office (withholding tax). Therefore, this investment income only has to be declared in the income tax return if no domestic capital gains tax (final withholding tax) has been withheld. This would be the case, for example, with foreign investment income or interest from a personal loan.

In order to avoid an excessive deduction of capital gains tax, you can either issue the bank with a so-called exemption order https://www.finanzen.bremen.de/steuern/einkommensteuer/abgeltungsteuer-5240 up to the amount of the saver's lump sum or apply to the tax office of your place of residence for a so-called non-assessment certificate (NV certificate).

There are no statutory deadlines for this. Nevertheless, the income tax assessment should be kept in your own interest, as it also serves as proof of income for submission to other authorities (e.g. for parental allowance, benefits under BAFöG, daycare fees).