Germany’s financial authorities have accelerated the processing of tax returns. On average, it took 51 days last year for the tax authorities to respond to a return, according to a report by the “Welt am Sonntag” based on an analysis of around 400,000 tax returns filed through the online tax portal “Lohnsteuer-kompakt”. This represents a six-day improvement over the previous year, when the average processing time was 57 days.
“Not never have we seen such a significant change, and that’s a positive one” said Felix Bodeewes, the company’s managing director. Delays caused by the land reform seem to have subsided.
The Federal Ministry of Finance also expects a similar improvement. “According to the ministry’s preliminary findings, the processing time for income tax returns is expected to improve by about a week in 2024 compared to 2023” a ministry spokesperson told the “Welt am Sonntag”. This is attributed to “changed work processes and an increasing digitalization of business processes in the financial offices”.
The German Tax Union expects further declines in processing times this year. “By 2025, the average processing speed will increase significantly” said the union’s federal chairman, Florian Köbler. The land reform, which added 36 million additional returns, no longer hinders the offices. “Finally, all employees can focus on their core tasks again.” This has already had a positive impact in the second half of 2024 and will do so in the 2025 fiscal year as well.
A comparison of the federal states showed that the Hamburg financial offices worked most efficiently, with an average of 45 days, while in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, and Berlin, it took no more than 47 days. In contrast, taxpayers in Brandenburg and the Saarland had to wait an average of more than 60 days, and in Bremen, almost 80 days. The analysis included all financial offices in Germany with at least 50 returns filed through the online portal, a total of 502 offices out of around 550 in the country.