The pandemic alone has given the tax offices a lot of additional work. But that’s not all: the property tax reform must also be implemented. And then there is the new online portal for reporting tax fraud.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Who is entitled to the home office flat rate? This is just one of the many questions that the tax offices had to deal with in detail when examining income tax returns during the Corona pandemic. Finance State Secretary Gisela Splett (Greens) and Chief Finance President Hans-Joachim Stephan are presenting the balance sheet of the tax authorities in the southwest today (10:00). According to the Ministry of Finance, 4.3 million income tax returns were processed last year, again more than in previous years. In addition, tens of thousands of deferral applications and applications for a stay of enforcement had to be processed.
Not enough: Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz (Greens) had a portal for anonymous whistleblowers activated at the end of August 2021 in order to step up the fight against tax fraudsters. As a result – almost a month before the federal elections – criticism hailed from the Union and FDP, among others, but also from many mostly anonymous private individuals about an alleged tax pillory on the Internet. There should not be an annual balance on Tuesday, it should follow in October. Because of the many insults and nonsensical entries at the beginning, the months of August and September were removed, a spokesman said.
And then there are the preparations for the controversial property tax reform. Owners must submit new property tax returns to the tax office by October of this year.
