How to Check Your German Tax Assessment

The Steuerbescheid (tax assessment) lands in your mailbox and the first question is always the same: is this number even right? Living in Germany, you rarely get a plain-language breakdown – just a dense official document. The good news is that you do not need a tax firm to check it. You need a clear plan and the right lines in view.

In short: Read the Erläuterungen (explanations) at the end of the assessment first – that’s where the Finanzamt (German tax office) states where it changed your return. Then compare your taxable income, work-related expenses, special expenses and the credited amounts with your return. You have one month from delivery to object (§ 355 AO), and a posted assessment counts as delivered on the fourth day after the date printed on it (§ 122 AO).

How a German tax assessment is structured

Every Einkommensteuerbescheid (income tax assessment) follows the same pattern. Once you know it, you can find any figure in seconds:

1. Header – your name, tax number (Steuernummer), the tax year, the date of the assessment, and your bank details.
2. Festsetzung (assessment) – the assessed income tax, the solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag) and, if applicable, church tax (Kirchensteuer).
3. Anrechnung (crediting) – what you already paid: withheld wage tax (Lohnsteuer), capital gains tax, advance payments.
4. Result – the difference between the two: your refund or back-payment (Nachzahlung).
5. Besteuerungsgrundlagen (tax bases) – how your taxable income is built up: income, special expenses, extraordinary burdens.
6. Erläuterungen (explanations) – the most important part. Here the Finanzamt justifies every deviation from your return.

The three figures that matter

• Festgesetzte Steuer (assessed tax): the tax you owe for the year, before anything you already paid.
• Anrechnung von Steuerabzugsbeträgen (credited amounts): the sum of withheld wage tax, capital gains tax and advance payments. Compare this against your annual wage statement (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung) – a single transposed digit here shifts the result immediately.
• Refund or back-payment: the bottom line. If it’s a back-payment, the due date is stated too – usually one month after delivery.

Checking your German tax assessment: read the explanations first

Most people look only at the last line – refund or back-payment – and put the letter away. That is the most expensive mistake. To check your German tax assessment properly, start at the back, with the Erläuterungen zur Festsetzung.

There, the Finanzamt tells you in plain German what it did differently. Typical phrasings:

• “Die geltend gemachten Aufwendungen … konnten nicht anerkannt werden” (the claimed expenses could not be recognised).
• “Es wurde der Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag angesetzt” (the standard employee lump sum was applied instead of your itemised expenses).
• ”… mangels Nachweis nicht berücksichtigt” (not considered for lack of proof).

Each of these sentences is an instruction to look closer. If you see a cut in the numbers but find no explanation for it, that alone is a reason to investigate.

The errors the Finanzamt makes most often

The Finanzamt works fast and partly automatically. Check these points specifically:

1. Cut or deleted work-related expenses

The classic for employees. Check whether your claimed Werbungskosten (work-related expenses) were fully accepted. If only €1,230 (the Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag, the standard employee lump sum) was applied even though you claimed more, the Finanzamt either did not record your receipts or did not accept them. Often affected: training, work equipment, and a second household for work. More for employees is on our page for employees.

2. Lump sums instead of actual costs

The Finanzamt automatically applies lump sums when your proof is missing or lower – for example the special-expenses lump sum of €36 (€72 for jointly assessed couples) instead of your real insurance contributions. Check whether your higher actual costs were used.

3. Receipts and special expenses that were never recorded

Donations, church tax, tradesperson services (Handwerkerleistungen), childcare costs – check that every item from your return appears in the assessment. Freelancers and the self-employed should reconcile business expenses and advance payments; more on our page for freelancers.

4. Transposed digits and transfer errors

A swapped figure in your income or in the credited wage tax can shift the result by hundreds of euros. Compare the credited wage tax digit by digit with your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung.

5. Extraordinary burdens below the reasonable threshold

Medical costs and similar expenses only take effect above your individual reasonable burden (zumutbare Belastung). If the Finanzamt struck them entirely, check whether that threshold was calculated correctly – mistakes happen here.

Two markers that keep the assessment open

Not every assessment is final. Watch for two phrases:

• Vorbehalt der Nachprüfung (§ 164 AO): the whole assessment stays open and can be changed at any time by either side.
• Vorläufig (§ 165 AO): only specific, named points stay open, usually because of pending court proceedings. You benefit automatically from a later ruling without doing anything.

The deadline: how to calculate it correctly

If you find an error, time matters. You have one month from delivery to object (§ 355 AO). The trick is in calculating “delivery”:

• Four-day rule (§ 122 (2) AO): a posted assessment counts as delivered on the fourth day after the date printed on it – not the day it actually reached your mailbox.
• Weekend shift (§ 108 (3) AO): if that fourth day is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, delivery moves to the next working day.

Worked example: your assessment is dated Tuesday, 3 March 2026. Four days later is Saturday, 7 March, so delivery shifts to Monday, 9 March 2026. The one-month objection deadline therefore ends at the close of 9 April 2026. Your objection must reach the Finanzamt by that day.

Remember: once the deadline passes, the assessment becomes final (bestandskräftig). You then pay any excess tax for good – so check the assessment right after it arrives, not just before the deadline.

Found an error – what now?

If you spot a wrong cut or a transposed digit, you file an Einspruch (objection). It is informal, involves no fee, and can be done through ELSTER (Germany’s official online tax-filing portal). How to word it, which deadlines apply and when it is worth it: read our guide on how to appeal a German tax assessment. For an overview of all tools and guides, see the Restio home page.

How Restio helps

A tax assessment is exactly the kind of document where most people don’t know where to start checking. Restio takes the first step for you:

• Photograph the assessment – snap or upload your Steuerbescheid. Restio reads the figures and explains, in plain language, what the assessed tax, the credited amounts and the bottom line mean – and what the explanations are flagging.
• Compare with your numbers – Restio shows where the assessment deviates from the expected values, so you spot cut expenses or transposed digits faster.
• Deadlines in view – the deadline watchdog (Finanzwächter) applies the four-day delivery rule and the weekend shift, and reminds you before the objection window closes.
• Receipts ready – every scanned receipt is already in Restio when you need to back up a claim the Finanzamt cut.

For a legally binding assessment of your individual situation, consult a tax advisor (Steuerberater). Restio prepares you so you walk into that meeting with the right questions and documents.

Get Restio and understand any tax assessment in minutes.

Further reading

• § 355 AO – deadline for the objection
• § 122 AO – notification of the tax act
• ELSTER – Germany’s official online tax portal