In addition to the income tax return, please do not initially attach any other documents or statements. There is only a document retention obligation. This means that it is sufficient if you keep the documents for possible queries. If necessary, your tax office will request them in order to process your income tax return. The more complete, concrete and meaningful the information you provide in your tax return, the fewer documents will be requested by the tax office afterwards. To declare your expenses, please primarily use the entry options in ELSTER. Enter the individual expenses separately in the lines provided and do not combine them in one line. Since the optional breakdown options in ELSTER are not (yet) available in all areas of the tax return, you can already submit a supplementary explanation in the form of statements or supporting documents with the income tax return in the case of significant facts.
As a rule, a tax issue is significant if it is
- is new, first-time or one-time,
- represents an exceptional (business) event,
- is significantly different from the previous year, or
- has a significant tax impact.
Significant items with an actual tax impact may include , for example:
Mantel sheet:
- Disability
- Care allowance
- First payment of pension or permanent charges
- Extraordinary burden (e.g. expenses for a nursing home, alternative medical treatment)
Maintenance annex:
- Payments of foreign maintenance
Annex N:
- Deviating taxation of the use of a company car
- Domestic study (explanation usually sufficient)
Annex G/S/L:
- Transfer/disposal of business (explanation of profit calculation, in the case of transfer of business, if necessary, expert opinion on market values)
- Sale of shares in corporations
Annex KAP:
- Application for loss offsetting
Annex V:
- Letting for the first time
- New depreciation series (explanation usually sufficient)
- Increased depreciation
Attachment Child:
- First-time tuition
Foreign Circumstances:
- Schedules AUS, N-AUS, N-Gre
- Foreign income
- Application for unlimited tax liability
A document request beyond this is still at the discretion of the tax offices.