Income tax law distinguishes between compulsory and application-based assessment:
- Compulsory assessment: You must submit an income tax return without being asked to do so.
- Application-based assessment: You can voluntarily submit an income tax return in order to receive a refund of excess tax (e.g. income tax) from the tax office
The type of assessment and the submission deadline depend, among other things, on your income.
Deadlines for compulsory assessment:
Income tax return 2021:
- Submission deadline without a tax advisor: 31.10.2022
- Submission deadline without a tax advisor for income from agriculture and forestry: 02.05.2023
- Filing deadline with tax advisor: 31.08.2023
- Filing deadline with a tax advisor for income from agriculture and forestry: 31.01.2024
Income tax return 2022:
- Filing deadline without a tax advisor: 02.10.2023
- Filing deadline without a tax advisor for income from agriculture and forestry: 02.04.2024
- Filing deadline with tax advisor: 31.07.2024
- Filing deadline with a tax advisor for income from agriculture and forestry: 31.12.2024
Income tax return 2023:
- Filing deadline without a tax advisor: 02.09.2024
- Filing deadline without a tax advisor for income from agriculture and forestry: 28.02.2025
- Filing deadline with tax advisor: 02.06.2025
- Submission deadline with tax advisor for income from agriculture and forestry: 31.10.2025
Application assessment:
You can use the application assessment to claim a tax reduction for your deductible costs and receive a refund from the tax office for any overpayment of tax. In this case, you must submit your declaration to your tax office within four years of the end of the calendar year in which the salary was received.
You can submit your income tax return for 2019 to your tax office by 31.12.2023, by 31.12.2024 for 2020 and so on.
Note
In the following video, the tax office of the future explains the tax deadlines for employees quickly and easily.