Ask a lawyer on the topic of Tax law

Deadline for penalty payment exceeded

December 30, 2014 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Jan Wilking

I missed the deadline for submitting the separate determination of income to the tax office and a fine of 150€ (until 15.12.2014) was imposed. This deadline has also passed.

However, I have since submitted the form to the tax office (as of 29.12.2014).

Do I still have to pay the fine according to §335 AO, or is the debt (and any potential substitute custody according to §334 AO) now extinguished?

Jan Wilking

Dear inquirer,

I am happy to answer your inquiry taking into account the description of your situation and your effort as follows:

The purpose of the compulsory measures you mentioned is solely to force the taxpayer to take a certain action. Once the obligation is fulfilled, the person subject to the penalty will be relieved of the already imposed fine, as the penalty and substitute custody do not have a punitive or fine character.

So, if you have fulfilled your obligation to perform the action that is being enforced, for example, by submitting the mentioned form, after the penalty has been imposed, the enforcement should be discontinued according to section 335 of the Tax Code. The tax office is then not allowed to enforce the imposed penalty or offset it through deduction. The imposition of the penalty is considered settled and does not need to be explicitly revoked. Any threatened substitute custody is also considered settled.

I hope this has provided you with a helpful initial orientation. If you have any further questions, please use the free follow-up function.

Best regards,
Jan Wilking, Attorney at Law