Ask a lawyer on the topic of Tax law

Income tax

March 31, 2012 | 35,00 EUR | answered by Jan Wilking

In my tax assessment, the following sentence can be found: "The invoice for electronic books in the amount of 3059.50€ cannot be considered without proof of payment....". Submitted was a list of the e-books, the seller's address, my address, and the handwritten addition: Amount received in cash with thanks.
What can I do to still claim the invoice?

Jan Wilking

Dear inquirer,

I am happy to respond to your inquiry taking into account your description of the facts and your input as follows:

I assume that you wanted to deduct the e-books as advertising expenses. There is no regulation that requires proof of payment by bank transfer (as is prescribed, for example, for household-related services in section 35a EStG) and thus excludes the recognition of cash payments. It also seems that the requirements of section 160 AO (exact designation of creditor/recipient) are met in your case. However, the case worker must consider the overall circumstances of the case when assessing recognition/non-recognition. A payment of nearly 4,000 euros for e-books is probably rarely made in cash in practice, so the invoice is indeed to be considered unusual. In this case, you should explain to the case worker in a request for a simple amendment why you needed e-books with such a value and in particular, why the payment was made in cash. If you can justify this convincingly and the case worker still refuses recognition, the only option is to file an objection in accordance with sections 347ff. AO (note the one-month deadline under section 355 AO).

I hope this provides you with a helpful initial orientation. If you have any uncertainties, please use the free follow-up function.

Please note that as part of an initial consultation without knowledge of all circumstances, I cannot give you a definitive advice. If you wish for a final assessment of the situation, I recommend contacting a lawyer and discussing the situation with them after reviewing all documents.

Best regards