Ask a tax advisor on the topic of Income tax return

Can I lower the tax prepayments or skip a quarterly payment?

December 10, 2019 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Steuerberater Knut Christiansen

Hello, in 2018 I had an income of almost 30,000 euros as a freelancer, for which I now have to pay income tax. However, advance payments were also set for the year 2019, which I have to pay quarterly in 2020. (Approximately 900 € each time) Since in 2019 I was self-employed only until the middle of the year (approx. 20,000 €) and worked as an employee for the rest of the year (approx. 10,000 €), I wonder if it makes sense or if it is even possible to apply for a reduction in advance payments or to completely stop the advance payment for December 2020, as I will not return to self-employment and therefore would not have to pay income tax for the year 2020, and the tax amount should already be paid with the three advance payments made.

Steuerberater Knut Christiansen

Good evening!

You can submit a request to reduce your advance payments, which you can justify with the termination of your self-employment in 2019. The tax office will then reduce the advance payments for 2020 to 0€.

I hope this answers your question, otherwise please feel free to ask for further clarification. If needed, I can also provide you with a sample wording for the request.

Best regards,

Knut Christiansen
Tax advisor