Attachment G 2008/Amendment of the income tax assessment
May 26, 2011 | 40,00 EUR | answered by Michael Herrmann
In February 2010, I submitted my tax return for 2008. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not filling out lines 16 and 17 in attachment G out of ignorance (I had only heard that business tax can no longer be deducted for tax purposes, but I only found out this year that it is no longer deductible as a business expense). Is it possible for the tax office to still accept my request to amend the income tax assessment? I have already received a rejection from the tax office due to the finality of the tax assessment (submitted the request for amendment 14 days ago). This means I will lose around 900 euros. I only submitted the business tax return after being asked to do so, as it was the first time I had become liable for business tax. Does section 129 not apply here? Is the tax office in the right and the money lost?
Dear inquirer,
First of all, thank you for your inquiry, which I would like to answer based on the information provided and in the context of your commitment to an initial consultation. The response is based on the facts presented. Incorrect or missing information about the actual circumstances can influence the legal outcome.
By missing the deadline for filing an appeal, the tax assessment notice is formally final and cannot be contested with an objection. The tax office is therefore correct in rejecting the objection as untimely. This makes correction more difficult.
The first point of approach is the mentioned amendment under § 129 AO for obvious error. This amendment option applies when omitting lines 16 and 17 was clearly a mistake, not due to lack of knowledge. If the objection is not already based on the fact that the entries were not made out of ignorance, there may be an obvious error.
However, it must also be examined whether the tax office could recognize the error and still accepted it without a legal review. It is undisputed that the tax office could recognize the error. However, you should be prepared for the tax office to argue that a thorough review was conducted before issuing the notice, which resulted in an incorrect outcome but no error of acceptance, as it was indeed reviewed.
In principle, an amendment request under § 129 AO is possible if the error was made inadvertently and the tax office accepted it.
The determination of the trade tax assessment amount is a basic decision for the calculation of the tax reduction (§ 35 para. 3 sentence 3 EStG). Therefore, the tax office is obligated to consider the tax bases determined there. This can be done within the four-year assessment period. If the assessment notice was issued after the income tax assessment notice, the amendment request can also be based on § 173 para. 1 sentence 1 no. 2 AO "new facts".
I hope that these details have provided you with an adequate overview of the situation within the scope of your commitment and this initial consultation, and remain
Yours sincerely,
Michael Herrmann
Graduate in Financial Management (FH)
Tax advisor
