Request to extend the tax return deadline (Germany)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
Your request to the German tax office (Finanzamt) to extend the deadline for an income tax, VAT or other tax return under § 109 of the German Fiscal Code (AO) — because of illness, missing papers or a move, for example. For 2025 returns filed without an adviser, the deadline was 31 July 2026. The letter gives the return, the year, the current and the requested deadline and the reason, and asks in the alternative for a backdated extension, so that no late-filing surcharge of at least €25 a month is charged. In German, to post, fax or send through ELSTER.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Applicant
- Applicant's address
- Tax office (Finanzamt)
- Tax office's address
- City
- Date
- Tax number (Steuernummer)
- German tax ID (Steuer-ID), if you have one
- Tax return concerned (e.g. income tax return)
- Tax year or period
- Deadline
- Requested deadline
- Reason
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- By when must an extension of the German tax return deadline be requested?
- Before the deadline runs out: for 2025 returns it was 31 July 2026 without an adviser, and it is 1 March 2027 with one (§ 149 AO). Give a short reason — illness, missing papers or a move, for example — and a realistic new date. A late request is not hopeless: the tax office can also extend the deadline retrospectively (§ 109(1) AO).
- What does a late German tax return cost?
- The tax office may charge a late-filing surcharge, and in many cases must: 0.25% of the assessed tax after deducting advance payments and tax withheld, at least €25 for every month or part of a month of delay (§ 152 AO). If the deadline has been extended, no surcharge arises as long as the new deadline is met. Not filing at all also risks the tax office estimating the tax base (§ 162 AO).
- Is an extension needed for a voluntary German tax return?
- No. Someone not required to file — an employee without side income above €410, for example — can file within four years (§ 46(2) No. 8 EStG); for 2022 that period ends on 31 December 2026. There is no late-filing surcharge in that case. If the tax office expressly asks for a return, though, the deadline it sets applies, and that is what this letter is for.
- How is the extension request sent to a German tax office?
- No particular form is required. The letter can be signed and posted or faxed, or its text sent through Mein ELSTER as a ‘Sonstige Nachricht an das Finanzamt’, in which case the sending is recorded in your ELSTER account. If a tax adviser prepares the return, the longer deadline already applies, and the tax office extends beyond it only exceptionally (§ 109(2) AO).
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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