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Mahnung, Finanzamt

Mahnung from the Finanzamt in English: the stages from reminder to enforcement

A Mahnung from the Finanzamt is a payment reminder: tax is overdue, and you normally get one more week to pay before enforcement can start (§ 259 AO). If a return is missing, the letter is called Erinnerung or Androhung eines Zwangsgeldes (threat of a coercive fine) instead, and filing the return ends it. Payment, a deferral or filing stop most stages. Once your account is seized, you need a person today.

Last reviewed: 2026-11-02

Path 1: you did not file a return

The tax office wants a document. Money comes later. Each stage gives a date in the letter.

Erinnerung or Aufforderung zur Abgabe

Reminder or request to file. Once asked, you must file even if the tax law alone would not require it (§ 149 AO). What stops it: file, or ask for an extension before the date (§ 109 AO). If you do nothing: the next stage follows.

Androhung eines Zwangsgeldes

A threat of a coercive fine. The law requires it in writing, with an exact amount and a reasonable date (§ 332 AO). What stops it: do what it asks by that date. You can object within one month if the request is wrong.

Festsetzung eines Zwangsgeldes

The fine is now set (§ 333 AO). Each fine can be up to EUR 25,000 (§ 329 AO). A new threat can follow if you still do not file. What stops it: if you file after the fine is set but before it is collected, the office must stop collecting it (§ 335 AO).

Schätzungsbescheid

The office may also estimate your tax at any stage, and it often does this. You then have a payable notice, and the return is still owed. Read the guide on estimated notices.

Path 2: you did not pay

From here the money is the issue. These words appear on different letters, in about this order.

Säumniszuschlag: from the first day late

Late-payment surcharge: 1% per started month on the overdue tax, rounded down to the nearest EUR 50 (§ 240 AO). There is a three-day grace period, but a bank transfer counts only on the day the money arrives (§ 224 AO). On EUR 3,165 overdue, rounded down to EUR 3,150: EUR 31.50 per month, so EUR 189 after six months.

Mahnung

Normally gives you one week (§ 259 AO). The office charges no fee for the reminder (§ 337 AO). For a tax you reported yourself, such as VAT, no separate payment demand is needed before enforcement (§ 254 AO). A reminder sent before the due date replaces this letter, so you may not get a second one (§ 259 AO).

Vollstreckungsankündigung

Notice of enforcement. Enforcement can begin once the amount is due, you have been asked to pay, and one week has passed (§ 254 AO). What stops it now: pay, or contact the enforcement office (Vollstreckungsstelle) with a payment plan. Enforcement has its own costs (§ 337 AO).

Pfändung and Pfändungsverfügung

Seizure. The tax office needs no court for this. It orders your bank, or your customers, not to pay you, and informs you (§ 309 AO). This is why a company can suddenly find its account frozen. The order to the bank normally shows one total amount only.

Vermögensauskunft

Sworn statement of assets. If you still do not pay within two weeks of being asked, you must list your assets (§ 284 AO). This is serious for the company's credit standing.

Insolvenzantrag

The tax office can, as a creditor, apply to open insolvency proceedings against the company (§ 14 InsO). See the section below on director duties.

I can't pay my tax bill in Germany. What can stop it?

  • Call or write to the office before the date. A partial payment and a clear plan help. Do not stay silent. Staff can only help with what they know about.
  • Stundung (deferral of payment, § 222 AO). The office can defer if collection on the due date would be a serious hardship and the claim is not at risk. It usually asks for an application and often security. Interest is 0.5% per full month (§§ 234, 238 AO). Example: EUR 10,000 deferred for six months costs EUR 300.
  • Ratenzahlung (paying in instalments) is usually handled as a deferral or as a pause in enforcement. Offer real figures and a date for each payment.
  • Vollstreckungsaufschub (a pause in enforcement, § 258 AO). The enforcement office can hold back or limit enforcement if it would be unfair in the individual case. This is a different request from a deferral, and you ask the enforcement office.
  • Objection plus Aussetzung der Vollziehung (suspension of payment, § 361 AO), if you think the notice itself is wrong. This fits an estimated notice, for example.
  • Herabsetzung (reduction) of advance payments, if your current profit has fallen. This helps future dates, not overdue ones.
  • Erlass (waiver, § 227 AO) of surcharges or tax. Rare, and only if collection is unfair in the individual case.
  • Wage tax held back from salaries cannot be deferred (§ 222 AO). The same goes for other amounts that someone holds back for another person's tax.

Finanzamt froze my bank account in Germany

First ask your bank for the name of the office and the total amount on the order. Then call the Vollstreckungsstelle at that office, and quote your Steuernummer. Ask directly what they need to lift the seizure: full payment, a part payment with a plan, or missing returns. Offices often want the missing returns as well as money.

A company cannot use a protected account (Pfändungsschutzkonto). A protected account is a tool for individuals, including sole traders, and it keeps a basic amount free each month (§ 899 ZPO). For a person, the bank also waits one month before it pays out seized balances (§ 314 AO with § 835 ZPO). If salaries, rent or tax payments are at risk, ask a tax advisor or lawyer today to apply for a limit under § 258 AO. This is a job for a person, not software.

If you run a GmbH or UG: your own duties

A Geschäftsführer (geschaeftsfuehrer) must see that the company pays its taxes from the funds it has (§ 34 AO). After an intentional or grossly negligent breach, the tax office can make you personally liable, including for the surcharges (§ 69 AO), with a personal notice called a Haftungsbescheid (§ 191 AO). Foreign directors are not exempt. Unpaid wage tax and VAT are typical cases.

If the company can no longer pay its debts when due, you must apply for insolvency without culpable delay, and at the latest within three weeks, or six weeks for over-indebtedness (§ 15a InsO). A letter from the tax office is often the moment when this question arises. Speak to a lawyer or tax advisor who knows insolvency. Paying only some creditors at this stage can also create personal risk.

What our tax module can do here, and what it cannot

  • File the missing return: corporate income tax, trade tax, annual VAT, and sole-trader income tax, for 2023 to 2025, at EUR 50 each. Filing the return ends a threat of a coercive fine that is about that return.
  • Extension under § 109 AO: one request per tax, signed with your own ELSTER certificate, free.
  • Deferral form under § 222 AO, free. A company can use it for corporate income tax and VAT. A sole trader can use it for income tax and VAT. Trade tax is possible only in Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg, because elsewhere the municipality collects it, so write to the municipality.
  • The form offers three deferral types: until an expected refund is offset, for payment difficulties, or on a special legal basis. For payment difficulties the form takes you through the official questionnaire on your financial situation. An incomplete questionnaire cannot be sent.
  • The deadline list shows upcoming returns, objections and payments from notices you have entered. It cannot see your tax account at the office, because that retrieval is not available. It does not know about reminders that you have not entered.
  • It does not stop enforcement that is already under way. It does not negotiate with the enforcement office or represent you. In those cases you need a tax advisor or lawyer. The software gives no individual advice.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Zwangsgeld and Säumniszuschlag?

Zwangsgeld is a coercive fine that pushes you to do something, such as file a return. It ends if you do it. Säumniszuschlag is a late-payment charge of 1% per started month on tax you paid late, and it stays even if you pay later.

I got a Mahnung but already paid. What now?

Payments and letters can cross. Check that the money went to the Finanzkasse with the right Steuernummer and tax type. If it did, send a copy of the bank statement to the office and quote the Steuernummer. Wrong references are a common reason.

How long until the Finanzamt takes money from my account?

Legally, enforcement can start one week after you were asked to pay a due amount. There is no fixed timetable, so it can take weeks or months. It can also happen with little warning for self-reported taxes such as VAT, so act on the first reminder.

Can the Finanzamt freeze a GmbH account without a court order?

Yes. The tax office is its own enforcement authority and does not need a court (§ 249 AO). It sends the seizure order directly to the bank.

Androhung Zwangsgeld: what does it mean and how much is it?

It means threat of a coercive fine. The letter states the exact amount and the date. The law allows up to EUR 25,000 per fine. File or do what the letter asks by the date, and it should not be set.

Is this the same as the letter from the Bundesamt für Justiz?

No. That letter threatens an Ordnungsgeld because annual accounts were not filed. It comes from another authority with a six-week period. It has its own guide.

Primary sources and scope

Authoritative references for the key claims on this page. Check the current text before making a filing or accounting decision.