Steuerbescheid

Steuerbescheid in English: how to read a German tax assessment notice

A Steuerbescheid (tax assessment notice) is the tax office's decision on how much tax you owe for one year. Compare it with your return, pay by the date after "Bitte zahlen Sie", and object within one month of delivery if it is wrong. An objection does not delay the payment on its own.

Last reviewed: 2026-11-02

The blocks of a notice, from top to bottom

This order follows the official sample notice of North Rhine-Westphalia. That sample is an income tax notice. A Körperschaftsteuerbescheid (koerperschaftsteuerbescheid) for a GmbH or UG has the same logic with fewer personal lines. Layout differs a little between states.

Letter head

Finanzamt, "Datum", "Steuernummer", phone and e-mail. If a tax advisor receives your post, you see "als Empfangsbevollmächtigter für" with your name below it. The date starts the deadline count.

Title: "Bescheid für 2025 über ..."

The year and the taxes covered, for example "Körperschaftsteuer und Solidaritätszuschlag". The year is the tax year, not the year you received the letter. Check it first.

"Art der Festsetzung"

How final the notice is. "Der Bescheid ergeht nach § 164 Abs. 1 AO unter dem Vorbehalt der Nachprüfung" means the office can still change the notice, and you can still ask for a change. "Vorläufig" (§ 165 AO) means the named points remain open. Everything else becomes final.

"Festsetzung" and "Abrechnung"

"Festgesetzt werden" is the tax set. "Abzurechnen sind" is what remains after amounts withheld. "Bereits gezahlt" is what the office has received. "Demnach zu wenig gezahlt" means you still owe this amount.

"Bitte zahlen Sie ... bis zum ..."

Your payment date and the bank details of the Finanzkasse. If you overpaid, the letter says the amount "wird erstattet" (is refunded) instead, and names the bank account.

"Berechnung" and "zu versteuerndes Einkommen"

How the office got from your income to the taxable income. This is the block to lay beside your return, line by line.

"Erläuterungen"

Explanations. Read this block even if the total looks right, because it tells you where the office left your return and what it did not accept. A request such as "Bitte reichen Sie bis zum ... ein" stands here with its own date. If you see "Erläuterungen zur Schätzung", the office estimated.

"Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung"

How to challenge the notice: "Die Frist für die Einlegung eines Einspruchs beträgt einen Monat", meaning one month to object. If this part is missing or wrong, a longer limit of one year applies (§ 356 AO).

Worked example: a GmbH notice for 2025

Your GmbH reports taxable income of EUR 100,000. Corporate income tax at 15% is EUR 15,000 and the solidarity surcharge at 5.5% of that is EUR 825. You paid advance payments of EUR 12,000 and EUR 660 during the year.

The notice therefore shows "Festgesetzt werden" EUR 15,000 and EUR 825, "bereits gezahlt" EUR 12,000 and EUR 660, and "demnach zu wenig gezahlt" EUR 3,000 and EUR 165. In total you owe EUR 3,165. This is the Nachzahlung (additional payment), also called Abschlusszahlung.

The notice is dated Thursday 12 November 2026 and goes by post inside Germany. It counts as delivered on the fourth day, Monday 16 November 2026. The last day to object is Wednesday 16 December 2026. Payment is normally due one month after delivery too (§ 36 EStG), but use the date printed on your notice. Pay late and the surcharge is 1% of EUR 3,150, so EUR 31.50 for each started month. Interest on the difference (§ 233a AO) starts only 15 months after the end of the tax year, so for 2025 from 1 April 2027 and not yet here.

What to check, in this order

Company name, Steuernummer and tax year. A notice for the wrong year or entity needs a call to the office the same week.
Taxable income against your return. If they differ, find the reason in "Erläuterungen".
"Bereits gezahlt" against your bank statements. A missed prepayment is a common and easy fix. Send the proof.
Other charges on the notice: Verspätungszuschlag (late-filing surcharge) and Zinsen (interest). You can object to these too.
New advance payments. A notice often sets Vorauszahlungen for the coming quarters on later pages. They can be higher than you expect, and they have their own dates. If profit fell, you can ask for less.
Other notices in the same envelope. A GmbH may also get a notice about a loss carried forward (Verlustvortrag) or the tax contribution account (steuerliches Einlagekonto). Each has its own objection deadline.

Trade tax has two notices from two senders

First the Finanzamt sends a Gewerbesteuermessbescheid. It sets the base amount (Steuermessbetrag), and you pay nothing on this notice. Then your municipality sends the Gewerbesteuerbescheid (gewerbesteuerbescheid), which applies its multiplier and asks for payment. If you got a letter from your Stadt about Gewerbesteuer, this is it. In Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg the tax office handles both steps.

Example for a GmbH: trade income EUR 100,000 at the 3.5% rate gives a base amount of EUR 3,500. With a municipal multiplier (Hebesatz) of 410%, trade tax is EUR 14,350. A sole trader or partnership first deducts an allowance of EUR 24,500 from the trade income (§ 11 GewStG).

The order matters when something is wrong. If the income or base amount is wrong, object to the Messbescheid at the Finanzamt within its one-month deadline. You cannot fix that through the municipal notice, because the municipality is bound by the base amount (§ 351 AO). When the base amount changes, the municipal notice must follow (§ 175 AO). If only the multiplier or the payment is wrong, the remedy goes to the municipality. It is often a Widerspruch, also within one month, but check the notice, because the route differs by federal state.

It looks wrong. Which route fits?

Simple error by the office

A typing or calculation mistake can be corrected at any time within the assessment time limit (§ 129 AO). Write to the office and name the error. Still watch the one-month limit if you are not sure it counts as a simple error.

Einspruch (objection)

The normal route for anything you dispute. It costs nothing and the office re-examines the whole case (§ 367 AO). It can be filed before you have all the reasons. See the objection guide for the template and deadline counting.

Request for change within the month

A plain request to change the notice (§ 172 AO) can also work, but it does not allow a suspension of payment. The objection is usually safer.

"Vorbehalt der Nachprüfung" on the notice

You can apply for a change at any time while this note applies (§ 164 AO), even after the month has ended. The note ends when the time limit for assessing the tax ends.

New facts after the month

A final notice can change when new facts appear, but in your favour only if you were not grossly at fault for the delay (§ 173 AO). This is a narrow route.

What the assessment check in our tax module does

In the tax module you enter the figures from your notice for corporate income tax, the trade tax base amount, annual VAT or a partnership determination. The software compares them field by field with the return you filed through it, and shows each difference in euros. It also calculates the objection deadline from the delivery route you choose (post inside Germany, post abroad, or ELSTER retrieval), including weekends and public holidays in your federal state. The objection form is one step away. All this is free.

It has limits. It shows differences and does not tell you whether the notice is legally right or whether to object. Income tax notices are not part of this field comparison. The software does not yet fetch notices from ELSTER for customers, so you type in the figures. There is no letter reader. Screens are in English, but your notice stays in German.

When a tax advisor is the right call

Bring in a Steuerberater when the office departed from your return on a legal question rather than a figure, when the difference is large compared with the cost of advice, or when the notice concerns a loss carried forward, a hidden profit distribution (verdeckte Gewinnausschüttung) or an audit result. In these cases an advisor reads the facts behind the numbers, which a field comparison cannot do. Tell the advisor about the deadline in your first message.

Frequently asked questions

What does Steuerbescheid mean?

Tax assessment notice. Steuer means tax and Bescheid means official decision. It sets the tax for one year, and it becomes final if nobody objects within one month of delivery.

Do I have to pay if I think the Steuerbescheid is wrong?

Yes, unless the office suspends payment or grants a deferral. The notice itself says so: "Auch wenn Sie Einspruch einlegen, müssen die angeforderten Beträge fristgemäß gezahlt werden". Ask for suspension of payment (Aussetzung der Vollziehung) together with the objection.

I got a letter from the Stadt about Gewerbesteuer. Is it from the tax office?

No. It comes from your municipality and asks for the trade tax. It is based on the Messbescheid that the Finanzamt sent earlier. Check that the base amount matches, then pay the municipality, not the Finanzamt.

What is Nachzahlung on a Steuerbescheid in English?

Additional payment: tax still owed after your advance payments. On the notice it stands as "demnach zu wenig gezahlt". The opposite is Erstattung, a refund.

My notice says vorläufig. Is it final?

Only partly. Vorläufig means provisional for the points named in the notice, often a question before the courts. All other points become final after one month, so object if you dispute them.

The notice shows tax for my personal income, but I own a GmbH. Why?

A person and a GmbH are separate taxpayers with separate numbers and notices. Your salary and dividends belong to your own income tax. Our software does not prepare the personal income tax return of a GmbH shareholder.

Primary sources and scope

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