The most important number: one month
A tax assessment notice (Steuerbescheid) becomes final one month after notification (Section 355 AO — Fiscal Code). After that, only narrow exceptions remain open (obvious inaccuracy under Section 129 AO, amendment under Section 173 AO where new facts emerge). In most cases, the one-month deadline is the only real chance for correction.
When an objection typically pays off
- Work-related expenses or business expenses reduced without a comprehensible reason
- Extraordinary burdens (medical costs, care costs, disability) not recognised, or recognised too low
- Deviations from the return you filed without an explanation in the notes section
- Provisional status or reservation of subsequent review wrongly set or wrongly removed
- An estimated assessment, because a return was missing — usually set noticeably too high
What to check first
- The right-to-appeal notice (Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung) at the end. If it's missing or defective, the deadline under Section 356 AO extends to up to one year. We detect this automatically.
- The notes section. This is often where the tax office explains why it deviated from your return — and that's where the points of attack lie.
- Assessment vs. crediting notice. Both have their own deadlines. Challenging the wrong part gets you nowhere.
- Suspension of enforcement (Section 361 AO), if payment would hit you hard and the objection has a genuine chance of success.
When an initial assessment is enough — and when to see a tax adviser
For clear standard cases (work-related expenses, medical costs, an estimated assessment with a return that can still be filed), the AI analysis delivers a deadline-safe objection with concrete reasoning. As soon as it involves a tax audit, cross-border matters, inheritance/gift tax, or situations that touch on criminal tax law, we hand over to tax advisers or lawyers specialising in tax law.
→ Upload your notice: /use-cases
AI is not a lawyer — and not a tax adviser
We check for formal defects, work out the applicable deadlines, and draft a deadline-safe objection. Tax planning in your individual case is a matter for your tax adviser.
