How do you file an objection against an estimated assessment?
Within one month of notification of the assessment (§ 355 Abs. 1 Satz 1 AO, German Fiscal Code), in writing or electronically, to the authority whose act is being challenged (§ 357 Abs. 1 and Abs. 2 AO). Reasons are not a condition of validity — under § 357 Abs. 1 Satz 2 AO it suffices that the objection shows who filed it. An incorrect designation does no harm either (Satz 3).
The most important sentence is not in the deadline provision
It is in § 364 AO: the parties shall, in so far as this has not already happened, be given disclosure of the taxation documents on application or, where the reasoning of the objection gives cause, of the authority's own motion. A reasoned objection therefore triggers a right of disclosure that merely meeting the deadline does not. Whoever files the objection without reasons in order to secure the deadline should submit the reasoning not only for its content but also for this legal consequence.
Deadline, form, consequences
The provisions in this table are German law. Most European legal orders know the same principle — set out verbatim and by country in the register of legal bases.
| Point | Legal basis | What applies |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline | § 355 Abs. 1 Satz 1 AO | One month after notification of the administrative act. |
| Form | § 357 Abs. 1 AO | In writing, electronically or recorded on the spot. It suffices that it shows who filed it. |
| Addressee | § 357 Abs. 2 Satz 1 AO | The authority whose administrative act is challenged. |
| Enforcement | § 361 Abs. 1 Satz 1 AO | The objection does not suspend enforcement; collection is not halted. Suspension must be applied for separately. |
| Disclosure | § 364 AO | The taxation documents are to be disclosed on application — or of the authority's own motion where the reasoning gives cause. |
| Preclusion | § 364b Abs. 1 und Abs. 2 AO | The authority may set a deadline; statements and evidence submitted afterwards may be disregarded. |
Two deadlines are running, not one
The one-month period of § 355 AO only secures the procedure. The genuinely tight deadline is the one under § 364b AO — it is set by the authority, and once it expires new facts and evidence may be disregarded. Whoever intends to submit a complete counter-calculation must count from the day of the assessment, not from the day of the reasoning. A full costing across several years does not come into being in a fortnight.
And the same thing repeats in court
§ 79b Abs. 3 FGO permits the tax court to reject statements and evidence submitted late. Preclusion therefore appears again at the next stage. Austria regulates this differently: there, under § 270 BAO, new facts, evidence and applications may be brought forward until the close of the oral hearing.
What we contribute
In the first conversation we tell you whether the time remaining is enough for a complete counter-calculation — and if it is not, what is possible instead. That answer costs nothing and is the first point we settle, before anything else.
The legal provisions reproduced here are for information and do not replace legal advice. For application in an individual case the legal position at the time of the proceedings must be examined by a lawyer admitted in the country and field concerned.