Which data must I hand over to a tax audit?
The records subject to retention under § 147 Abs. 1 AO, in so far as they were produced with the help of a data processing system (§ 147 Abs. 6 Satz 1 AO, German Fiscal Code). These include books, records, inventories, annual accounts, accounting vouchers and — under number 5 — other documents in so far as they are of significance for taxation. The limit therefore lies not at what is demanded but at what is subject to retention and significant for tax.
Three modes of access, three very different burdens
§ 147 Abs. 6 AO names them side by side: inspection of the stored data and use of the system; machine analysis as specified by the authority; or transfer of the data in a machine-readable format. For a business these are three very different events — the first takes place on the premises, the third puts the dataset out of your hands.
Scope and limits
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What must be retained | § 147 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 bis 5 AO | Books, records, inventories, accounts, commercial letters, accounting vouchers and other documents in so far as they are of significance for taxation. |
| Access 1 | § 147 Abs. 6 Satz 1 Nr. 1 AO | Inspection of the stored data and use of the data processing system. |
| Access 2 | § 147 Abs. 6 Satz 1 Nr. 2 AO | Machine analysis as specified by the tax authority. |
| Access 3 | § 147 Abs. 6 Satz 1 Nr. 3 AO | Transfer in a machine-readable format. |
| Data held by third parties | § 147 Abs. 6 Satz 2 AO | If the taxpayer states that the data are held by a third party, the duty falls on that third party. |
| Only within an external audit | § 147 Abs. 6 Satz 1 AO | Data access applies within an external audit — for the unannounced till inspection, § 146b AO applies. |
| Cooperation | § 200 Abs. 1 Satz 1 AO | The taxpayer must support the authority in exercising its powers under § 147 Abs. 6 AO. |
The point that matters most in practice: keep your own copy
Whoever hands over data should keep the same dataset that reaches the authority — file by file, in the same version. Without that copy it cannot be reconstructed later what a finding rests on, and every counter-calculation would have to build on a different basis than the audit did. That is not a legal point but a purely practical one — and it decides the outcome more often than any objection to the scope.
And where the limit runs
The provision attaches to subsection 1, that is, to records subject to retention. What is neither subject to retention nor of significance for taxation is not covered by § 147 Abs. 6 AO. Where the limit runs in the individual case is a question of law — it belongs in the hands of your tax adviser or lawyer, not in those of an expert witness.
What we contribute
We analyse the dataset the audit also has and establish what actually follows from it. We do not decide the scope of the duty to hand over: we establish facts, the legal appraisal stays with your advisers and with the court.
Measured against Europe’s strictest standard
Data access and format — this standard is not equally high everywhere. It is documented for 4 legal orders.
We analyse the same dataset the audit has — in the same format.
In our register this axis is recorded as met in 4 of 4 documented legal orders. The assessment is ours and can be read country by country with its source — it is not a third party’s certification.
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.