Tax deadlines 2026, 2027 & 2028

If you engage a tax advisor, the filing deadline is extended by law. For the 2025 assessment period the return is then due only by 1 March 2027 – without an advisor as early as 31 July 2026. This extension applies automatically; no application is required.

For taxes you transfer yourself, a three-day grace period applies: if the amount reaches the tax office within three days of the due date, no late-payment penalties arise. The grace period applies only to bank transfers – not to cash or cheque payments. The safest option is a SEPA direct-debit mandate: the tax office then collects on time and you can't miss a deadline.

With a permanent extension (Dauerfristverlängerung), the VAT advance return is permanently pushed back by one month. Monthly filers apply by 10 February and make a special prepayment of one eleventh of the previous year's liability; quarterly filers have until 10 April and make no special prepayment. We'll gladly set this up for you.

If you file your tax return late, the tax office may impose a late-filing penalty – at least 25 euros per started month (§ 152 German Fiscal Code). For mandatory assessments it generally becomes compulsory 14 months after the end of the tax year. Late payments additionally incur late-payment surcharges. Meeting deadlines and using a direct-debit mandate avoids both.

The monthly and quarterly dates are the same across Germany. Shifts only occur when a deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday. Since Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern share the same public holidays, the dates shown here apply uniformly across northern Germany. In states with different holidays – such as Assumption Day on 15 August in parts of Bavaria and in Saarland – individual dates may differ.