This initiative is designed to relieve not only citizens, who are often overwhelmed by bureaucratic paperwork, but also the authorities themselves.
The idea: The responsible tax office will deliver a pre-filled tax return via an app directly to the user’s smartphone, based on the data already available to them. The taxpayer then only needs to review it, make any necessary adjustments, and approve it. In the best-case scenario, this can be done with just a few clicks. From the perspective of the German Tax Union (Deutsche Steuer-Gewerkschaft), this step is long overdue. This is especially true as the understaffed tax authorities could then focus on cases where the state is currently losing significant revenue.
“The era of paper shuffling must finally come to an end. Employees and pensioners deserve fully automated tax processing,” union chief Florian Köbler told our editorial team, adding: “If we automate the simple employee and pensioner cases, massive personnel capacity will be freed up.”
“Pursue Criminals Instead of Reviewing Harmless Pensioners’ Tax Returns”
His reasoning is as follows: “The state loses at least 100 billion euros annually to financial crime—fraud in cash-intensive industries, VAT carousel schemes, or Cum-Ex transactions. This is where our auditors’ focus must lie, not on the harmless pensioner’s tax return with 200 euros in taxes and a small additional payment.”
Experts fear that the skilled labor shortage could lead to a shortfall of about one-third of the personnel in the relevant authorities by 2030. This is also why Bavaria’s Finance Minister Füracker is certain: “Germany suffers from an enormous bureaucratic burden; streamlining is urgently necessary across all areas.” The CSU politician is calling for a simplification of both tax law and its administration for citizens.
From a Bavarian perspective, the starting gun for the automated tax return via app could be fired as early as mid-2026. Initially, only a limited user base is likely to benefit. A pilot project is currently running in Hesse with around 6,000 participants. In Bavaria, according to Füracker, the tax software “Elster” is already being programmed in such a way that it could be used nationwide. Tax union representative Köbler is applying pressure: “The Bavarian app solution shows that the technology is there, the political will is growing—now we just have to do it.”
Tax Offices Already Receive Much Data Automatically
A key factor will be ensuring all necessary data is actually available. Although the tax administration already receives information automatically and digitally—such as wage tax, health insurance, and pension insurance data—invoices and receipts, for example, are still often submitted on paper. Köbler sees this as the crucial lever: “The electronic invoice will be a game-changer. If it later becomes mandatory for tax-relevant data as well, we will finally have the data basis for true automation.”
The Federal Ministry of Finance is reacting quite receptively to the Bavarian initiative. A spokesperson for Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) told our editorial team upon inquiry that they support “any considerations that can relieve taxpayers of declaration obligations and reduce administrative hurdles. Fulfilling tax obligations should become significantly easier.”
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