Question 31
If you want to defend yourself against a false tax assessment in Germany, you must...
German original: Wenn Sie sich in Deutschland gegen einen falschen Steuerbescheid wehren wollen, müssen Sie …. In the test, all questions are asked in German.
Answer options
- do nothing.
- throw away the notice.
- lodge an objection. — Correct answer
- wait until another notice arrives.
Explanation
If you want to challenge an incorrect tax assessment in Germany, you must file an objection (Einspruch) with the responsible tax office (Finanzamt), as stated in Section 347 of the German Fiscal Code (AO). The deadline for doing so is one month after the assessment has been officially notified.
Key terms in this question
- Germany — Germany is a country in central Europe with a parliamentary democracy. It is a member of the European Union and its capital is Berlin.
- must / to have to — 'Müssen' is a modal verb expressing necessity or obligation. It means that something is required and there is no choice.
- Federal state — A federal state is one of the 16 regions that together form Germany. Each state has its own government, parliament, and areas of responsibility.
- to want / to wish — 'Wollen' is a German modal verb expressing that someone has the desire or intention to do something.
- official notice / administrative decision — An official notice is a written decision from a government authority informing a person whether their application has been approved or rejected.
- German — German is the official language of Germany, Austria, and part of Switzerland. It is the native language of approximately 100 million people.
- a / an (accusative masculine) — 'Einen' is the indefinite article for masculine nouns in the accusative case in German. It is used when a masculine noun is the direct object of a sentence.
- wrong / false / incorrect — Not correct or not corresponding to the truth. Used to describe something that contains an error or does not match the facts.