Insurance tax; registration
If you receive insurance payments, you must calculate the insurance tax yourself and register it with the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).
Description
Insurance tax relates to premium or contribution payments under insurance contracts. The policyholder is liable for the insurance tax. However, as an insurer, you must generally pay the collected insurance tax on behalf of the policyholder. The policyholder only has to declare and pay the insurance tax himself if neither the insurer nor the collecting agent are domiciled in an EU or EEA state.
As a tax debtor, you must calculate, declare and pay your tax yourself as part of the tax declaration for insurance.
Prerequisites
You are
- the insurer
- the authorized representative or
- the policyholder
Procedure
You must submit your insurance tax declaration electronically via the BZStOnline-Portal (BOP).
- Complete the appropriate insurance tax filing form via the BOP.
- You can find the insurance and fire tax forms in the BOP at:
Forms and Services/All Forms/Tax-National/Insurance-and-Fire-Tax-Registration-Form.
- Submit the registration form.
- Transfer the self-calculated tax amount by the due date or this will be collected from your account if a SEPA mandate has been issued.
Notes:
- You need a tax number to file the tax return.
- For electronic tax filing in the BOP, you must register for the BOP. To do so, fill out the form "Application for (Re)Registration/Registration for Electronic Transmission of Insurance Tax and/or Fire Tax Filing" and complete the registration.
- As an alternative to registering with the BOP, you can use an existing Elster certificate.
- Upon request, the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) may waive electronic transmission to avoid undue hardship. If the BZSt approves a corresponding application, you can declare the tax using an officially prescribed form. You can find the form on the BZSt website in the "Insurance Tax and Fire Protection Tax" section.
Special notes
As an insurer, you are required to keep records to determine the tax and the basis of your calculation.
Deadlines
for insurers and authorized representatives:
- Filing the tax return and paying the tax: 15 days after the end of each filing period.
- Filing period is usually one calendar month
- for less than or equal to EUR 1,000 tax in the previous year: 15 days after the end of a calendar year
- for more than 1,000 EUR and less than or equal to 6,000 EUR tax in the previous year: 15 days after the end of a calendar quarter
for policyholders:
- Submitting the tax return and paying the tax: 15 days after the end of the month in which the insurance premium is paid
Notes:
If the tax declaration is not received by the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) in time, you may have to pay a late payment surcharge.
If you do not meet the 15-day deadline, the Federal Central Tax Office will decide on the amount of the tax as part of an estimate of the taxable bases.
Processing time
Your tax return is deemed to be a tax assessment upon receipt by the BZSt and is subject to review. If the tax return leads to a reduction in the tax previously payable or to a tax refund, this is only deemed to be a tax assessment if the BZSt agrees. The approval does not require any form.
Links to more information
Status:18.02.2023
Responsible for editing:Bundesministerium der Finanzen
- Online transactions, Bavaria-wide
- Online transactions, locally limited
- Form, Bavaria-wide
- Form, locally limited
- Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
- Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
- Legal bases, locally limited
- Fees, Bavaria-wide
- Fees, locally limited
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