Tax administration balance 2020

Despite a new record with around 4.2 million income tax returns in 2020, companies were able to obtain important liquidity through the quick and unbureaucratic processing of corona aid applications in the country. For this we thank the tax administration employees.

The Baden-Württemberg tax administration set up a new record in 2020 with around 4.2 million income tax returns. Despite difficult working conditions due to corona pandemic, the average processing time last year was improved by one day. "It is excellent that the more than 16,000 employees performed significantly more tasks in a shorter time under panda conditions. This shows the impressive efficiency of the country's tax administration," said State Secretary for Finance gisela Splett .

In addition to these tasks, tax support measures such as deferrals or cuts of advance payments had to be implemented. "Thanks to the quick and unbureaucratic processing of applications, companies in the country were able to obtain important liquidity," said CFO Hans-Joachim Stephan.

Lower tax revenue by the Lockdown

In the case of cash income, however, corona -related losses can be seen compared to the record years 2019 . With around 77.4 billion euros, a decline of 5.5 percent was accepted compared to 2019. "The dent is particularly visible in wage and income tax," said Splett. In particular, stationary retail and catering businesses would be subject to income tax. "The consequences of the Lockdown in spring and autumn could not be compensated for by the income from the summer. Without the aid measures decided by politics, the failures would have been even greater."

The expansion of digitization in the financial administration, which was promoted before the pandemic, was an advantage that helped a lot to work under panda conditions. "The pandemic also served as an innovation accelerator," said the State Secretary. "For example, video conference systems have been installed in all offices across the country since last autumn." With this equipment, both internal and external exchange can take place, for example with tax consultants. "This is an important building block for modern and attractive administration. It is also good for climate protection, because fewer trips also save CO₂ emissions," says Splett.

property tax reform creates simple evaluation model

with the Baden-Württemberg model for the Property tax reform History written. Baden-Württemberg is the first federal state to have a Own property tax law accepted. "Only two components are decisive for the evaluation: the landscape value and the size of the property," says Splett. "We use a simple, transparent and bureaucratic model." This gives the municipalities an instrument in order to determine higher assessment rates for landfill. "This enables municipalities to incentive to build fallow land. This serves to use internal development and can counteract space use," says Splett. Preparations for the implementation of the reform are currently underway in the tax administration. In Baden-Württemberg alone, around 5.6 million objects have to be re-evaluated.

Regional Directorate Finance Karlsruhe: Current report 2020 (PDF)