Financial administration (Germany)

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The financial administration in Germany - also called tax administration - is that part of the public administration that is responsible for setting and collecting taxes . The financial administration in the Federal Republic of Germany is divided between the federal government and the federal states. The responsibility for the enforcement of tax laws lies essentially with the federal states.

The Federal Ministry of Finance is the highest authority in the federal finance administration. Among them there are a number of higher authorities that carry out special tasks for which the federal government is responsible.

State finance authorities are the respective state finance ministries as the highest authorities, the regional finance directors (OFD) (state departments) as intermediate authorities and the tax offices as local authorities. Some federal states do not have an OFD and have delegated its tasks to their state tax authorities. The tax offices are responsible for the administration of taxes, with the exception of customs duties and consumption taxes , for which the Federal Customs Administration is responsible. Exceptions are taxes, the administration of which has been transferred to the municipalities . The procedure to be used for tax administration is regulated in the tax code for the tax offices of all federal states.

The structure of the financial administration results from the Financial Administration Act (FVG). Today's structure is largely due to Matthias Erzberger ( center ), Reich Finance Minister from 1919 to 1920.

Authorities in the field of financial management are:

Federal agencies

Seal of the Federal Finance Administration

Federal tax authorities are ( § 6 AO , § 1 FVG ):

State authorities

State tax authorities are ( § 2 FVG):

Communities

At the municipal level, the municipal, district or city tax offices and the municipal, district or city coffers are responsible for realizing the municipal taxes .

Criticism of the current distribution of responsibilities

In 2004, the then Federal Minister of Finance, Hans Eichel, advocated transferring responsibility for tax administration from the states to the federal government. This would have required an amendment to the Basic Law. Eichel criticized the lack of uniform implementation of tax laws in his view. Other critics criticized the fact that donor countries have no interest in raising their income in the national financial equalization scheme . B. through the increased use of tax auditors . The additional income would not benefit them. The demand for a federal tax administration was shared by the President of the Federal Audit Office as the federal commissioner for economic efficiency in administration .

However, Eichel's advance failed. The initiative was not resumed in the Merkel I and Merkel II cabinets .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Position paper of the BMF dated May 11, 2004. Retrieved on May 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ Less is more. Accessed May 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ BRH report of January 30, 2015, item 0.9. Retrieved May 1, 2015.