Anyone who inherits inherits not only goods, but also rights and obligations. The deceased’s tax return must also be made by the heirs. It is important to consider some things.

Was the deceased person taxable at all?

Before the deceased of the deceased, it should be clarified whether the person was taxable at all. Only if this is the case does a tax return have to be submitted for the year of death.

A tax return can also be submitted voluntarily because possible repayments could flow. It should be borne in mind that all payments and repayments result from the tax return are offset against inheritance tax. If the allowance is exceeded with a possible repayment from a voluntary tax return, inheritance tax must be paid and the voluntary tax return may not be worth it.

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Deadlines and appointments

In general, the compulsory tax return for the deceased must be submitted to the deceased by July 31 of the year after the death of the deceased. If this is not possible because, for example, the succession is not yet known, an informal extension of the deadline can be requested from the tax office. If a tax advisor or a wage tax assistance association is commissioned to process the tax return, this must not be submitted until the end of February of the second year after the deceased’s death. The date of death was only on February 28, 2023 in 2021.

The deadlines behave somewhat differently for voluntary tax returns: they must be submitted by the end of the fourth year after death. With a date of death in 2021 only up to and including December 31, 2025.

Sole heritage or community of heirs?

In a community of heirs, not everyone has to take care of the tax return together – a person responsible is chosen to handle the explanation. However, any repayments are paid to all members, the same applies the other way to payments from tax debts to the tax office.

What happens to tax debts?

If there are black money or accounts abroad, which the deceased did not take into account in previous tax returns, the tax office should be informed immediately: Now the heirs are now liable for any tax debts. In order not to fault due to the tax debt of the deceased, the estate insolvency can be applied for. This limits your own liability to the estate and the assets are not touched.

Incidentally, the documents of the deceased may not be arranged or not to be found at all – with presentation of the inheritance certificate, banks and other institutes provide information about the business of the deceased. This can make it much easier to process the tax return. And if you have the documents, you should also remove them after completion of the tax return, because the retention periods for various documents continue to run even after the deceased.

Editor finance.net



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