2024-08-19 19:28:33
The tax office sometimes knows more about you than your neighbor. But are you allowed to check what the authorities have noted?
Anyone who pays taxes sends all kinds of data to the tax office over the course of their life. It’s not always easy to keep track of it all – and sometimes you wonder what information has accumulated there. Are you then allowed to view the tax office’s files? The income tax assistance association Vereinigte Lohnsteuerhilfe e. V. explains.
What data is stored about me and for what purposes is it processed? These questions, among others, must be answered by each and every person affected, for example by authorities, companies or associations. An informal request without justification is sufficient, preferably in writing. This right to information is regulated in Article 15 of the General Data Protection Regulation.
A taxpayer wanted to make use of this right and asked the tax office responsible for him to provide him with copies of files containing his personal data. Since the tax office refused, the man took the case to the Berlin-Brandenburg Finance Court – but this was also unsuccessful.
The case ended up in the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) – and the court criticized the decisions of the tax office and the tax court on several points. Regardless of the type of tax, the processing of personal data in the context of a taxation procedure is subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to the BFH’s reasoning for the judgment. Taxpayers therefore have a right to information in any case. This applies not only regardless of the type of tax, but also regardless of the type of record keeping, the type of documents and the form of data processing.
However, in the opinion of the Federal Fiscal Court, this right is limited to informing the taxpayer about which personal data the tax office processes about him. However, this does not give rise to a right to have documents or copies made available, the ruling states.
However, if the person concerned can credibly prove that copies of documents are essential for him to exercise the rights granted to him by the GDPR, the BFH is of the opinion that these must be made available to him as an exception.
However, the tax office and the tax court did not sufficiently examine whether this was the case in question. In this respect, they should not have made a final assessment, according to the BFH. But the plaintiff must also explain which rights granted by the GDPR he intends to exercise and why copies of the files are essential for this.
The Federal Fiscal Court has referred the case back to the competent tax court. It must now examine whether the taxpayer’s request is justified or not (BFH ruling, IX R 35/21, published on June 20, 2024).