File independently calculated insurance tax

If you receive insurance premiums, you must calculate the insurance tax yourself and declare it to the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).

The insurance tax applies to premium or contribution payments from insurance contracts. The taxpayer liable for the insurance tax is the policyholder. However, as the insurer, you generally must remit the collected insurance tax on behalf of the policyholder. The policyholder only has to declare and pay the insurance tax themselves if neither the insurer nor any authorized collection agents are domiciled in an EU or EEA state.

As the person liable to pay tax, you must calculate, declare, and pay your tax yourself as part of the insurance tax return.

You must submit your insurance tax return electronically via the BZSt Online Portal (BOP).

• Fill out the appropriate application form for the insurance tax completely via the BOP.
  • You can find the forms for insurance and fire protection tax in the BOP under:
    Forms and Services/All Forms/National Taxes/Insurance and Fire Protection Tax Return Form
• Submit the registration.
• Transfer the self-calculated tax amount by the due date, or it will be debited from your account if a SEPA mandate has been granted.

Notes:

• You need a tax ID number for your tax return.
• For the electronic tax return in BOP, you must register for BOP. To do this, fill out the form "Application for (new) admission/registration for the electronic submission of insurance tax and/or fire protection tax returns" and carry out the registration. 
• As an alternative to registering in 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 such a request, 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. 

for insurers and authorized representatives:

• Submitting the tax return and paying the tax: 15 days after the end of each reporting period
  • The registration period is usually one calendar month
• for tax of 1,000 EUR or less 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:

• Submission of the tax return and payment of the tax: 15 days after the end of the month in which the insurance premium was paid

Notes:

If the tax return is not received by the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) on time, you may have to pay a late-filing penalty.
If you fail to meet the 15-day deadline, the Federal Central Tax Office will determine the amount of tax by estimating the tax assessment bases.

There are no costs.

• Objection
• Action before the financial court