Tax Statistics - Tax-obligated parties resist: significant increase in objections
The number of objections to tax decisions in North Rhine-Westphalia has significantly increased. The main cause of this, according to a response from the Finance Ministry in response to a query from the FDP opposition, is the "continually increasing complexity of tax law."
In total, therefore, approximately 3.8 million objections have been filed at the tax offices in NRW between 2019 and 2023. There were already over 400,000 objections by the beginning of June this year alone. For comparison: According to the data provided, there were only around 104,000 objections in the entire year 2019. The number had already doubled by the end of 2020 and then quadrupled: around 662,000 objections in 2021, nearly 804,000 in 2022, and almost two million objections in the previous year.
The significant increase in the total number in 2023 can be attributed in large part to objections against property tax assessment decisions, explained the Finance Ministry. "The number of objections against income tax assessments, however, has not significantly increased in the same period."
A total of approximately 1.9 million objections have been granted in whole or in part from 2019 to the first week of June 2024. FDP parliamentarian Ralf Witzel noted in his query about the heavy workload of civil servants in the finance administration due to the high volume of objections.
- The FDP opposition has been raising concerns about the increasing number of objections to tax decisions in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.
- The BMF (Federal Ministry of Finance) committed to addressing the issue of tax assessment objections in the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, holding sessions in Düsseldorf.
- Despite the surge in objections against property tax assessment decisions, there hasn't been a significant increase in objections against income tax assessments in North Rhine-Westphalia.
- The Finance Ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia announced plans to simplify tax laws in an effort to reduce the high volume of tax assessment objections submitted between 2019 and 2023.
