The legal route back to tax compliance
Voluntary disclosure to the tax office (Selbstanzeige)
There is a legal route back: a voluntary disclosure (Selbstanzeige) leaves tax evasion that has already been committed exempt from punishment, provided it is complete, arrives in time and the subsequent payment is made within the deadline. Those three conditions are exactly our craft: as a tax consultancy we work through your years in full, check the blocking grounds (Sperrgrund) before every step and support you through to completion, under our profession's statutory duty of confidentiality, discreetly from the very first call.
Current developments (as at: 21.07.2026)
On 16 July 2026 the Federal Government announced that it intends to abolish the exemption from punishment offered by voluntary disclosure in its current form. For now this is a political intention without a draft bill; § 371 AO applies unchanged. We set out what the action plan means and what it does not mean in our blog post. For your decision, however, Berlin matters less than your own calendar: blocking grounds (Sperrgrund) arise regardless of legislation.
When voluntary disclosure is the right route
- Foreign accounts or securities portfolios whose income never appeared in a tax return; the international exchange of information makes discovery more likely than ever
- An inheritance in which untaxed assets come to light; here heirs have reporting obligations of their own
- Pensions or income from Turkey, such as SGK pensions whose German tax liability surprises many people, or rental income and accounts, following the principle of worldwide income
- Undeclared rental, investment or crypto income over several years
- Creator and platform income: collaborations, commissions, proceeds; products provided free of charge can also count as business income
- Businesses with incorrect preliminary VAT returns or payroll tax returns; simplified correction rules apply here
- A tax audit (Betriebsprüfung) is looming but has not yet been ordered: the window stays open as long as no blocking ground (Sperrgrund) exists
How your voluntary disclosure works at TEKIN + PARTNER
- Confidential first contact: You outline the situation in broad terms, initially without naming banks or amounts if you prefer. Result: an honest initial assessment of whether and how quickly action should be taken, together with a first assessment of the blocking grounds.
- Facts and documents: With powers of attorney we request the missing bank and portfolio documents and sort out tax types, years and the people involved. Result: a solid data basis instead of assumptions.
- Complete recalculation: Year by year, for each tax type, with documented, source-based estimates only where gaps remain. Result: a declaration ready for submission and a forecast of the subsequent payment including interest and, where applicable, the surcharge (Zuschlag).
- Submission to the competent tax authority: Structured, complete, coordinated for everyone involved and filed at the same time. Result: a documented date of receipt, the moment from which your declaration takes effect.
- Assessments, payment, conclusion: We review the amended assessments, monitor the payment deadline and accompany the review procedure. Result: conclusion of the procedure and, if you wish, the transition into ongoing support.
Complete or not at all: the principle of voluntary disclosure
Voluntary disclosure knows no half measures: the law requires the correction of all offences relating to one tax type that are not yet time-barred, covering at least the last ten calendar years, with figures the tax office (Finanzamt) can assess without investigations of its own. Anyone who declares only the "conspicuous" years afterwards or announces a round figure reveals the offence without obtaining exemption from punishment: the dreaded failed voluntary disclosure. That is why nothing here starts with a letter, but with a complete reconstruction: year by year, tax type by tax type, with documented bases of calculation.
The time factor: acting while no blocking ground exists
The option of voluntary disclosure ends without warning: with notification of an audit order (Prüfungsanordnung), the appearance of an auditor or tax investigator, notification of criminal or administrative fine proceedings, or with the discovery of the offence, as soon as you had to reckon with it. Only the audit-related block is limited to the announced scope; investigations and the discovery of the offence know no such limit. That is why we check and document all blocking grounds before every submission, and work promptly without sacrificing the completeness of the figures to speed.
Above 25.000 Euro: the route via the surcharge
If the tax evaded exceeds 25.000 € per offence, or if the case is a particularly serious one, the classic exemption from punishment is ruled out, but not the way out: in addition to taxes and interest, on payment of a statutory surcharge of 10, 15 or 20 percent of the amount evaded, the authority refrains from prosecution. This route, however, cures only the block based on the amount or on the seriousness of the case. We calculate the surcharge, interest and subsequent payment together in advance so that the liquidity is in place on the due date.
Paying up, closing the file and returning to compliance
Submission starts the decisive phase: the tax office may open criminal proceedings in order to review whether the disclosure is effective; that is provided for by law, not an alarm signal. Amended assessments, interest assessments and a payment deadline follow, and that deadline applies strictly: without full payment within the deadline, the exemption from punishment falls away; late-payment interest (Nachzahlungszinsen) already assessed is credited against the evasion interest (Hinterziehungszinsen), so you do not pay twice. We check every assessment, monitor every deadline, and afterwards remain your firm for ongoing tax compliance, so that this chapter never repeats itself.
The six most expensive mistakes in a voluntary disclosure
- Declaring only the "conspicuous" years: a partial voluntary disclosure reveals the offence and brings no reliable exemption from punishment
- The quick, informal email to the tax office: an announcement without complete figures is not an effective correction
- Estimating "out of thin air" instead of reconstructing: only a substantiated, source-based derivation will hold
- Underestimating the payment deadline: without full payment of taxes and interest within the deadline, the exemption from punishment falls away
- Forgetting the other people involved: one person's disclosure can mean discovery for a spouse or a fellow shareholder
- After notification of an audit order (Prüfungsanordnung), submitting "quickly anyway" without checking, instead of first analysing its scope in terms of subject matter and periods
Examples from our advisory practice
Hypothetical example: a married couple has failed to declare the income of a foreign securities portfolio for years; the documents exist only in patchy form. Approach: request income statements from the bank, recalculate ten years in full for each spouse, submit both declarations in a coordinated way and at the same time, because one spouse's disclosure can mean discovery for the other. Intended outcome: effective voluntary disclosures for both spouses, a predictable subsequent payment. First step: a confidential conversation before any contact with the tax office.
Hypothetical example: a GmbH establishes that several preliminary VAT returns were too low. A special rule applies here: the correction has an exempting effect to the extent of the corrected return, and the authority's knowledge triggered by the correction does not act as a block. Approach: correct the affected periods in full and keep an eye on the annual return, for which the strict requirement of completeness applies again. First step: set out the periods and amounts properly in-house, before the next return is filed.
What a voluntary disclosure costs
Four items belong together: the taxes to be paid subsequently for the years concerned, the evasion interest (against which late-payment interest already assessed is credited), in cases above 25.000 € per offence the statutory surcharge of 10 to 20 percent, and our fee, which follows the German tax advisers' fee regulation (Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung) or an agreement based on scope and effort. Flat prices without a look at the years, accounts and documents would not be serious; you will receive a solid overall assessment in the confidential initial consultation, before any decision.
Frequently asked questions about voluntary disclosure
A voluntary disclosure is the complete subsequent declaration to the tax office of tax bases that were previously concealed or incorrectly declared. If it is effective, it acts as a personal ground for exemption from punishment: the tax evasion already committed remains free of punishment, a bridge back into legality that is unique in criminal law. The requirements are completeness, timeliness before a blocking ground arises, and payment of the taxes plus interest within the deadline. We check each of these three conditions before anything reaches the tax office.
The law requires the correction of all tax offences relating to one tax type that are not yet time-barred, but at least those of the last ten calendar years. This ten-year figure is a minimum scope, not a matter of choice: if further offences that are not time-barred exist, they belong in it too. That fits together in tax terms, because for evaded taxes the assessment period (Festsetzungsfrist) is also ten years. In practice we therefore regularly work through a full decade for each tax type concerned: year by year, with figures that can be followed.
As soon as a statutory blocking ground has arisen: for example notification of an audit order (Prüfungsanordnung), the appearance of an auditor or tax investigator, notification of criminal or administrative fine proceedings, or the discovery of the offence if you knew about it or had to reckon with it. With an audit order the block is at least limited to its announced scope; with investigations and the discovery of the offence that limitation does not apply. Because none of these events announces itself in advance, the timing of the submission is the single most important decision.
Above 25.000 € of tax evaded per offence, and in particularly serious cases, the classic exemption from punishment is ruled out. That does not make a voluntary disclosure pointless: the law allows prosecution to be waived if, in addition to taxes and interest, a surcharge is paid, staggered according to the amount evaded: 10 % up to 100.000 €, 15 % up to 1.000.000 €, 20 % above that. Important: this route cures only the block based on the amount or the seriousness of the case, not an audit that is already under way or an offence that has been discovered.
Four building blocks need to be distinguished: first, the taxes to be paid subsequently for the years concerned; second, evasion interest, against which late-payment interest already assessed is credited, so nothing is paid twice; third, in cases above 25.000 € per offence, the statutory surcharge; fourth, the advisory fee, which follows the German tax advisers' fee regulation (Steuerberatervergütungsverordnung) or an agreement based on scope and effort. There are no serious flat prices without knowing the years, accounts and documents; a solid assessment, on the other hand, is possible: after the confidential initial consultation.
No. A voluntary disclosure is not subject to any particular form and does not have to be headed as such; what matters is the content: tax type, years, facts and amounts must be specific enough for the tax office (Finanzamt) to issue an assessment without investigations of its own. That is exactly where the danger of the quick "informal email" lies: it reveals the offence but does not provide an effective correction. We file the declaration in structured form with the competent tax authority: fully calculated rather than vaguely announced.
As an heir you have obligations of your own: if you recognise that the deceased's tax returns were incorrect, you are obliged to report and correct this without undue delay. Anyone who deliberately breaches that obligation risks criminal liability of their own; the route then runs via a voluntary disclosure. Whether a simple correction is sufficient in the individual case or a voluntary disclosure is already called for depends on what was known and on the passage of time; that is precisely the fork in the road we work out with you first, before anything goes to the tax office.
Missing bank documents are the norm, not an obstacle: a substantiated, source-based estimate is permissible, derived in a comprehensible way from whatever can be reconstructed, for example account statements, income statements or portfolio data that we request from the institutions. An estimate "out of thin air" will not hold; and whether a flat safety margin can replace incomplete clarification has expressly been left open by the courts. Our approach: reconstruct first, then estimate properly where gaps remain, documented and reasoned.
You should not rely on that: a voluntary disclosure is a personal ground for exemption from punishment and takes effect for the person whose offences are corrected in full. An automatic extension to others involved (spouses, fellow shareholders, employees) cannot be derived from the law. Where several people are involved, we therefore coordinate the declarations so that every involvement is covered in full and everything is filed at the same time, because one person's disclosure can mean discovery for the others.
On 16 July 2026 the Federal Government presented an action plan under which the exemption from punishment provided by voluntary disclosure is to be abolished "in its current form". This is a political intention: so far there is no draft bill, no details and no timetable; until there is a change, § 371 AO applies unchanged. Two conclusions are nevertheless sound: the door is becoming narrower rather than wider, and it closes independently of Berlin the moment a blocking ground arises. Hasty, incomplete declarations remain the most expensive mistake.
Expect post: after receipt the tax office may open criminal proceedings in order to review whether the voluntary disclosure is effective; that is provided for by law and is not a sign of failure. In parallel, amended tax assessment notices (Steuerbescheid) are issued along with interest assessments and a payment deadline that has to be met strictly, because otherwise the exemption from punishment falls away. If all the requirements are met, the proceedings end without punishment. We accompany you through this phase, from reviewing the assessments to payment within the deadline.
Your next step
The earlier we talk, the more routes remain open; a voluntary disclosure is only possible as long as no blocking ground has arisen. Request a confidential initial consultation or call us directly; you do not have to give any details at first, and we also speak Turkish if you prefer. After your enquiry you will receive a discreet acknowledgement of receipt; your dedicated contact person will then get in touch.