Tax Return in Germany

[Judy2]

Every time I try to fill in a form for my taxes, I am astonished that these forms are even legal. 

I finished high school with the equivalent of a 4.0 GPA and went on to university. And still, I have no idea what they are even asking, what legal paragraphs they are referring to, or what half of these words mean...and I relied on ChatGPT for at least half the form. Is that smart? - No. Can I afford an accountant? - No. 

How is this possible? 

There are people in this country, I assume, who are less intelligent or educated than myself - how can we expect these people to even remotely understand what the government wants them to fill in on these forms, when even someone with a good education can't understand???

Why are we making taxes so difficult, why can't the state just ask normal questions without using complicated technical terms and figure the rest out for themselves? 

Edited yesterday at 05:00 PM by Judy2

[Schizophonia]

@Judy2 You ask for help from the guy at the tax office counter.

You tell him you don't understand anything lol; between the young or worse the old people and the migrants who are in the west, they are used to it

Edited yesterday at 09:37 PM by Schizophonia

[Basman]

It's easier to add rules than remove them in a highly bureaucratic system. There is a lot of regulation and exceptions and stuff. It's a confusing mess. 

Try to take it a bit at the time. The website should explain what each field is for. Most fields are probably not relevant to you. It's okay to kind of ballpark the numbers themselves. If you pay too much you should get a refund of the excess amount once a year. 

[Judy2]

9 hours ago, Schizophonia said:

@Judy2 You ask for help from the guy at the tax office counter.

there is no such thing.

i believe the office is not even allowed to answer explicit questions to help with the forms. if you ask a single question, you have to wait for weeks and receive a letter to inform you about that. i guess the office has to stay "neutral".

an accountant would charge me 300-500€, and i barely make enough to even have to pay taxes. 

Edited 15 hours ago by Judy2

[Judy2]

5 hours ago, Basman said:

Try to take it a bit at the time. The website should explain what each field is for. Most fields are probably not relevant to you. It's okay to kind of ballpark the numbers themselves. If you pay too much you should get a refund of the excess amount once a year. 

the website does explain some terms and phrases, but i feel like these explanations themselves need some explaining.

thank you, though:) that sounds a little more optimistic. 

[Basman]

6 hours ago, Judy2 said:

the website does explain some terms and phrases, but i feel like these explanations themselves need some explaining.

thank you, though:) that sounds a little more optimistic. 

There are plenty of guides if you do a Google search. That should hopefully help clarify stuff. You can also look up forums that can help answer specific questions. 

[Judy2]

2 hours ago, Basman said:

There are plenty of guides if you do a Google search. That should hopefully help clarify stuff. You can also look up forums that can help answer specific questions. 

ok i didn't know that. thank you.