Objection by simple e-mail is invalid

A tax court has ruled against the opinion of other courts and common administrative practice that an appeal is only possible with a signed e-mail.

A few years ago, tax offices still had a hard time dealing with Internet communication. In the meantime, however, the tax offices also accept appeals by e-mail without further ado. This could be the case, were it not for the Hessian Tax Court. In a dispute between a mother and the family tax office, the court did not rule on the content of the objection, but on its validity. While both the mother and the family fund assumed that the objection by simple e-mail is effective, the tax court takes the position that a simple e-mail does not meet the necessary written form. This is only the case for an e-mail with a qualified digital signature, which is why taxpayers must expect that an assessment that they have only contested with a simple e-mail will become final to their disadvantage.

After all, the court states in its ruling that with this decision it is not only in contradiction with almost all of the specialist literature, but also with the Application Decree to the Fiscal Code and the predominant case law of other fiscal courts. It has therefore allowed an appeal to the Federal Fiscal Court. In practice, this means that, at least until the Federal Fiscal Court reaches a decision, taxpayers can only be sure that an objection is guaranteed to be effective if it is submitted by mail, fax or e-mail with a qualified digital signature. As the case shows, it is not enough for the tax office to consider the objection to be effective.