What is the purpose of data retrieval?

Data retrieval is a service offered by Lohnsteuer kompakt. Through data retrieval, you can access personal data stored about you at your tax office and import it directly into your tax return. The tax authorities also refer to the data provided as the "pre-filled tax return" (VaSt). (More information at: What is electronic data retrieval?)

Once you have set up the service, you will immediately know what data the tax office has about you. Note: Data can only be retrieved for the last 4 tax years, i.e. in the year 2026 you can retrieve data for 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022.

You can then transfer the provided data with just a few clicks into your income tax return with Lohnsteuer kompakt. This means you do not have to enter the data yourself. Your data is transferred directly into the corresponding fields of the income tax return, thus largely avoiding input errors. You only need to check the transferred data for accuracy. 

This gives you more time for additions that can really save taxes, such as expenses for craftsmen's services, work-related expenses or special expenses.