(2023) Who is not required to submit a tax return?

Submitting a tax return is always voluntary if you are not legally obliged to do so (see below). This particularly applies to employees in tax class I who only have income from their employment. It also applies to married couples with the tax class combination IV/IV - but the factor method must not be used.

Your income is already taxed, and you may be able to save yourself the forms for the tax office. In these cases, the tax office will not ask you to submit a tax return. However, in 9 out of 10 cases, these employees receive a refund of overpaid taxes from the tax office.

So the tax authorities do not expect any money from you, but will probably have to refund some to you. There is almost always a tax refund involved.

Assessment on request: You voluntarily submit your tax return

If you submit a tax return to the tax office even though you do not have to, this is called an assessment on request in tax law. For an assessment on request, you generally have four years to submit the tax return and secure the tax refund.