{"id":4191,"date":"2026-01-29T13:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mavaro-tax.com\/trouble-with-the-tax-office-how-to-avoid-this-through-formalities-tip-2\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T13:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:38:11","slug":"trouble-with-the-tax-office-how-to-avoid-this-through-formalities-tip-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mavaro-tax.com\/en\/trouble-with-the-tax-office-how-to-avoid-this-through-formalities-tip-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Trouble with the tax office? How to avoid this through formalities (tip 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Trouble with the tax office? \n<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For entrepreneurs in Germany - Save yourself the trouble with the tax office with these 3 tips (part 2 of 3)<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today in the second part of the series<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tip 2: Relocating electronic accounting abroad<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Everyone is talking about digitalization and streamlining processes. Administrative processes such as accounting are often outsourced. It often happens that an affiliated company abroad takes over the bookkeeping. In today’s age of electronic accounting, this is certainly not a problem if the relevant formalities are observed. <\/p>\n

Approval must be obtained from the tax office for the relocation of electronic bookkeeping abroad. Since 2021, the legislator has differentiated between the relocation of electronic bookkeeping to another EU country and to a third country. <\/p>\n

You read correctly, it is only about electronic bookkeeping! This is because the books and records must still be kept and stored in Germany. This distinction is important, as this is often confused in practice. The original receipts, in particular paper invoices, must remain physically in Germany! <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the EU case, the following now applies:<\/strong><\/p>

There will no longer be an obligation to apply for relocation in the EU from 2021. However, in this case you must ensure that the tax office continues to have access to your data, e.g. as part of a tax audit. <\/p>

If data access is not ensured, the tax office can impose a late payment penalty (see below).<\/p>

In the case of third countries, please note the following:<\/strong><\/p>

The approval of the tax office must be obtained before moving to electronic bookkeeping. Certain information must be provided in the written application to the tax office: <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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