Finanzamt
The local German tax office — for non-residents, the one where the property is.
A Finanzamt is a local tax office of a German state. For someone without a German residence, §19 Abs. 2 AO makes the Finanzamt competent in whose district your German assets are located; with several properties, the office where the most valuable part sits. For a single rented flat, that is the tax office covering the property's address, not an office near your former German home. The competent Finanzamt issues your Steuernummer, receives the ESt 1 C and Anlage V through ELSTER, sends the Steuerbescheid and handles any Einspruch. Use the official Finanzamt search with the property's postcode before your first filing, and write the property address the same way on every return so the office can match it to the land register.
Last reviewed: by Yann Lephay.