Electronic tax assessment notices: Changes from 2026

The electronic disclosure of tax assessment notices by making them available for retrieval should be introduced nationwide as the standard procedure from January 1, 2026 for tax assessment notices issued after January 1, 2025.

Whereas before January 1, 2026, tax assessment notices could only be disclosed electronically with the consent of the party involved (the taxpayer) or their tax advisor, from January 1, 2026, tax assessment notices may also be disclosed electronically by being made available for retrieval even without such consent (Art. 122a (1) sentence 1 of the German Fiscal Code (AO)) (abolition of the consent-based system).

However, by way of the Minimum Tax Adjustment Act (MinStAnpG) (amendment of Art. 97 § 28 (2) of the Introductory Act to the Fiscal Code – EGAO), the applicability of Art. 122a (1 sentence 2 AO has been postponed by one year – without any change to the wording of Art. 122a AO itself – to administrative acts issued after December 31, 2026. Under this provision, assessment notices are to be disclosed electronically if a tax assessment notice, tax base assessment notice, or determination notice is based on a tax return or declaration of determination transmitted electronically pursuant to § 87a (6) AO and they 

1. have been transmitted by the party concerned themselves via a user account provided by the tax authorities, or
2. have been transmitted by a person within the meaning of Art. 80 (2) AO to whom the notice must be disclosed pursuant to Art. 122 (1) sentence 4 AO.

As a result, the de facto obligation of the tax authorities (“shall”) to disclose tax assessment notices electronically has been postponed by one year to January 1, 2027.

From the perspective of taxpayers and advisors (or representatives), however, this does not provide complete reassurance for the year 2026 if they wish to continue receiving assessment notices by mail and want to ensure this. Only the applicability of Art. 122a (1) sentence 2 AO has been postponed by one year; the applicability of Art. 122a (1) sentence 1 and (2) AO has not. This means:

• The tax authorities may, on a case-by-case basis and without the consent of the taxpayer or the advisor/representative, deliver tax assessments electronically by making them available for retrieval as from January 1, 2026.
• If postal notification is preferred in the future, this must be expressly requested (Art. 122a (2) AO - transition from a consent-based system to an opt-out system). According to the legislative materials, the mere fact that no consent to electronic disclosure has been given so far is not sufficient to ensure postal delivery.

This results in need for action for

• advisors/representatives:
  Existing powers of attorney for notification that do not include consent to electronic delivery will no longer be sufficient as from January 1, 2026 to ensure postal delivery, where such delivery is desired.
• taxpayers who have not granted any powers of attorney for notification:
  They should themselves expressly request postal delivery if they wish to legally ensure that electronic delivery is prevented.

It should be noted that, due to the legislative technique used (Art. 97 § 28 para. 2 EGAO as amended by the MinStAnpG in conjunction with Art. 122a AO), the tax authorities have been legally granted a postponement of the nationwide implementation of electronic disclosure until January 1, 2027. However, taxpayers and advisers have not been granted a corresponding legally secure postponement from January 1, 2026, as the abolition of the consent requirement and the introduction of the obligation to apply for postal delivery already took effect on January 1, 2026. Nevertheless, in practice it is to be expected that in most cases electronic delivery will only actually be implemented from January 1, 2027.