An estimated assessment or a hearing letter. The response, filed inside the deadline.
The office has estimated your VAT because it had nothing else to go on, or it has sent a hearing letter (Anhörung) saying it is about to. Both carry a clock: one month on the estimate, the date in the letter on the hearing. We file the objection or the response under your power of attorney, with the real figures, before it runs out.
From the office’s figure to your own.
A figure the office made up, and a clock
One month on the estimate (Schätzbescheid), the date in the letter on the hearing (Anhörung).
The real figures, filed in time
The objection or the response at the office before the deadline, the missing returns with it, the correspondence until it replaces the estimate.
Three things, and we can start.
Asked about estimates and hearings
If the deadline has not passed, yes: say so in the form and the quote comes the same working day. If it has passed, an objection is generally no longer possible, but filing the real returns can still replace the estimate in many cases; the surcharges are then the harder part. Send the notice and its date and the quote says which case you are in.
An objection alone does not stop collection. A request to suspend collection (Aussetzung der Vollziehung) can be filed alongside it where the facts support one, and the quote says whether they do. Until the office grants it, the estimated amount is due.
No. It is the office asking you before it decides; answering it with the real figures is the cheapest point in the whole process. Miss the date in the letter and the estimate follows automatically.