An evaluation released by the Federal Association of Taxpayers, and reported by “Focus”, indicates that the processing of tax returns across Germany took longer in 2025 than it did in the preceding year.
The association annually polls the 16 state finance ministries to determine the average processing time. According to the findings, while six states managed to speed up compared to the previous year, the remaining states either made no improvement or experienced slower processing times (ranging from one to six days). Notably, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia did not provide a concrete figure, instead offering a range spanning from two weeks to six months.
In terms of speed, Hesse was the quickest, with an average of 41.1 days. Berlin followed closely in second place, at 41.5 days. Saxony and Bavaria tied for third place with 42 days. The slowest states were the Saarland, requiring 51.4 days, and the city-state of Bremen, which averaged 56.15 days.
Daniela Karbe-Geßler, the Federal CEO of the Taxpayers Association, called on the states to improve these statistics. She stressed to “Focus” that the timing of when citizens and businesses receive their tax statements or refunds should not depend on their place of residence.
A clear distinction emerged when the data was separated into employees and other individuals. For employee tax returns, Berlin and Saxony were the fastest, even completing the process in under 40 days. However, for self-employed individuals, freelancers, or entrepreneurs, no state managed to process returns in under 40 days.
Despite these variations, automation continues to advance. The share of tax returns that are processed fully automatically increased in 2025. This automated quota stands at nearly 23 percent, an increase from just under 22 percent in 2024.
