Permanent deadline extension (Dauerfristverlängerung): one more month for your advance VAT return

What is the permanent deadline extension (Dauerfristverlängerung)?

Normally the advance VAT return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung) must reach the tax office (Finanzamt) by the 10th day after the end of the return period, and the tax due must be paid by then. Ten days is tight: receipts are still missing, bank statements are not reconciled, invoices from the end of the month only arrive later. The permanent deadline extension under § 18 Abs. 6 UStG and §§ 46 to 48 UStDV gives you one extra month permanently.

It is a genuine deadline extension: payment is also only due one month later. For you this means better liquidity and a cleaner return, because more purchase invoices for the period are available and you can deduct the input VAT (Vorsteuer) from them straight away.

The permanent deadline extension only applies to advance VAT returns. The EC sales list (Zusammenfassende Meldung) remains due on the 25th day after the end of the reporting period, and the annual VAT return (Umsatzsteuer-Jahreserklärung) has its own deadline.

Deadlines with and without the extension

The table shows when the return must be filed and the tax paid. If the date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it moves to the next working day. For bank transfers there is also a payment grace period (Zahlungsschonfrist) of three days during which no late payment surcharge arises – it does not apply to filing the return.

How to apply for the extension: step by step via ELSTER

You do not have to wait for a decision: the extension applies as long as the tax office does not reject the application. It must arrive no later than the date on which the first return it is meant to cover would be due. A later application only takes effect for the following periods. Here is how to proceed:

• In Mein ELSTER under „Formulare & Leistungen“ → „Umsatzsteuer“, choose the form „Antrag auf Dauerfristverlängerung / Anmeldung der Sondervorauszahlung“ (form USt 1 H) for the relevant year.
• Quarterly filers: only tick the application for the permanent deadline extension. Deadline for the current year: 10 April.
• Monthly filers: also enter the special prepayment in Kennzahl 38. Deadline: 10 February – and every year again, even if the extension already exists.
• Founders: you can apply right after receiving your tax number (Steuernummer); you calculate the special prepayment from the expected prepayments. You can already indicate that you want the extension in the tax registration form (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung).
• Pay the special prepayment by the due date or have it collected by SEPA direct debit mandate.

Special prepayment: calculating 1/11 – with an example

The special prepayment (Sondervorauszahlung) is one eleventh of the total of the previous year’s advance VAT payments (§ 47 UStDV). This means the total of the twelve monthly results (Kennzahl 83) – without deducting the special prepayment that was offset in December. Refund months with a negative result reduce the total.

Why 1/11? Because of the extension you are mathematically one month behind. The tax office secures this month as a “deposit”: eleven regular payments plus the special prepayment roughly correspond to the twelve payments without the extension.

If you only started during the previous year, you extrapolate the prepayments to a full year. In the year you start, you use the expected prepayments of the current year.

Offsetting the special prepayment in the December return

The special prepayment is not an additional tax. You deduct it in the return for December in Kennzahl 39. If there is a surplus, the tax office refunds it.

Example: for December 2026 there is tax due of €2,100. After deducting the special prepayment of €2,400 in Kennzahl 39, there is a surplus of €300, which the tax office refunds. With the extension, this return must be filed by 10 February 2027 – on the same day the new special prepayment for 2027 is due.

If the extension or your business ends during the year, the special prepayment is credited in the last return covered by the extension. If you forget Kennzahl 39, the money is not lost: the annual VAT return takes into account all prepayments made, including the special prepayment.

Is the deadline extension worth it?

For quarterly filers almost always, because it costs nothing. For monthly filers it is a trade-off: once a year you tie up roughly one month’s amount and in return get one extra month twelve times.

• Advantage with accrual-based VAT (Soll-Versteuerung): you only have to pay the VAT when many customers have already paid – this noticeably eases your liquidity.
• Advantage for quality: more receipts for the period are available, bank transactions are reconciled, and you need to file a corrected return less often.
• Disadvantage: the special prepayment is due in February, and the refund only comes back after the December return. It is an interest-free loan to the tax office for around eleven months.
• Disadvantage: if you owe little in December, a refund claim arises that is only paid out after processing.
• Rule of thumb: if you regularly finish your bookkeeping only after the 10th, apply for it – late returns cost late filing and late payment surcharges, the special prepayment costs nothing.

Withdrawal and end: when does the extension no longer apply?

You do not have to repeat the application every year; only the special prepayment has to be declared again each year as a monthly filer. The extension applies until you withdraw it or the tax office revokes it.

• Your own withdrawal: you withdraw the application in writing or via ELSTER; this makes sense at the turn of the year so that the special prepayment is offset cleanly in the December return.
• Revocation by the tax office: possible if the tax claim appears to be at risk – typically with repeatedly late returns or payment arrears (§ 46 UStDV).
• Switching from monthly to quarterly: if your tax for the previous year was no more than €9,000, you become a quarterly filer. The extension continues, and no new special prepayment is required.
• Exemption from advance returns: if the previous year’s tax was no more than €2,000 and the tax office exempts you, the extension no longer has any effect.
• Closing the business: the special prepayment is offset in the last return.

Deadline extension for Kleinunternehmer: do you need it?

No. As a small business under § 19 UStG (Kleinunternehmer) you do not file regular advance returns, so there is nothing to extend. An exception is individual periods in which you owe VAT as the recipient of a service – for example when buying online advertising from another EU country under the reverse charge procedure. For these rare returns an application is usually not worthwhile.

If you switch to standard taxation, you are usually a quarterly filer in the first year because the previous year’s tax was zero. The extension is then free and a good idea. For founders: the former obligation to file monthly in the year of starting and the following year is suspended for 2021 to 2026; the expected tax is what counts. Whether the suspension will be extended beyond 2026 had not been decided at the time of writing.

Deadline extension with Kontelio

In Kontelio you store your return period under Taxpayer and whether a permanent deadline extension exists. Kontelio then moves all deadlines of the advance VAT return by one month, reminds you in good time and, on the Business and Pro plans, submits the return directly to ELSTER. Kontelio does not calculate the special prepayment automatically – with the formula above you have it in a minute; if needed, you enter its credit in Kennzahl 39 directly in ELSTER. A separate guide shows how to keep all your tax deadlines under control.

Frequently asked questions