Taxes should be understandable to everyone! That’s why we at Taxfix developed our web and mobile based app (collectively, “Apps” and each, an “App“) – to help people do just that. The App allows users to understand, fill out and submit their tax returns in an easy, quick and user-friendly manner.
The following terms and conditions (these “Terms“) govern your access or use of the Apps, and any content, products and services made available by Taxfix SE, Köpenicker Str. 122, 10179 Berlin, Germany (“Taxfix“, “we“, “us“, “our“) via either of the Apps or any websites and applications operated by third party cooperation partners (collectively, the “Services“) following your acceptance of these Terms.
Please read these Terms carefully. By accepting these Terms, you agree to be bound hereby. If you do not wish to accept these Terms, you should cease downloading, installing or using the Apps and our Services and/or uninstall the Apps immediately.
Supplemental terms may apply to certain additional services, such as policies for a particular event, activity or campaign, and such supplemental terms will be disclosed to you in connection with the applicable Services. Supplemental terms are in addition to, and shall be deemed a part of, these Terms.
§ 1 – Scope of Services
The Services comprise web and mobile applications and related services, which enable users to prepare, file and submit their tax declarations through the App, as well as to make use of further offers in financial matters and with regard to their tax returns.
Using the App, each user inputs certain relevant data needed to prepare his/her tax return for submission to the tax authorities. The user is asked to answer certain predetermined questions and to provide certain information including with respect to: title, name, marital status, employment, address, religious affiliation, occupation, employer, annual wage tax statement or most recent payroll slip, second household, responsible tax office, tax identification number, education and vocational training, expenses for work equipment, job applications, professional associations, income from capital assets (if a bank statement is available), income from any sale of commodities (excluding income from pension schemes), insurance schemes, health expenses, surviving dependency, disabilities, nursed persons, personal information of children living in the same household, parents or other persons, donations, church tax, household expenses, expenses from pension schemes, permanent expenses, alimony paid to third parties and loss carryforward, as applicable. The App uses the data that is inputted by the user to calculate the user’s tax burden and refund amount (if any).
Following calculation of a user’s tax burden and refund amount, the user may elect to conclude a Service Agreement (as defined and further described in § 2 below) with us and thereby use our Services to generate his/her tax declaration for submission via ELSTER, the digital portal used by the German tax authorities. Please note that the preparation of the tax declaration takes place outside the App but uses the data collected in-app by the user. Where a user clicks “Submit to the tax office” in the App, such user authorizes, empowers and instructs Taxfix to submit his/her income tax declaration to the tax authorities via ELSTER.
After a user concludes a Service Agreement in accordance with § 2 and §3 below, we will verify the identity of the user and his/her entered data, in compliance with our legal obligations and for the user’s own safety. To do this, we use an electronic identification system that allows each user to verify his/her identity by submitting a scan of one or more of the following: annual wage tax statement, registration confirmation, wage statement, German identity card or other government identification reflecting your current address. In addition, a user will be notified of any input errors that are detected in his/her user data for correction. We will notify you if we require, and you agree to provide if required, further documentation to verify your identity or to submit your tax declaration.
Following finalization and submission of a user’s tax declaration, a copy of the submitted tax declaration is made available to the user for download in the App. We will send an email to the user confirming such submission.
Please note that the App calculates a user’s tax burden based on the input of the user and current tax legislation. This allows the App to work out an expected refund or additionally owed tax amount, which, for the sake of clarity, is a non-binding calculation. This value may deviate from the actual refund or additionally owed tax amount, as these values are ultimately determined by the responsible tax office. Our Apps are programmed to calculate these values as accurately as possible. However, we do not warrant or make any representation or guarantee that the tax charge, refund or additional charge calculated by the App is accurate. Should there be any deviation from the final assessment of the tax authorities, we encourage our users to reach out to us at [email protected] and let us know, so that we can improve our Services.
Notwithstanding anything stated in these Terms, please note that none of the Services include or constitute, nor does Taxfix claim to offer, tax advisory or consulting services. The App is programmed and intended to function fully automated without human interference, provided, that the App offers users the ability and flexibility of manual correction of user input errors prior to final submission of the tax declaration to the tax authorities. Thus, the Services do not constitute services requiring authorization pursuant to the German Tax Consultancy Act (StBerG) or Legal Services Act (RDG). If you have any specific tax or legal questions, we recommend that you seek advice from a tax or legal advisor.
Use of the App and other Services may be available through a mobile device and additional charges or fees may apply. Each user is solely responsible for any such additional charges or fees and for the terms of any separate agreement with his/her mobile device and service provider.
§ 2 – Formation of Service Agreement
You engage our Services by downloading, accessing or using the App.
After you have completed the question flow in the App to calculate either your tax refund or owed amount, you can elect to have Taxfix submit your tax declaration to the tax authorities on your behalf. You will be asked to enter your bank information (“Bank Details“) in order for the tax office to wire you your refund amount or to collect any owed amount, as applicable.
For the use of our App to prepare your tax declaration, we charge a one-off service fee including the statutory VAT, the amount of which is displayed to you in the question flow in the App prior to the chargeable booking of the App use. If displayed in the question flow, you will be given the choice between the option of a fee due immediately ("Pay Now") and the option of a fee due later upon receipt of the tax assessment ("Pay Later"). In the case of the Pay Later option, the fee is either a fixed amount or a fixed amount plus a percentage of your tax refund, depending on the amount of the calculated tax refund, with the proviso that if the tax assessment notice is not received within 150 days of the transmission via us, only a fixed amount is charged. The amounts and the method of calculating the price as well as the applicable payment conditions (time of payment and payment modalities) will be shown to you in the question flow before the binding booking.
By clicking on "Pay now" or “Confirm payment”, you (i) accept our offer to conclude a contract of service for the paid use of the App subject to these Terms (a "Service Agreement"), (ii) declare that you have read and understood our Privacy Statement and (iii) authorize us to initiate a direct debit in the amount of the fee displayed using the Bank Details provided by you.
Your Service Agreement is with Taxfix.
Your contract with us regarding your use and your access to the Apps in accordance with these Terms otherwise comes into effect upon your confirmation of these Terms.
Your contract with us is stored by us and you can access these Terms within the App. These Terms are available in English and German.
§ 3 – Use of Expert Service
We offer you the possibility to access offers from independent third-party providers via our App. These third-party providers are persons authorised to provide assistance in tax matters (“Tax Advisors“). The mandate agreement is concluded exclusively between the Tax Advisor and you and includes the agreement of a remuneration (“Honorarium“). In this respect, please also take into account the provisions of the following § 4.
With the App, Taxfix provides the platform through which you can conclude a contract with the Tax Advisor for the selected tax year and contact him (“Platform“). We also assume the Honorarium of the tax advisor by committing to you to fulfil your payment obligation under the contract concluded with the Tax Advisor via the Platform (“Mandate Agreement“) and hereby release you from the claim to remuneration (collectively, the “Expert-Service“).
We charge a fee for the use of the Expert Service. The fee is generally calculated on the basis of your tax refund, but does not fall below the minimum fee displayed in the booking process (“minimum fee“). If you submit your tax return via us, the amount of the fee is based on the percentage shown in the booking and relates to the tax refund received by you for the selected tax year, including the statutory VAT – per tax return (“% fee“), The % fee is due as soon as the respective tax refund has been credited to you. If you use the Expert Service, the transmission (itself) of the respective tax return via us is free of charge. In the event that you do not transmit your tax return via us, we charge a fee for the use of the Expert Service in the amount of the percentage of the expected refund calculated for you for the selected tax year – including the statutory VAT (“Alternative % Fee“). The Alternative % Fee is due three weeks after the completed tax return is displayed in the App. If the % fee or the alternative fee does not exceed the minimum fee, the minimum fee is due. In the event that the tax assessment notice is not received within 150 days from the date of transmission via us, only the minimum charge will be levied and is then due immediately.
By clicking on “Confirm Booking” you (i) accept our offer to enter into a contract for the use of Expert-Service subject to these Terms and Conditions, (ii) acknowledge our Privacy Policy and (iii) authorise us to make a direct debit in the amount of the resulting fee (minimum fee or % fee or alternative % fee) using the bank details you have provided.
§ 4 – Third-Party Services
We allow selected third-party providers to offer certain products and services through the Apps. If you use such a third-party offer, the corresponding contract is concluded exclusively between you and the third-party provider. The third party provider is responsible for the performance of the service. Please read the privacy statements and terms of use of these third party providers carefully.
We assume no responsibility or liability for the actions, products, and content of all or any of these third parties or the quality, safety, or legality of the services offered by third parties. The provisions of § 9 remain unaffected.
In part, the offers of third-party providers are based on your data collected via the Taxfix app. If you take advantage of an offer of a third-party provider, you give us the order to transfer your data to the third-party provider. You will be informed accordingly.
§ 5 – Pre-filled tax return
Taxfix offers you the opportunity, free of charge, to retrieve your personal data deposited with the competent tax authority for the preparation of your tax return with Taxfix (pre-filled tax return).
For the pre-filled tax return, you must authorise Taxfix to retrieve the data. To do this, you enter your personal data (in particular name, date of birth and tax identification number) in the App. You will then receive an activation code from the competent tax authority by post within 10 to 14 days. As soon as you have this activation code, you must enter it in the App within 90 days. If the activation is successful, the registration for data retrieval is also successful. You can then perform the data retrieval in the App.
It is necessary to enter the activation codes in the App in the places provided for this purpose so that Taxfix can retrieve the stored personal data and make it available to you in the App. If you do not enter one or more of the activation codes sent to you in the App or do not enter them in time, we cannot offer you the pre-filled tax return. You will not incur any costs as a result.
The authorisation is valid for an unlimited period of time and can be revoked at any time without any formalities.
Tax data can only be retrieved if this is offered in the App. This means in particular that retrieval for individual tax years is not possible.
Taxfix assumes no liability or warranty for the availability of the pre-filled tax return.
We assume the data provided by the tax authorities to be correct and accept no liability or warranty for any errors or inaccuracies. Therefore, it is necessary that you carefully check the transmitted data available in the App before you proceed to file your tax return.
§ 6 – Digital pre-fill
With Taxfix, you have the option of receiving data relevant to your tax return digitally in the App (“Digital Pre-Fill“). We offer this service for you in cooperation with an external professional (hereinafter referred to as “Firm“). For Digital Pre-Fill, you authorise the Firm to retrieve the personal data about you that is available from the competent tax authority via the App. For this part of the service, the General Terms and Conditions of the Firm apply, which you can access here. At the same time, you instruct the Firm to forward this data to Taxfix. The data is processed and displayed in the App for further use in the preparation of your tax return. Taxfix is responsible for this second part of the service and the following conditions apply.
The authorisation is valid for an unlimited period of time and can be revoked at any time without formalities. Please note that the Firm reserves the right to delete the power of attorney if you no longer use the Digital Pre-Fill in the App. In this case, no further tax data can be retrieved for you via the App.
Tax data can only be retrieved if this is offered in the App. This means in particular that retrieval for individual tax years is not (yet) possible.
Taxfix assumes no liability or warranty for the availability of Digital Pre-Fill. Taxfix also assumes no liability or warranty for the rejection of the order by the Firm after the order has been placed.
We assume the data transmitted by the Firm to Taxfix to be correct and accept no liability or warranty for any errors or inaccuracies. Therefore, it is necessary that you carefully check the transmitted data available in the App before submitting your tax return.
§ 7 – Intellectual Property
All content (including logos, pictures, videos, graphics and text) related to the Services and published via the App is in particular protected as trademarks or protected by copyright and, as between you and Taxfix, is the sole property of Taxfix. You may not imitate, modify, use, reproduce, distribute, alter or otherwise use such content, whether for private or commercial purposes, without our prior written consent of Taxfix. Statutory provisions remain unaffected.
Subject to your compliance with these Terms and any applicable payment obligations, Taxfix grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable and non-transferable license to: (i) access and use the App on your personal device solely in connection with your use of the Services; and (ii) access and use any content, information and related materials that may be made available through the Services, in each case, solely for personal and non-commercial use. This license grant applies to all updates, upgrades and new versions of the App. Taxfix reserves the right to change any information in the App, including, but not limited to, revising and/or deleting features or other information without prior notice. All rights, title and interest not expressly granted herein are reserved by us and our licensors.
You may not and agree not to modify, alter, adapt, reproduce, distribute, sub-license, reverse-engineer, disassemble, create derivative works from, decompile, alter the source code of, or otherwise exploit the App unless expressly permitted by us in writing. You may not make any commercial use of any of the information provided in the App or make any use of the App for the benefit of another business unless explicitly permitted by us in writing in advance. Taxfix reserves the right to refuse service or terminate accounts at its discretion if we believe that a user’s conduct violates applicable law, these Terms or is harmful to our interests.
We do not claim ownership of the content that you provide, upload, submit or send to us (“User Content”). You declare that you are the copyright owner of, or owner of the rights of use of, all User Content made available to us. You also represent that the User Content is free of viruses, spyware, other malware or computer threats; and that our use of the User Content in accordance with these Terms and Conditions does not violate any applicable law or the intellectual property or other rights of any third party. When you provide User Content to us using our Services, you grant us (and the parties we work with), a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable and worldwide license to use such User Content and associated intellectual property and publicity rights to help us render, improve and promote the Services and develop new ones. Further, you declare that inasmuch as any User Content includes portrayed persons within the meaning of the German Art Copyright Act (KUG) who cannot be regarded as merely incidental to a place, public gathering, parade or similar public event, such persons consent to the disclosure of such User Content to us and use thereof by us. Where any such portrayed persons are deemed to be minors, you declare that the legal guardians of such persons have given their consent to the aforementioned. Taxfix reserves the right to remove or disable access to any User Content without cause that, in our sole discretion, violates the terms of this agreement or compromises the integrity or security of the App or Services.
You agree that any information you provide to us will be true, accurate, current and complete, and you agree to promptly transmit all files and data in connection with your tax declaration and the Services as requested.
You agree to assist us in performing our contractual duties and undertake to provide us with any supplementary information if requested.
You agree to promptly notify us in writing of any changes or updates to your name, address, telephone and email address.
You agree not to use any computer code, data mining software, robots, bots, scripts, scrapers or any other similar automated or manual process to gain access to, copy, collect, transmit or monitor any of the web pages, data or content (including any User Content) or other Services found on or accessed through the App. You agree not to employ any such processes to test or monitor the Services’ vulnerability, or for any other purpose. You further agree not to violate any authentication mechanisms or other applications necessary for the functionality of the App. You may not introduce viruses, spyware or any other malicious code, software or mechanism that may compromise the functionality of the App.
You agree not to manipulate or make use of our corporate identify, whether by means of logos, headers, emails or otherwise, to conceal or in any way alter the origin or content of messages sent in connection with the Services.
You agree not to violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation in connection with your use of the App and our Services.
You agree to cooperate in any necessary authentication measures and to provide confirmation of your identity or any information you provide to us.
You agree not to act in any matter that is defamatory, threatening or harassing to our employees, agents and representatives.
§ 10 – Liability and Warranty
Taxfix shall be liable without limitation (i) in case of intent or gross negligence, (ii) for injury to life, limb or health, (iii) in accordance with the provisions of the German Product Liability Act and (iv) to the extent of a guarantee assumed by Taxfix.
In the event of damage to property or financial loss caused by Taxfix due to slight negligence, Taxfix shall only be liable for damages arising from violation of essential contractual obligations, and to the extent, such damages were foreseeable at the time of conclusion and typical for the contract. Essential contractual obligations are those obligations, whose fulfilment enables the proper execution of the contract itself and on which the user may regularly rely.
As far as Taxfix provides services without payment, Taxfix is only liable according to sub-paragraph 1; sub-paragraph 2 does not apply.
All further liability of Taxfix is excluded.
The parties agree that the foreseeable and contract-typical damage in the sense of the above § 9.2 is at most the contract value of one year.
The aforementioned limitations of liability also apply to the personal liability of Taxfix’s employees, representatives, organs and vicarious agents.
You agree to indemnify and hold Taxfix, its organs, employees and their respective assigns harmless from and against all losses, liabilities, claims and damages of every kind, as incurred, arising out of or in connection with (i) any culpable violation by you of these Terms or any statutory obligations in connection herewith or (ii) your culpable violation of the rights of third parties. Taxfix shall promptly notify you in writing in the event of such a claim.
§ 11 – Right of Withdrawal of the Service Agreement
As a “consumer” within the meaning of § 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB) (meaning every natural person who enters into a legal transaction for any purpose that is predominantly outside his/her trade, business or profession), you have a right of withdrawal in accordance with the following provisions.
The right of withdrawal expires according to § 356 Abs. 4 BGB also if Taxfix has completely rendered the service and has only started with the execution of the service after you have given your explicit consent and at the same time confirmed your knowledge that you lose your right of withdrawal when Taxfix has completely fulfilled the contract.
Information on Your Right of Withdrawal
Right of withdrawal
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day of the conclusion of the contract.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, you must inform us at:
Taxfix SE Köpenicker Str. 122 10179 Berlin [email protected] Telefon: 030 567 956 99
of your decision to withdraw from this contract by an unequivocal statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or e-mail). You may use the attached model withdrawal form, but it is not obligatory.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of Withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract. We will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
If you requested to begin the performance of services during the withdrawal period, you shall pay us an amount which is in proportion to what has been provided until you have communicated us your withdrawal from this contract, in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.
Model withdrawal form
(complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the contract)
To: Taxfix SE Köpenicker Str. 122 10179 Berlin Email: [email protected]
I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/We (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract of sale of the following goods (*)/for the provision of the following service (*)
Ordered on (*)/received on (*)
Name of consumer(s)
Address of consumer(s)
Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper)
Date
(*) delete if not applicable
§ 12 – Duration and Termination of the Service Agreement and the contract for the use of Expert-Service
The Service Agreement concluded between you and Taxfix shall expire upon Taxfix rendering full performance of the service and you paying the respective Fee (as far as a fee is applicable according of § 2 of these Terms).
We are entitled to terminate your Service Agreement upon written notice to you in the event you negligently violate the duties and obligations specified in § 9. The right of Taxfix and you to terminate for cause remains unaffected.
We are entitled to terminate your contract for the use of Expert-Service in writing if you intentionally or negligently violate any of the obligations set out in § 9.
§ 13 – Duration and termination of these Terms
Taxfix and you are entitled to terminate these Terms at any time with a notice period of ten business days. Not yet fulfilled Service Agreements are not affected by this.
All other provisions in these Terms shall apply indefinitely to your use and access of the Apps.
§ 14 – Dispute Resolution
Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 524/2013, the European Commission hosts a web-based platform for the resolution of online disputes (available at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/). Participation in such online dispute resolution is, however, voluntary; we prefer to resolve any problems directly with our users and do not participate in this procedure. In case of a dispute, we ask our users to contact us directly at [email protected].
Taxfix is not obliged, and does not commit itself, to participate in a dispute settlement procedure before a consumer dispute resolution body (§ 36 of the Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (VSBG)).
In the event of a dispute between Taxfix and a user who is a consumer, regarding a contract to which these Terms apply, where such dispute is not able to be resolved by the relevant parties, Taxfix will notify the user by email of a consumer dispute resolution body (including their address and website) responsible for the matter and will provide a statement regarding its obligation or readiness to take part in such dispute resolution procedure.
§ 15 – Miscellaneous Provisions
Taxfix may amend these Terms, any policies or supplemental terms related to the Services (collectively, the “Provisions“) from time to time. Such amended Provisions will then apply to each agreement we conclude with you.
If we wish to amend any Provisions of an ongoing agreement with you for the future, the following shall apply:
Subject to subsections 15.2.2 and 15.2.3 below, we will inform you about the planned changes in the event of any material change to any Provision that detrimentally affects your rights under these Terms, before such change goes into effect. If you do not object within 6 weeks or, if after expiry of this period, you continue to access or use the Services, this shall constitute your consent to be bound by the Provisions, as amended. In our notice to you we will inform you of your right of cancellation, the deadline and the consequences of your silence.
Subsection 15.2.1 shall not apply to amendments to either the subject matter of an agreement or any material obligation which would result in a material change to the contractual structure as a whole. In this case, we can make you an offer to continue a contract with our new provisions.
We also reserve the right to adapt or modify any Provisions with effect for the future if: (i) the changes or modifications are solely beneficial to users; (ii) the changes or modifications are necessary to comply with applicable law, including but not limited to if the applicable law changes or to comply with a court judgment or order by a public authority; (iii) the changes or modifications have no material effect on the functionality of the Services or are of a purely technical or organizational nature; or (iv) we introduce new Services or performances which require a description in the Provisions, unless this would be detrimental to the ongoing contractual relationship (in the latter case, subsection 15.2.2 shall apply).
These Terms shall be governed exclusively by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. If the user is a consumer within the European Union and has his/her habitual residence in another country, this clause shall, according to Art 6 para. 2 of the Regulation (EC) Nr. 593/2008, not prevent the application of such mandatory provisions of the law at the consumer’s place of residence which would be applicable without this clause.
Any terms that apply to a user’s access to and use of the App and any of the other Services that deviate from those provided herein are only valid where expressly agreed to in writing; individual agreements shall remain unaffected.
A user is only entitled to set off and apply against our claims, such amounts owed by Taxfix arising from counterclaims that are undisputed or have been finally adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Should individual clauses of these Terms be or become invalid in whole or in part, these Terms shall otherwise remain valid. In the event of such invalidity, the invalid provision shall be replaced by the statutory provision.