The use of Company audit is the common term in a tax context for a external audit by the tax administration. In the process, the tax-relevant circumstances, records and documents of a taxpayer are examined.
What is a Tax audit?
During a tax audit Tax audit, the tax authorities review certain tax-relevant facts of a company or taxpayer.
The German Fiscal Code uses the term for this external audit. The Tax audit is therefore not a separate type of audit alongside the external audit, but rather its common designation in everyday business life.
What can be checked during a Tax audit?
A tax audit can relate to one or more types of tax, specific assessment periods, or individual tax-relevant facts.
Which areas are actually subject to the audit depends on the respectively defined scope of the audit.
What is the meaning of the Bookkeeping?
Books, records, vouchers and other tax-relevant documents can form an essential basis for a Tax audit. The crucial point is that business transactions and the underlying records are documented in a traceable manner.
In this context, particularly the GoBD, statutory Retention periods and the digital archiving matter.
Digital data at a Tax audit
If documents subject to a retention period are maintained using a data processing system, the tax administration may also access the corresponding electronic data during a tax audit under the statutory conditions.
The specific form of data access depends on the regulations of German Fiscal Code and the respective audit case.
Tax audit and Social security audit – what is the difference?
The tax treatment of Tax audit by the tax authorities is determined by the Social Security Inspection to distinguish.
While the external tax audit concentrates on tax-relevant circumstances, the Social security audit particularly concerns the proper treatment of social security contributions and thus a different audit area.
