Hamburg Leads National Ranking for Fastest Tax Return Processing in 2024

A new analysis reveals significant regional disparities in processing times, with Hamburg at the top and Bremen lagging behind.

Hamburg's average tax return processing time in 2024 was 45.5 days, the fastest among all German states, improving from second place the previous year.
Bremen recorded the slowest average processing time at 79.7 days, with Brandenburg and Saarland also among the slowest-performing states.
The national average for processing tax returns in 2024 was 50.8 days, six days faster than the previous year, attributed to reduced workloads from property tax declarations.
The fastest individual tax office in Germany was Bensheim in Hesse, processing returns in just 23.8 days on average, while Wiesbaden had the slowest at 113.3 days.
Regional disparities persist within states, with notable differences between tax offices in cities like Berlin, Brandenburg, and Saxony.