Got a letter from Finanzamt Hannover-Nord? Here is what it means

Why does Hannover-Nord write to you?

Hannover-Nord is your VAT office. As a rule, Germany has one central tax office for VAT per foreign country; for businesses based in the United Kingdom, that is Finanzamt Hannover-Nord (§ 1 UStZustV). It handles your registration, your German tax number and all VAT matters afterwards.

Which letters are the most common?

• Mitteilung über die Erteilung einer Steuernummer

  Your German tax number

  Confirms your registration. Keep the tax number (Steuernummer) safe. It belongs on every return and every letter you send to the office.

• Erinnerung · Aufforderung zur Abgabe der Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung

  Reminder: a VAT return is missing

  The office has not received a return for a period. File it before the deadline in the letter, otherwise surcharges or an estimate may follow.

• Festsetzung eines Verspätungszuschlags

  Late filing surcharge

  A charge because a return came late (§ 152 AO). The letter states the amount and the payment date.

• Bescheid … (Schätzung)

  Estimated tax assessment

  If returns are missing, the office may estimate your tax (§ 162 AO). Estimates are often high. This is how sellers end up with bills they did not expect. You can object within one month.

• Benennung eines Empfangsbevollmächtigten

  Request to name an authorised recipient

  The office asks you to name a person or company in Germany who receives letters for you (§ 123 AO). Marketplace sellers based outside the EU and the EEA, including the UK, must do this anyway with their VAT registration (§ 22f (1) sentence 2 UStG).

• Rückfragen · Anforderung von Unterlagen

  Questions or requests for documents

  For example contracts, invoices or proof of your business. Reply in time; if you need longer, ask for an extension before the deadline ends.

Which deadlines matter?

• Objection (Einspruch): within one month after the assessment is notified (Bekanntgabe, § 355 (1) AO).
• Delivery abroad: If you have not named an authorised recipient after being asked, a letter posted to you counts as delivered one month after it was sent, unless it is established that it arrived later or not at all (§ 123 AO).
• Deadlines in the letter: Many letters set their own date („bis zum …“). That date counts.

Is the letter genuine?

Many sellers first suspect a scam. Real letters from Hannover-Nord:

• come by post or through the official ELSTER portal, not as an email with a payment link,
• show your German tax number (Steuernummer) and the name Finanzamt Hannover-Nord,
• ask for payment to an account of the tax office's own collection office (Finanzkasse), never to a private person.

If in doubt, call the tax office using the number from its official website, not the number in the letter.

How do you contact Finanzamt Hannover-Nord?

The official page of Finanzamt Hannover-Nord (Lower Saxony tax authority, linked under Sources) lists, as of 24 October 2026:

• Address: Vahrenwalder Straße 206, 30165 Hannover; PO box (Postfach) 1 67, 30001 Hannover.
• Phone: (0511) 6790-0, from abroad +49 511 6790-0. Switchboard: Monday to Thursday 8:00 to 16:00, Friday 8:00 to 12:00, German time.
• Online: for tax questions, the ELSTER contact form or Mein ELSTER. The e-mail address on the page is listed for non-tax matters.
• Visits: opening hours and appointment booking are on the official page; check the current times there.

Lower Saxony's tax authority accepts simple letters and even objections by e-mail, at your own risk of delivery. It names one limit clearly:

• Tax returns: through ELSTER, not by e-mail. A return follows the official form or, where required or allowed, the official electronic data record (§ 150 (1) AO); for VAT the electronic record is required (§ 18 UStG).
• Objection (_Einspruch_): in writing or electronically (§ 357 (1) AO), for example by letter or with the objection form in Mein ELSTER.
• Plain e-mail: fine for simple questions. Where the law requires written form, a plain e-mail does not replace it; that needs a qualified electronic signature or an electronic form of the tax authority such as ELSTER (§ 87a (3) AO).

More on e-mail, ELSTER and your tax number: Contacting the tax office: e-mail, ELSTER, tax number.

Common questions