Tech Hiccup Hits Tax Offices Across Multiple States
Significant technical failure impedes operations within the financial sector - Significant technical disruption hits financial institutions' operations
Hey there! Looking like a few federal states are dealing with a pesky tech issue lately. Tax offices in Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Bremen, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, and Saxony-Anhalt have taken a hit due to an ongoing outage with a service provider. As per reports from the ministries in Kiel and Bremen, some crucial applications for electronic data processing have gone kaput in these offices.
The dreaded outage has left 120 tax offices across these states in the lurch, according to the State Tax Office in Lower Saxony. Although a cyberattack was initially suspected, it turns out the culprit is anetwork communication glitch, as confirmed by a spokesperson. As a result, access to tax procedure software has been disrupted, making it impossible to process current tax returns and objections.
No one seems to have a crystal ball to predict the duration of this digital drag, but for now, citizens can only get their hands on generic tax info from the ministries. In-depth answers to specific tax-related queries will have to wait. However, filing tax returns via Elster is still an option, though the outlook for how long this outage will last remains uncertain.
After some server restarts, partial functionality has been restored, as confirmed by the Lower Saxony state office spokesperson. The road to full recovery involves tracking down and replacing faulty hardware, with commissioning and testing planned as early as May 9th.
Key Points:
- The data processing outage started on May 7th, 2025, around 11:30 am local time, affecting tax offices in several federal states.
- A cyberattack can be considered highly unlikely as the issue lies within the network communication.
- Restarts of the servers led to the restoration of partial functions, but full recovery requires identifying and replacing faulty hardware.
- The expected maximum duration of the outage was from May 7 (11:30 am) to May 12th, 2025, with partial restoration occurring earlier.
- Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, and Saxony-Anhalt are the federal states affected by the outage.
Community aid may be needed to assist citizens in filing their tax returns as multiple states are facing a tech outage that has disrupted access to tax procedure software. Finance ministers in the affected states could seek research and development efforts to identify temporary solutions for the glitch in network communication, potentially using technology to create alternative platforms for processing tax returns. General-news outlets could provide regular updates on the progress in resolving the issue and estimated timeline for full recovery.
