Terms and Conditions

Preamble

Taxes should be understandable for everyone! That's why we at Steuerbot developed our web and mobile based app (together "Apps" and each an "App") - to help people do just that. The App allows users to understand, complete, and file their tax returns in a simple, fast, and user-friendly way.

The following terms and conditions (these "Terms") govern access to or use of the Apps and all content, products and services provided by Steuerbot GmbH, Welfenstraße 19, 70736 Fellbach, Germany ("Steuerbot", "we", "us", "our") through any of the Apps, or websites and applications operated by third-party collaborators (collectively, the "Services"), upon acceptance of these Terms.

Please read these Terms carefully. By accepting these Terms, you agree to be bound by them. If you do not wish to accept these Terms, you should stop downloading, installing or using the Apps and our Services and/or uninstall the Apps immediately.

Additional Terms may apply to certain additional Services, such as provisions for a particular event, activity or promotion, and such additional Terms will be communicated to you in connection with the applicable Services. Additional terms supplement these Terms and are considered part of these Terms.

§ 1 – Scope of Services

  1. The services include web and mobile applications and related services that enable users to prepare, record and submit their tax returns via the app.
  2. Using the app, each user enters certain relevant data required to prepare their tax return and submit it to the tax authorities. The user is asked to answer certain predetermined questions in the form of a chat and provide information including: _title, name, marital status, occupation, address, religious affiliation, occupation, employer, annual income tax statement or last income tax certificate, pension withdrawal certificates, second household, competent tax office, tax identification number, education and training, expenses for work equipment, job applications, professional associations, income from capital assets (if a bank receipt is available), insurance, health expenses, survivor's contributions, disabilities, caregivers, personal data of children living in the same household, parents or other persons, donations, church tax, household expenses, expenses from pension funds, permanent expenses, maintenance payments to third parties and losses carried forward, if applicable. _ He will also be asked to enter his bank details ("Bank Details") so that the tax office can transfer the refund amount or collect any amount owed, if applicable. The app uses the data entered by the user to calculate the user's tax burden and refund amount (if any).
  3. After calculating a user's tax burden and refund amount, the user may enter into a Service Agreement (as defined and further described in § 2) with us and use it to prepare his tax return for submission via ELSTER, the digital portal of the German tax authorities, using our Service. Please note that the preparation of the tax return is done outside the app, but using the data collected from the user in the app. When a user clicks on "Submit digitally" in the app, he authorizes, empowers and instructs Steuerbot to electronically submit his income tax return to the tax authorities via ELSTER.
  4. After a user has entered into a Service Agreement (as defined and further described in § 2) by choosing to submit his tax return to the tax authorities via the App, we will verify the identity of the user and his entered data in accordance with our legal obligations and for the user's own security.
  5. Upon completion and submission of a user's tax return, a copy of the submitted tax return will be made available to the user for download from the App. We will send an email to the user confirming this submission.
  6. Please note that the app calculates a user's tax burden based on the user's input and current tax legislation. In this way, the app can determine an expected refund or additional tax amount owed, which, for clarification, is a non-binding calculation. This value may differ from the actual refund or additional tax amount owed, as these values are ultimately determined by the relevant tax office. Our apps are programmed to calculate these values as accurately as possible. However, we do not warrant or guarantee that the tax burden, refund or additional payment calculated by the app is accurate. However, if there are any discrepancies with the final assessment by the tax authorities, we encourage our users to contact us at support@steuerbot.com and let us know so that we can improve our services.
  7. By submitting the tax return electronically, the user agrees to the assessment data retransmission to Steuerbot. This means that after the tax office has processed the user's tax return, the user's tax return data will be sent to Steuerbot in digital form at the same time as the tax notice is sent. The tax assessment data will be used by us to improve the calculation of the tax burden and the amount of refund.
  8. Please note that, notwithstanding anything in these Terms, none of the Services involve or constitute tax advisory or consulting services, nor does Steuerbot claim to provide them. The App is programmed and designed to operate fully automatically without human intervention, with the understanding that the App provides users with the ability and flexibility to manually correct input errors before the tax return is finally submitted to the tax authorities. As such, the services do not constitute services subject to authorization under the German Tax Advisory Act (StBerG) or Legal Services Act (RDG). If you have specific tax or legal questions, we recommend that you seek advice from a tax or legal advisor.
  9. Internet connection is required to use the app and other services, and additional costs or fees may apply. Each User is solely responsible for any such additional costs or fees and for the terms of any separate agreement with respect to its mobile devices and service providers.

§ 2 – Formation of Service Agreement

  1. You use our services by downloading, accessing, or using the app. After you have gone through the question flow in the App to calculate your tax return or the amount owed, you can choose to have Steuerbot submit your tax return to the tax authorities on your behalf.
  2. Should either (i) the calculated tax refund amount be higher than €100.00 or (ii) should you be required to submit, we will charge a one-time submission fee (the "Fee") including VAT. By clicking on "Pay now [...]" you (i) accept our offer to enter into a service agreement (a "Service Agreement") for the submission of your tax return subject to these Terms and Conditions and (ii) authorize us to execute a direct debit in the amount of the Fee owed by you using the bank details you have provided. 3. (3) Upon completion of the Service Agreement, you will automatically receive an invoice from Steuerbot via email for the fee.
  3. Please note that you have to ensure that the account is covered. Any costs incurred due to non-payment or chargeback of the direct debit will be borne by you, as long as the non-payment or chargeback was not caused by Steuerbot.
  4. In the event (i) your tax refund is calculated by the app to be €100.00 or less and (ii) you are not required to submit, we will not charge a transmission fee. By clicking "Accept Terms " you accept our offer to enter into the relevant unpaid service contract subject to these Terms.
  5. Your service contract is with Steuerbot.
  6. Your contract with us for your use of and access to the apps in accordance with these terms and conditions is formed by your acceptance of these terms and conditions.
  7. Your contract with us is stored by us and you have access to these terms in the app. These Terms are only available to you in the German language.

§ 3 – Deals

  1. Steuerbot provides users with access to its own deal section.
  2. in the deal section Steuerbot presents products and services of Steuerbot partners.

§ 4 – Intellectual Property

  1. All content (including logos, images, videos, graphics and text) associated with the services and published through the app are specifically protected as trademarks or copyrighted and are the exclusive property of Steuerbot in relation to us. You may not imitate, modify, use, reproduce, distribute, modify, or otherwise exploit such content, whether for personal or commercial purposes, without the prior written consent of Steuerbot. This is without prejudice to the provisions of the law.
  2. Subject to your compliance with these Terms and any applicable payment obligations, Steuerbot grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, revocable, non-transferable license to: (i) access and use the App through your personal device solely for use of the Services; and (ii) all content, information and related materials made available through the Services, in each case solely for your personal and non-commercial use. This license grant applies to all updates, upgrades and new versions of the App. Steuerbot reserves the right to change any information in the App, including, but not limited to, revising and/or deleting any feature or other information without prior notice. All rights, title and interest not expressly granted herein are reserved to us and our licensors.
  3. You may not, and will not, modify, alter, adapt, reproduce, distribute, sublicense, reverse engineer, disassemble, create derivative works from, decompile, modify or otherwise exploit the source code of the app unless expressly authorized by us in writing. You may not commercially exploit any of the information provided in the App or use the App for the benefit of any other entity unless expressly authorized by us in writing in advance. Steuerbot reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse service or terminate accounts if we believe a user's conduct violates applicable law, these Terms, or our interests.
  4. We do not claim ownership of the content you provide, upload, transmit or send to us ("user content"). You represent that you are the copyright owner or owner of the rights to use all User Content provided to us. If you provide User Content to us (and the parties with whom we work), you grant us (and the parties with whom we work) a non-exclusive, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable, worldwide license to use such User Content and related intellectual property and publicity rights to assist us in providing, improving and promoting the Services and to develop new ones. You further agree that, to the extent any User Content depicts persons within the meaning of the German Art Copyright Act (KUG) who cannot be considered 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 its use by us. If any of the persons depicted are deemed to be minors, you represent that the legal guardians of such persons have given their consent to the foregoing.

§ 5 – Data Privacy

You can view our privacy policy here: steuerbot.com/privacy/

§ 6 – Duties and Obligations of Users

  1. You agree that all information you provide to us is true, accurate, current and complete, and you agree to promptly submit all files and data related to your tax return and the Services as requested.
  2. You agree to review the draft of your tax return, which is automatically generated based on your input, for accuracy and completeness prior to transmitting it to the IRS.
  3. In case of "mailing" (§ 1.4.1) you ensure to submit the signed tax return to the responsible tax office as soon as possible after the electronic data transmission in order to avoid missing the deadline. Your tax return cannot be processed at the tax office without the printed and signed original tax return with a telephone number.
  4. In case of "faxing" (§ 1.4.2) you hereby confirm that the signature on the screen is your legally binding, handwritten name signature. You agree to assist us in the performance of our contractual obligations and undertake to provide us with supplementary information upon request. 6.
  5. You agree to notify us immediately in writing of any changes or updates to your address, telephone and email address.
  6. You agree not to use any computer code, data mining software, robots, bots, scripts, scrapers, or other similar automated or manual methods to gain access to any web pages, data or content (including User Content) or other services located on or accessible through the App. You agree not to use such processes to test or monitor the vulnerability of the Services or for any other purpose. You further agree not to violate any authentication mechanisms or other applications required for the functionality of the App. You may not use viruses, spyware, or other malicious code, software, or mechanisms that could interfere with the functionality of the App.
  7. You agree not to tamper with or use our corporate identity, whether through logos, headers, emails or otherwise, to disguise or in any way alter the origin or content of messages sent in connection with the services.
  8. You agree not to violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation in connection with your use of the app and our services.
  9. You agree to cooperate with any action required to authenticate and confirm your identity or any information you provide to us.
  10. You agree not to act in any way that defames, threatens, or harasses our employees, agents, or representatives.

§ 7 – Liability and Warranty

  1. Steuerbot is liable without limitation (i) in case of intent or gross negligence, (ii) for injury to life, body or health, (iii) according to the provisions of the Product Liability Act as well as (iv) to the extent of a guarantee assumed by Steuerbot. In case of material or financial damages caused by slight negligence by Steuerbot, Steuerbot is only liable for damages resulting from the violation of essential contractual obligations, but limited to the damages foreseeable and typical for the contract at the time of the conclusion of the contract. Essential contractual obligations are those whose fulfillment enables the proper execution of the contract itself and on which you as a user may regularly rely.
  2. As far as Steuerbot provides services without payment, Steuerbot is only liable according to paragraph 1; paragraph 2 is not applicable.
  3. A further liability of Steuerbot is excluded.
  4. The parties agree that the foreseeable and contract-typical damage in the sense of the above § 7.2 is at most the contract value of one year.
  5. The above limitations of liability also apply to the personal liability of Steuerbot's employees, representatives, organs and vicarious agents. You agree to indemnify and hold Steuerbot, its officers, employees and their respective agents harmless from and against any and all losses, liabilities, claims and damages of any kind arising out of or in connection with (i) any culpable breach by you of these Terms or any legal obligation in connection therewith, or (ii) your culpable infringement of the rights of any third party. Steuerbot will promptly notify you in writing in the event of any such claim.

§ 8 – Right of Withdrawal of the Service Agreement

  1. As a "consumer" within the meaning of § 13 BGB (any natural person who enters into a legal transaction for a purpose that is predominantly outside his or her trade, business or profession), you have a right of withdrawal in accordance with the following provisions.

    Information on Your Right of Withdrawal

    Right of Withdrawal

    You have the right to cancel this contract within 14 days without giving any reason. The withdrawal period is 14 days from the day of the conclusion of the contract.

    To exercise your right of withdrawal, you must send us

    Steuerbot GmbH
    Welfenstraße 19
    70736 Fellbach
    widerruf@steuerbot.com
    Telefon: +49 711 30553044

    by means of a clear declaration (e.g. a letter sent by mail, fax or e-mail) about your decision to revoke this contract. You can use the attached model withdrawal form, which is not mandatory.

    To comply with the withdrawal period, it is sufficient that you send the notification of the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the expiry of the withdrawal period.

    Effects of Withdrawal

    If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse you all payments we have received from you, including the delivery costs (with the exception of the additional costs resulting from the fact that you have chosen a type of delivery other than the cheapest standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and at the latest within fourteen days from the day on which we received the notification of your cancellation of this contract. For this repayment, we will use the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise with you; in no case will you be charged for this repayment.

    If you have requested that the services begin during the withdrawal period, you must pay us a reasonable amount that corresponds to the proportion of the services already provided by the time you notify us of the exercise of the right of withdrawal with regard to this contract, compared to the total scope of the services provided for in the contract.

    Model Withdrawal Form

    (If you wish to cancel the contract, please fill in and return this form).

    • To Steuerbot GmbH Welfenstrasse 19 70736 Fellbach E-Mail: widerruf@steuerbot.com
    • I/we (*) hereby revoke the contract concluded by me/us (*) for the provision of the following service (*)
    • Ordered on (*)/received on (*)
    • Name of the consumer(s)
    • Address of the consumer(s)
    • Signature of the consumer(s) (only in case of paper communication)
    • date

    (*) Delete as applicable.

  2. The right of withdrawal expires according to § 356 Abs. 4 BGB (German Civil Code) even if Steuerbot has completely performed the service and has started to perform the service only after you have given your explicit consent and at the same time confirmed your knowledge that you lose your right of withdrawal upon complete performance of the contract by Steuerbot.

§ 9 – Duration and Termination of the Service Agreement

  1. The service contract between you and Steuerbot expires when Steuerbot provides the full service. Furthermore, Steuerbot reserves the right to terminate your service contract in writing if you negligently violate the obligations mentioned in § 6. In this respect, Steuerbot and you are entitled to terminate these Terms of Service at any time with a notice period of ten business days. Service contracts that have not yet been fulfilled will not be affected by this.
  2. All other provisions in these Terms of Service apply indefinitely to your use of and access to the Apps.

§ 10 – Dispute Resolution

  1. In accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 524/2013, the European Commission operates a web-based platform for resolving online disputes (available at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr). However, participation in such online dispute resolution is voluntary; we prefer to resolve any issues directly with our users and do not participate in this process. In the event of a dispute, we ask our users to contact us directly at hello@steuerbot.com.
  2. Steuerbot is not obligated and does not undertake to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer dispute resolution body (§ 36 of the Consumer Protection Act (VSBG)).
  3. In case of a dispute between Steuerbot and a user who is a consumer about a contract to which these terms and conditions apply, Steuerbot will inform the user by email about a body responsible for dispute resolution (including its address and website) and provide a statement about its obligation or willingness to participate in such dispute resolution proceedings.

§ 11 – Miscellaneous Provisions

  1. Steuerbot may amend these Terms, any terms or supplemental terms relating to the Services (collectively, the "Terms") from time to time. Such amended Terms will apply to any new contract you enter into with us.
  2. Insofar as we wish to change some or all of the provisions for a current contract with effect for the future, the following shall apply:
    1. Subject to paragraphs b) and c): In the event of a material change to these Terms, Conditions or Supplemental Terms that materially affects your rights under these Terms, we will notify you at least 30 days before the effective date of the changes. If you do not object within that period, or if you continue to access or use the Services after the applicable notice period, you will be deemed to have agreed to be bound by the Terms as amended. In our notice to you, we will inform you about your right to terminate, the deadline and the consequences of your silence.
    2. Paragraph a) does not apply to changes in the subject matter of the contract or to a change in essential contractual obligations that would lead to a change in the contract structure as a whole. In this case, we may offer to continue our contract with you under the then amended provisions.
    3. We also reserve the right to adjust or change these regulations with effect for the future, insofar as (i) the changes or adjustments are only beneficial to users, or (ii) the changes or adjustments are necessary to establish compliance with applicable law, in particular also if the applicable legal situation changes, or in order to comply with a court ruling or an official decision; (iii) if the changes or adjustments do not materially affect the functionality of the Services or are of a purely technical or organizational nature; or (iv) we introduce new services or benefits that require description in the Regulations, unless doing so would be detrimental to the ongoing contractual relationship (in the latter case, the preceding paragraph b) applies).
  3. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively, to the exclusion 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 habitual residence in another country, this clause does not prevent the application of those mandatory provisions of the law of the place of his habitual residence, which would be applicable without this clause, in accordance with Article 6 (2) of Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008. (4) Any terms and conditions applicable to a User's access to and use of the App and the other Services that differ from those contained herein shall be valid only if expressly agreed in writing; overriding individual agreements shall remain unaffected.
  4. A user is only entitled to set-off and assert our claims, which Steuerbot is entitled to from undisputed or legally established counterclaims. Should individual clauses of these terms and conditions be or become ineffective in whole or in part, these terms and conditions shall remain effective in all other respects. In the event of such invalidity, the invalid provision shall be replaced by the legal provision.