Digital applications for the federal public administration
Simple, user-centered and open
Since the fall of 2020, we have been working with the federal public administration to create digital applications that focus on the needs of citizens, the economy, and society.
Taxes:
Property tax recalculation made easy
In 2018, the German Federal Constitutional Court decided that the rules governing the assessment of property tax were unconstitutional. Under a new regulation that has gone into effect, all land and property owners have to submit a declaration to determine the amount of their property tax in 2022. Together with the German Federal Ministry of Finance, we are developing an online service for private property owners so that the necessary information can be provided with minimal effort.
The "Grundsteuererklärung für Privateigentum (Property Tax Return for Private Property)" has been live since 4 July 2022.
More about the project
Go to the Online-Service
Code on GitHub
Law:
Making information on laws and regulations accessible for everyone
Laws, regulations, rulings: in our complex legal system, there is a real need to keep track of thousands and thousands of documents and texts. We are developing a legal information system that centrally manages all relevant information, making it fully accessible online for anyone interested in it on behalf of the documentation centers for the superior and supreme courts and the Federal Ministry of Justice. NeuRIS is part of the Federal Government's open data strategy.
Digital identities:
Secure and easy online identification
62 million Germans have the electronic ID card (nPA) with online ID function (eID) introduced in 2010. Despite widespread prevalence, the online ID function is still used less than in other countries. The aim of our project "Digital Identities" with the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community is to further develop the state digital identity into a popular and widespread solution and thus contribute to increasing the usage rates of online administration services.
Law:
Lowering barriers with a digital legal application office
Many courts in Germany have so-called legal application offices. There, citizens can physically file lawsuits or applications – for example, for legal aid – on site. Many citizens are unfamiliar with these legal application offices. There are not only visibility problems, but also access barriers. This is precisely where we come in with our project "Digital Legal Application Office". We want to create a (constitutional) state-run contact point for citizens on the Internet and make judicial services easily available digitally. The project is embedded in the German "Digital Strategy" and the "Pact for a Digital State under the Rule of Law".
Law:
Pleading civil claims online
Citizens seeking justice only consider going to court if the amount in dispute is just under 2,000 euros or more.Together with the Federal Ministry of Justice, we are testing whether an online civil court procedure has the potential to enable people to assert claims in a simple, user-friendly and low-threshold manner, particularly in the area of small claims. We hope that standardized formalities for filing online claims will shorten processing times and ultimately also strengthen trust in the rule of law and democracy. The project is embedded in the German "Digital Strategy" and the "Pact for a Digital State under the Rule of Law".
Preparation of legislation:
Digital-ready legislation as a prerequisite for a digital state
Closely embedded in the wide range of preliminary work done by the German government with regard to "better lawmaking (bessere Rechtsetzung)" are its efforts in this legislative period to improve the quality of legislation and to examine the possibility of executing laws digitally. A central element of this is the digital check (Digitalcheck) formulated in the "Digital Strategy". Its overarching goal is to create a basis for the comprehensive use of the potential of digital solutions through digital-ready legislation and to generate direct added value for citizens, organizations and, of course, the administration.
Taxes:
Filing a tax return in 20 minutes
Millions of senior citizens in this country have taxable income – which poses some major challenges for many of them. Together with the German Federal Ministry of Finance, we have developed an online tool that allows retirees and pensioners to file their tax returns intuitively and without any prior knowledge in the space of a few minutes. Steuerlotse (tax guide) was rolled out for public use for the first time for the 2020 fiscal year and is being updated on a continuous basis.
Health:
Better networked through the pandemic
Communication by fax, comparison by phone, no central data storage: COVID-19 has mercilessly exposed the still very analogue processes characterizing our health system in many places, pushing them to the limit. Together with the German Federal Ministry of Health, we have developed a collaboration platform that allows German health offices to network, share and exchange information digitally in a low-threshold manner. At the end of 2022, we handed over Agora to the Robert Koch Institute and Dataport as an IT service provider.
Testimonials
USER
'Fast. Uncomplicated. Free.' promises the website 'Grundsteuererklärung für Privateigentum (Property Tax Return for Private Property)' and that is exactly what is delivered. Fantastic.
USER, 80+
I am over 80 years old and have always found tax returns daunting. Fortunately, I found Steuerlotse and am very grateful that I did.