Understand any German letter. And know exactly what to do.
Scan it. BescheidBuddy tells you what it means, the deadline that legally applies to you, which objection to file and where, and drafts the letter. In your language, in under a minute. Your document is never stored.
- 13 languages, incl. RTL
- EU servers
- Deleted after reading
- No account to scan
Income tax assessment
26 days left
until Thursday 8 October
Do this
- 1Compare the figures with your tax return and your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung.
- 2Pay 1,284.00 EUR by 12 October 2026 using the Steuernummer as reference, or request Aussetzung der Vollziehung if you object.
- 3File an Einspruch via ELSTER before the deadline shown above if anything looks wrong. A reason can follow later.
If you do nothing
If you do not pay by the due date, a late-payment surcharge of 1 % per month is added (§ 240 AO). If you do not object within the deadline shown above, the assessment becomes final and can only be changed in narrow cases.
When you need a person
If the figures differ from your own records by more than a small amount, or if you have foreign income, a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein or a tax advisor should look at it before the objection deadline.
Not a translation. A full answer.
Other letter apps stop at what the words mean. BescheidBuddy tells you what they mean for you and what to do about it.
Explained in your language
What the letter is, what they want and what happens if you ignore it. 13 languages including Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Ukrainian, right-to-left included.
The deadline that legally applies
Calculated from the 2025 delivery rules, your state's holidays and the document type, with every step shown.
The right response
Einspruch, Widerspruch, court or a simple reply: which one, where to send it, and whether it pauses payment.
Ready-to-send templates
Formal German letters with your reference numbers filled in. Objection, extension, dispute, cancellation.
Contract check
Rental, employment, insurance and gym contracts checked clause by clause against the legal limits.
Who can help for free
Tenants' association, migration counselling, consumer centre or a lawyer's capped first consultation.
Every letter you are not sure about.
These
Official decisions and demands. Ignoring one of these has legal consequences.
Income tax assessment
The tax office has calculated your tax. You either owe money or get some back.
Advance tax payment notice
Four tax payments a year, set in advance. You can ask for a lower amount if you earn less.
Request to file a tax return
The tax office is asking for your tax return. Not sending it costs extra money.
Tax office payment reminder or enforcement notice
You still owe the tax office money. The next step is enforcement.
Jobcenter / Agentur für Arbeit decision
A decision about your benefits: approved, refused, reduced, or to be paid back.
Immigration office letter
Anything about your residence permit. Open this one on the day it arrives.
Broadcasting fee (Rundfunkbeitrag)
The broadcasting fee. You pay it per apartment, even without a television.
Residence registration (Anmeldung)
Registering your address. You need this before a bank account, insurance or a tax ID.
Official decisions and demands. Ignoring one of these has legal consequences.
Income tax assessment
The tax office has calculated your tax. You either owe money or get some back.
Advance tax payment notice
Four tax payments a year, set in advance. You can ask for a lower amount if you earn less.
Request to file a tax return
The tax office is asking for your tax return. Not sending it costs extra money.
Tax office payment reminder or enforcement notice
You still owe the tax office money. The next step is enforcement.
Jobcenter / Agentur für Arbeit decision
A decision about your benefits: approved, refused, reduced, or to be paid back.
Immigration office letter
Anything about your residence permit. Open this one on the day it arrives.
Broadcasting fee (Rundfunkbeitrag)
The broadcasting fee. You pay it per apartment, even without a television.
Residence registration (Anmeldung)
Registering your address. You need this before a bank account, insurance or a tax ID.
Your letter is not in this list?
Scan it anyway. You see what the letter is before you pay anything, and if it is not one of these 17 types, the explanation is free.
Other letter apps translate. BescheidBuddy tells you what to do.
Every app in this category reads your letter with AI and summarises it. Here is what only BescheidBuddy adds, and why it matters.
| What you get | Typical letter app | BescheidBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Plain-language summary of the letter | ||
| Reply drafted in German | ||
| Your language, incl. Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Ukrainian | ||
| Deadline calculated by the legal delivery rules, not read off the letter | – | |
| Weekend and state holiday shifts applied | – | |
| Which remedy: Einspruch, Widerspruch or court, and where to send it | – | |
| Whether the objection pauses payment | – | |
| Legal basis shown for every step | – | |
| Rental, employment and insurance contracts checked clause by clause | – | |
| Who helps for free: tenants' association, migration counselling, capped lawyer fee | – | |
| Preview before you pay; uncovered letters free | – | |
| No ads, no account, deleted after reading |
Under a minute from envelope to answer
Photograph the letter
All pages, or a PDF. You choose your state so holidays are counted right.
See what arrived before you pay
Document type, sender and date. If the type is not covered, the reading is free.
Get the full answer
Meaning, deadline, response, template and the people who can help. Save it or let it delete itself.
Why the deadline in the app can differ from the letter
A posted notice counts as delivered on the fourth day after posting, not the day you open it. That rule changed on 1 January 2025.
If the deadline ends on a weekend or a public holiday, it moves to the next working day. Holidays differ by state, and it is the authority's state that counts.
Notice periods in contracts do not move. A cancellation that must arrive by the 31st has to arrive by the 31st, even if it is a Sunday.
Your letters are not our data
Official mail is the most personal paper you own. BescheidBuddy is built so it never piles up anywhere.
- The photo is deleted the moment the text has been read.
- Nothing is stored unless you choose to store it, and you set how long.
- Processing happens on servers in the EU.
- No advertising cookies, no third-party analytics.
Other apps keep your letters. We cannot.
Most document apps store what you upload, on servers you cannot see, for as long as their terms allow. We built this the other way round: there is nothing to leak, because there is nothing kept.
The photo never survives the reading
It is deleted the moment the text has been extracted. Not after a day, not after a retention period. Immediately.
Your letters never train an AI
Our EU processor is contractually barred from using what we send for model training. Nothing you upload improves any AI, ours or anyone else's.
Storing is your decision, not our default
Nothing is kept unless you tick the box, and you choose 7 days, 30 days or a year. One tap removes it earlier.
No account means nothing to link it to
For single letters we never learn who you are. There is no profile, no history, no email address, nothing to connect a document to a person.
Nobody here reads your documents
There is no support inbox with your letter attached and no manual review step. Processing is automated end to end.
It never leaves the EU
Text recognition and explanation run on EU endpoints, under contracts that forbid training on your data.
Questions people ask before uploading
Do you store my letter?
No. The photo is deleted as soon as the text has been read. The text and result are only kept if you actively choose to save them, and you set how long. Nothing is stored by default, and no human at BescheidBuddy reads your documents.
Do I need an account?
Not for single letters or contracts. You upload, see what the document is, pay and get the result. An email address is only needed for a monthly subscription, so it works across your devices and so you can identify yourself to cancel.
Where is my data processed?
On servers in the European Union. Text recognition and the explanation run on EU endpoints under contracts that exclude training on your data. Your documents never leave the EU.
How is the deadline calculated?
Not by AI. Fixed rules in the program code apply the statutory delivery rules (§ 122 AO, § 41 VwVfG), the four-day delivery assumption, weekends and the public holidays of your state. Every step is shown so you can check it.
Is this legal advice?
No. We explain documents and the general rules that apply to a document type, and we calculate deadlines. We do not assess your individual case, do not judge your chances and do not write case-specific reasoning. For that you need a lawyer or one of the free advice centres we point you to.
Which letters does it cover?
17 document types in full, including Steuerbescheid, Bußgeldbescheid, Mahnbescheid, Kündigung, letters from Jobcenter, Krankenkasse and Ausländerbehörde, plus rental, employment and insurance contracts. Other letters are explained too, and those explanations are free.
What does it cost?
2 USD for one letter, 6 USD for a contract check, 12 USD a month for 10 letters and unlimited contracts. You see the price before anything is charged, and if the document type is not covered the reading is free.
Pay per letter or go monthly
One contract
6 USD
Rental, employment, insurance or subscription contract, checked clause by clause.
Scan a letterMonthly
12 USD
10 letters and all contracts. Needs an email address so the subscription follows you across devices. Cancel in two clicks, any time.
Start monthly