DATEV Meine Steuern: Creating and deleting tax years
How to create a new tax year in DATEV Meine Steuern, move documents to a different year and delete tax years that are no longer required.
Introduction
DATEV Meine Steuern is the online portal through which you provide us with documents and data for your income tax return. All documents are organised there by tax year: each year has its own tile on the home page and its own folder structure.
You can create tax years yourself or we can do it for you – both options are available. Deletion can also be carried out by either party, provided the necessary permissions have been granted.
First, a few clarifications, as there are often misunderstandings on this topic: you do not need to wait for us to create a new tax year for you – you can do this yourself at any time via the home page. You do not need to delete and re-upload incorrectly assigned documents; the tax year of a document can be changed retrospectively.
Deleting a tax year also permanently removes all documents it contains; there is no ‘recycle bin’. And if you do not see the ‘Delete’ function, this is not due to a technical error, but to a permissions setting which we can adjust for you.
How tax years are organised
After logging in at apps.datev.de/mytax – or via the MyDATEV client portal – you’ll see the home page with one tile for each tax year. Each tile shows the number of documents already uploaded, so you can see the status of a tax year at a glance.
You can find previous years in the ‘Older Tax Years’ section. This keeps the home page clear and organised, even as several years’ worth of data accumulate over time.
Within a tax year, main and sub-folders organise the documents by category, such as employment, letting or extraordinary expenses. We manage the sub-folder structure as a practice – if you need an additional category, please get in touch.
Create a new tax year
Word-for-word transcript
To create a new tax year in DATEV Meine Steuern, first log in to DATEV Meine Steuern as usual.
You will then see the option to create a new tax year in the top right-hand corner of the DATEV Meine Steuern homepage. A pop-up window will open, where you can select which tax year you wish to create. Let’s take two thousand and twenty-six as an example here, and you can now also decide whether or not you want to carry over the folder structure from a previous tax year. In other words, if we tick the box here, the folder structure from the year two thousand and twenty-five would be copied over. However, we also have the option to select a different year. In that case, we’ll deselect this box and create the tax year from scratch. We’re now back in the familiar overview for DATEV Meine Steuern, and you can start uploading documents.
You create a new tax year as soon as you wish to start collecting the first documents for it. The process takes less than a minute:
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Log in to DATEV Meine Steuern
Open apps.datev.de/mytax and log in using your access credentials, usually via DATEV SmartLogin.
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On the home page, click on ‘Create new tax year’
You’ll find the button right next to the tax year tiles.
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Select the desired year
The new tax year will then appear as a separate tile on the home page.
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Decide whether you wish to carry over the folder structure from another year.
When creating a new tax year, the folder structure from the previous year can be copied if desired: all main and subfolders from the last tax year will be available in the new year straight away. This means your usual organisation remains the same from year to year, without you having to set anything up.
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Click ‘Create’ to set up the tax year and upload your documents
Click ‘Upload document’ or simply drag and drop them into the relevant folder.
You can create the new tax year during the current year and upload documents as soon as you receive them. This largely eliminates the need to gather documents together at the end of the year.
Moving documents to a different tax year
Word-for-word transcript
You have the option to move documents from one tax year to another. To do this, we open the relevant tax year and select the relevant documents. Let’s take the income tax certificate as an example. We can already see that this is a printout for twenty-six, meaning it belongs in the year twenty-six and was accidentally uploaded here in two thousand and twenty-four. We then click on the three dots and select ‘Move’. We now have the option to ‘Move selection to’, select the tax year, choose tax year 2026, select ‘Employees’ and then click ‘Move’.
If we now go back to the year 2026, we can see that this document has already been filed there and has also been moved to the ‘Employees’ folder.
Occasionally, a document ends up in the wrong year – for example, an invoice from December that was uploaded in January. In this case, move the document rather than deleting it and uploading it again.
Select the document and choose ‘Move’ under ‘Actions’. In the dialogue box, specify the target tax year and the target folder; the number of documents per folder is also displayed.
You can move several documents in a single operation: in the ‘Tax-relevant documents’ view, you can see all documents for a tax year, regardless of the folder. There, select several documents and choose ‘Move’ under ‘Actions’ – this allows you to rectify even a large number of misclassifications in just a few clicks.
Deleting a tax year
Word-for-word transcript
In DATEV meine Steuern, you also have the option to delete tax years. Please note, however, that deletion is only possible if the tax year no longer contains any documents. In other words, let’s say we’re looking at the year 2026 and there’s a document in it. If we were to try to delete it now, we’d immediately see a pop-up stating ‘Cannot delete tax year’.
The tax year contains documents; tax years with documents cannot be deleted. This means we first need to open the tax year and then either delete the relevant document or move it to another tax year. You can, of course, download it again beforehand. Let’s delete it here now.
Once we’ve done that, we can go back to the overview here and click on the three dots to select ‘Actions’ and then ‘Delete’. We’ll then be asked again whether we really want to delete the tax year, and we’ll confirm this by clicking ‘Delete’. The tax year will then no longer appear in the overview and will have been deleted.
Deleting a tax year is mainly necessary if a year has been created by mistake or duplicated.
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Check the contents of the tax year
Tax years can only be deleted if they do not contain any documents. If there is anything you wish to keep, download it beforehand via ‘Actions’ > ‘Download’ or move it to another tax year.
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Open the tax year menu
On the home screen, you’ll find a menu with further options (three dots) next to the tax year tile.
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Select ‘Delete’ and confirm the security prompt
The tax year will only be removed once you have confirmed.
Deletion is permanent. There is no ‘Recycle Bin’ in DATEV Meine Steuern – deleted tax years and documents cannot be recovered.
The ‘Delete documents’ permission
In order for you to be able to delete documents, the ‘Delete documents’ permission must be enabled for your access medium in DATEV Online Permissions Management. We, as your practice, carry out this activation.
If this action is not displayed to you or if a message appears indicating a lack of authorisation, this is not a fault.
Locked documents with a padlock icon
Documents marked with a padlock icon have already been processed by us, for example, for inclusion in your tax return. You can no longer make any changes to these documents – you cannot move or delete them.
This lock ensures that it remains clear which documents have been included in the return and that nothing is lost that is still required for processing.
Common sources of error
- Tax year with content: Tax years containing content cannot be deleted. Please delete the documents first or move them to a different tax year.
- Deleting instead of moving: An incorrectly assigned document is deleted and re-uploaded. Moving it to the correct tax year achieves the same result in a single step and without the risk of the document being lost in the process.
- Waiting for the practice: Documents are held back because the new tax year is not yet visible. You can create the year yourself and upload them straight away – the documents will then reach us sooner.
- Lack of deletion rights mistaken for a fault: The ‘Delete’ option is missing from the menu, and users assume there is a programme error. In fact, the permission has not been granted in the permissions management system – a quick note to us is all it takes.
- Attempting to edit locked documents: Changes to documents marked with a padlock icon fail. These documents are already being processed or have been included in the tax return; any requests for changes must be channelled through us.
- Failure to back up before deleting: A tax year is deleted without first downloading the required documents. As there is no ‘Recycle Bin’, the files can no longer be retrieved afterwards.
Division of responsibilities
Your tasks
- Create new tax years as required
- Upload documents and move incorrectly assigned documents
- Check whether documents are still needed before deleting them
Our tasks
- Activate permissions in the DATEV online permissions management system
- Edit receipts and transfer them to the tax return
This breakdown is the standard framework – if you’d like to handle more or less of it yourself, we’ll adjust it together.
Frequently asked questions
Can I set up a new tax year myself, or does the firm do that?
Both are possible. You can create a new tax year using the ‘Create new tax year’ button on the home page; alternatively, we can set it up for you. You don’t have to wait for us to upload your documents.
What happens to the folders when I create a new tax year?
The main and sub-folders from the previous year will be carried over if you wish. This means your usual organisation will be available straight away in the new year.
Can I restore a deleted tax year?
No. DATEV Meine Steuern does not have a recycle bin – deleted tax years and documents are permanently removed. You should therefore download any documents you need before deleting them.
I’ve uploaded a document to the wrong tax year – do I have to delete it?
No. Simply select the document and move it to the correct tax year and folder via Actions > Move. There’s no need to delete and re-upload it.
Can I move or delete several documents at once?
Yes. In the ‘Tax-relevant documents’ view, select multiple documents and carry out the action on them all at once.
Why isn’t the ‘Delete’ option visible to me?
This means that the ‘Delete documents’ permission has not been enabled for your access medium in the DATEV online permissions management system. Only we, as your accountancy firm, can enable this – please get in touch with us briefly.
What does the padlock icon on a document mean?
The document has already been processed by us, for example for your tax return. You cannot change, move or delete it. If any adjustments need to be made to such a document, we will take care of this after consultation.
Legal notice
This article provides an overview and is not a substitute for individual advice. The range of functions and menu navigation in DATEV Meine Steuern may change as a result of updates; the current version of the programme is always the authoritative one.
If you have specific questions about deleting documents, your access rights or file storage in DATEV Meine Steuern, please contact us directly.
As at: August 2026