Understand your German official mail
German bureaucratic letters are dense, in formal German, and often come with a hard deadline. These plain-English guides explain the most common ones — what they mean, what to check, and what happens if you miss the deadline.
Deadlines (Frist): how they work & what if you miss one
The single most important thing in any German official letter. A letter from the Finanzamt (tax office), explained
Tax assessments, requests, and how to object (Einspruch). Rundfunkbeitrag: the German broadcasting fee, explained
Why you got it, how much, and when it’s actually mandatory. Mahnung: a German payment reminder, explained
Reminder vs. court order (Mahnbescheid) — and what to do. A letter from your Krankenkasse (health insurer), explained
Contributions, membership, and requests you shouldn’t ignore. Bußgeldbescheid: a German fine notice, explained
Traffic & other fines — and the two-week deadline to object. A letter from the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office), explained
Appointments, documents, and residence-permit decisions.
The single most important thing in any German official letter. A letter from the Finanzamt (tax office), explained
Tax assessments, requests, and how to object (Einspruch). Rundfunkbeitrag: the German broadcasting fee, explained
Why you got it, how much, and when it’s actually mandatory. Mahnung: a German payment reminder, explained
Reminder vs. court order (Mahnbescheid) — and what to do. A letter from your Krankenkasse (health insurer), explained
Contributions, membership, and requests you shouldn’t ignore. Bußgeldbescheid: a German fine notice, explained
Traffic & other fines — and the two-week deadline to object. A letter from the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office), explained
Appointments, documents, and residence-permit decisions.
Frequently asked
What does Mein Büro do?
Mein Büro reads German official and business mail – tax assessments, invoices and payment reminders – from a photo or PDF scan. It detects the sender, amount and deadline, sorts every case automatically and counts down the days until the deadline. On request it drafts your reply.
Is Mein Büro free?
Yes. Basic gives you 5 scans per month, free forever, no credit card. If you need more, Smart is 3.90 € per month with more scans, unlimited templates and the objection check.
Where is my data processed?
Exclusively on servers in the EU. Your documents, contacts and deadlines are stored in a database at Supabase (France), the backend runs on Railway (Amsterdam), and the AI analysis of letters runs on AWS Bedrock in the EU region Frankfurt – with no data transfer outside the EU.
Don’t just read it — know what to do
Photograph the letter and Mein Büro reads the German for you: sender, amount and the deadline, with a countdown. It even drafts your reply. Free to start.
Scan a letter free