# Further practical tips on completing your property tax return
**Last week, Paul Liese and Samuel Königshoven presented a number of new features and improvements in Opti.Tax Release 22.0.7. One highlight was undoubtedly the submission of the tax assessment declaration to the tax office. Due to time constraints, it was not possible to demonstrate all the new features. This was then done the following week.**

Joining us as a surprise guest is Julian Rapp, a working student at a tax consultancy in Fürth. In his day-to-day work, he mainly deals with property tax in the context of the reform. In doing so, he uses hsp’s property tax software, [Opti.Tax Land Tax](../../en/product/opti-tax-property-tax/index.md). Julian joined the firm in February. His first impression of the early version of the property tax software was that it was still a bit rough round the edges, with a few issues, and at times frustrating and annoying. He did, however, find the clarity and simplicity of the layout to be a positive feature. Compared with other solutions on the market, however, he found hsp’s product to be considerably more intuitive and better.

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During the first few weeks, test cases were run through and any issues noted down. A great deal of work was also carried out using the cloud. In this way, Julian gradually familiarised himself with the software. Meanwhile, the software kept getting better with each update, partly thanks to feedback from the law firms. The numerous tutorials on the hsp.community were a great help during his induction. As the workload continues to rise, Julian is due to be joined by further colleagues soon. He has already gained such a thorough understanding of the software and its functionality that he is ready to handle clients and real-life cases. At present, data is being collected, and in a second step, any missing information is requested – ideally all in one go.

Julian advises beginners to focus intensively on the [hsp.community](https://community.hsp-software.de/) to use. The videos are worth their weight in gold, and the software is almost self-explanatory. Mistakes are allowed, particularly as the software’s validation rules guide the user through the process. In addition, documents are regularly made available on the hsp.community to make the work easier for law firms.

## Many insights following an eventful week

Opti.Tax Release 22.0.7 was released on Monday. This enables tax assessment returns to be submitted electronically to the tax office. Some returns have already been submitted, whilst a few issues are still causing problems in other areas. As a result, hsp has received quite a lot of feedback over the past week, which is why Paul would like to draw your attention to a feature in the hsp.community. The search function, accessed via the magnifying glass icon, allows you to search the entire hsp.community. When you enter a search term and select „Show all“, a list appears on the left-hand side showing the locations and result types where the keyword can be found.

Why is using the hsp.community so important? This week alone, 425 support tickets have been received. A medium-sized company like hsp cannot process such a large volume of tickets in a short space of time. Many of these tickets contain questions and issues for which answers are already available on the hsp.community. So, a quick search would have several advantages: the person searching would get the help they need much more quickly. hsp Support can then focus on the cases that genuinely require individual assistance. Furthermore, the exchange of information amongst users promotes the overall development and quality of the software, which benefits everyone involved.

## Frequently asked questions answered live

Paul would like to answer some of the most frequently asked questions during the live broadcast. He will also be presenting the next Opti.Tax update, version 22.0.8, which will be available from 8 July 2022. This update already incorporates much of the feedback received by Support this week. In the first demo, Paul will walk through a project created using version 22.0.6. The most important view when working with Opti.Tax in general is the „Validation & Notes“ tab in the lower half of the screen. This lists, in real time, any items that are invalid and require checking.

This list also includes the message „The certificate holder is missing or incomplete“. Alternatively, it may state that something is missing from the „prefix“. This means that the certificate holder must be managed via the menu option „File -> Manage ELSTER Certificate Holder“. Then there is the message „Tax number“. Some federal states do not allow both the tax number and the file reference to be entered; only one of them may be entered. Often, law firm staff have simply entered the wrong number. In such cases, the exact nature of the errors is shown directly below the input field.

## Reading through error messages often helps

Another message that has appeared frequently this week: „The federal state, municipality, cadastral district or cadastral district number are inconsistent. Please check your details.“ In many cases, the cadastral district had been entered incorrectly. From the new version 22.0.8 onwards, cadastral districts can be selected via a drop-down menu to prevent input errors. This is because the tax authorities insist on the cadastral district being spelled clearly and correctly. Furthermore, there were cases where no error messages were displayed during validation, but the property was nevertheless classified as invalid. This is because the live validation only goes as far as Opti.Tax is able to check the data entered. The final validation of the complete data set is carried out by ELSTER. Therefore, once no further messages appear in the „Validation & Notes“ field, you should select „Validate“ via the „ELSTER“ button below the menu bar.

Once the project has been validated, the software generates a control document. This can be submitted to the client for approval. However, once the document has been created, it is no longer possible to edit the property data. Anyone wishing to do so must change the property’s status. From version 22.0.8 onwards, there is now a function to duplicate properties. Paul has already announced a forthcoming feature that was suggested in the hsp.community: the ability to create properties directly from owners. This should work simply by right-clicking on the relevant entry.

## Solve the problem with a single click

A number of users have reported that when they click on a validation message, the source of the error is not displayed. The simple solution: click on the funnel icon next to the „Project“ tab. This is a filter which is deactivated when clicked. You should now see the source of the error when you click on the message. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl \+ F to open the ‘Select Position’ window. You can then use the search field to search the entire taxonomy structure for the keyword you’re looking for.

For anyone interested in the changes and updates included in a new release: the release notes are always available on the hsp website via the Opti.Tax product page.