Can anyone point us in the direction of how to contact the German tax authorities or tax advisors. Also more importantly can you tell us when we have to file a tax return. We are resident/domiciled in the UK for tax purposes but realise the Germans require us to declare our modest rental income which we started receiving last September.
We got a letter from our German Lawyer with details of a tax advisor who wants to charge €275 including 19% VAT for preparation of tax returns. I'm not sure if this is for a single or joint return. Does this sound good value?

One solution would be to pay out the €275 this year and then, next year, use this year's return as a model for doing the filing yourself in 2009. Being non-resident and with a sole source of income, the declaration should be pretty straightforward.
Some places (Germany?) also apply a forfeited percentage charge to non-residents to cover their tax obligations. Normally you just have to choose the option but you nearly always, I think, end up paying more than you would if you filed a declaration.
I too would be interested to know more on this if anybody out there has solid information on the subject.
Neustria

I'd welcome connecting - off line if more relevant - as I suspect we are in the same position (acquired German flat 1st Oct 2007 and now faced with high fee relative to income)!

Does anyone know if the German authorities give you a personal allowance for use against the rental income