The term Bauamt is the name given to a set of offices in local and area governments which have a wide variety of responsibilities.

One part is responsible for the maintenance of public buildings, but the part that most people will come into contact with is the part for giving planning permision (“Baugenehmigung”) to new buildings or changes to existing ones.

They also make sure that buildings are built to plan – and within the time allowed.

On arrival in Germany you are less likely to come into contact with this office, unless you are building a new house or extending an existing property.

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The Finanzamt is the German tax office.

Normally, you only contact with the Finanzamt will be your annual tax return – the Einkommenssteuererklärung.

However, if you are self-employed then you will come into close contact with it as you are involved in Umsatzsteuer (VAT) for your business and taxes such as Lohnsteuer for your employees.

The Finanzamt also collects Church Tax on behalf of the churches and if you buy a flat or a house in Germany then they will also send you a bill for Grunderwerbssteuer (land purchase tax).

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Das Arbeitsamt is a name given to the Bundesagentur für Arbeit - the German unemployment agency.

It is responsible for helping unemployed people find jobs and processing their claims for unemployment benefit (Arbeitslosengeld).  It is also possible to go there for career advice.

A separate part of the agency deals with employers, for example when they apply for an employer number in order to take on employees.

Finally, the agency also carries out research into the job market.

The head office is situated in Nuremberg but there are branches in most larger towns.  It is the largest Government agency in Germany, and is mainly funded by social security contributions (Arbeitslosenversicherung).

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