Do German tax inspectors ever apologise?

I read the thread "Germans rarely admit that they're wrong in arguments and normal conversation" with interest and now submit this variation on that theme...

In 2006 I wrote to my local Finanzamt and asked how that part of my income derived from a specific source in the UK would be taxed. They explained very nicely that such income is not taxable in Germany, but should nevertheless should be declared. I was then able to submit my 2004 & 2005 Steuererklärungen and in due course also those for 2006 & 2007. For each of these years, the resultant Steuerbescheid was in line with the ruling described in the 2006 letter.
However, after receiving my 2008 Steuerbescheid, I noticed that the specified income had suddenly been taxed. I wrote to ask whether their 2006 letter had been in error or had the rules changed or had an error been made in their 2008 calculations.
I received a reply from 2 different tax inspectors in succession, each clearly unaware that the other had replied and each asking for more but different information. I wrote addressing both parties jointly and asked to which letter I should respond and requested a clarification of the information I should submit. One of the inspectors duly replied and I sent off the required documentation.
After a while, an amended 2008 Steuerbescheid arrived which showed that in response to my appeal, I would be receiving a not insubstantial tax refund. The very wordy follow-on sheets of the Steuerbescheid consisted of a lot of irrelevant blah blah blah and provided no insight at all into my claim.
Logically then, the Steueramt had made a mistake in their 2008 calculations, but why have I received no cover letter to explain this?
More importantly, why have I received no apology?

You got the cash back, didn't you? They corrected an error, thus doing their job. Apologizing isn't part of their job, only doing the right thing.
I have never paid tax in the UK, possibly someone has a different story to tell about the standard procedure when UK tax authorities make a mistake.

Because they don't care how you feel, they just wanted to get things sorted out and give you your money back. Is that a problem for you? Be happy you got it resolved as not unquickly as you did.

You both seem surprisingly ready to forgive the Steueramt just because I got my cash back! Bear in mind that I, a complete amateur in matters of tax and a foreigner to boot, had to point out an error made by the Steueramt experts while not doing their job. The right thing would have been for them not to have made the mistake in the first place. Had I not noticed, or not noticed until after their complaints deadline, then I would have lost that cash.

As for the UK tax people, here are a few quotations from correspondence I've received from them over the past 5 years:
"I hope this clarifies the situation and I apologise for any inconvenience caused"
"Please accept my apologies for the delays that there have been in our replying to you"
"I am sorry to learn of the difficulties you have experienced"

As long as it's been less than a month since they sent you the notice you can always appeal the decision, asking them to say sorry because that's the way things are done back in Britain.

Totally different cultures, AncientBrit. The civil servants at the Finanzamt have notoriously thick skins. I'm not saying they can't be friendly and helpful when you ask them for assistance, but they'll never apologize for making a mistake. If they acknowledge it at all, they'll blame it on the software, on a procedural error (not theirs, of course), or on the spell of particularly nasty weather we've been having lately.

Whatever you do, don't upset them, or they'll audit you annually for the rest of your life.

@ silty1
I'm only slightly stupid, not that stupid!

@ JeffZ
Annual audits, hmmm. About as popular as a hole in the head, I've heard

They probably wouldn't see the point. It it was a private business, they'd be more likely to apologise, as they wouldn't want to risk losing a customer. But when it comes to the public sector, there is no such thing as apology. You want something of them, so be happy if they get it sorted out for you.

This is how our Behörde used to be too, Frieda123, but things changed for the better in the UK a while ago. It's 2009 and it's about time things changed even here. German public servants should realise that they are paid by the taxpayers to serve the common good and should behave accordingly.

Write to the Bundesfinanzministerium and tell them that Germany should be more like the UK.

Seriously. You won't change anything by complaining to expats and asking for their views. Escalate this for all you're worth - your local tax office, the state tax office and the government. That's how you can make a change.

And what are you going to do about it if they don't? It's not like you can take your business elsewhere without making substantial changes to your life (leaving the country)...

Have you ever heard of a tax inspector in any country apologizing?
I do not think so...

So the UK tax office has made at least three mistakes/caused three delays in 5 years and you complain about the Germans ?

I was told by the UK tax office they had a 'turn-over time' of a month, so each time something went wrong with the checque I was supposed to receive I had to wait another month for the money. They did apologise very handsomely every time I called, yes, but they would never actually do anything about it...still, all's well that ends well, and in the end the money arrived in my account, so no complaints :-)

Yep. My British tax inspector sent a fulsome apology after they levied a fee on me for not filing a tax return - about 2 months after they'd sent a letter acknowledging receipt of my letter advising them I was leaving the UK, would have no earned income, had minimal investment income and thus would no longer be filing a UK return.

For the arsewipes at the IRS I hope there's a special place waiting in the deeper intestines of hell.

Here in Germany - no problem so far, they tried to swipe an extra €10k from our account but were more than reasonable about not taking it until H was back in the country and able to explain clearly why they shouldn't. They've been helpful to me with MwST and the like.

Ok we have heard from one person that has received an apology from the tax man/woman are there any other stories that are worth noting in this thread. I am just curious as to how many errors that are made by the tax authorities the world over, and how many apologies are made afterward? Just a guess 0.00000000000000001%. Dam that is a small number. I could have held down the "0" a bit longer, but you get the point, enough blah, blah.