ELStAM, employee, comparison and correction of wage tax deduction features

If employees find that the electronic wage tax deduction features (ELStAM) deviate from the data on which the wage tax deduction was previously based, this can have various causes.

1. If there are deviations in the tax exemption, this could be due to the fact that no new application for a wage tax reduction has been submitted for the current year.

2. If the child allowances deviate from the previously entered ones, the reason may be that a child has come of age in the meantime and is only taken into account in the wage tax deduction upon application if certain conditions are met. A missing tax allowance for a child under the age of 18 can, however, also be related to an incorrect assignment of the child in the ELStAM database. The local tax office can make a correction here.

3. In the case of deviations in the tax class, it is possible that the personal circumstances have changed:

• If tax fund I is shown instead of II, this could be due to the fact that a child has come of age in the meantime. If the relevant requirements are met, a new application for allocation to tax class II can be submitted.
• If tax class I is now assigned instead of the previously applicable tax class III, IV or V, this could be related to the fact that personal circumstances have changed (permanent separation from spouse / life partner, divorce / dissolution of civil partnership, etc.).
• If the income tax deduction was incorrectly based on tax class VI, this may be due to the fact that the employer inadvertently failed to register as the 'main employer'. The employer must correct this. Tax class VI is also shown if access to the ELStAM data is blocked. For your own ELStAM, you can apply for the revocation of the blocking, provided that the blocking was applied for yourself. If the ELStAM has been blocked by the tax office because a 'certificate for wage tax deduction' has been issued, the employer must use this certificate instead of ELStAM as a basis for the wage tax deduction until the tax office has lifted the block.

4. If the deviations have other reasons, clarification by the tax office is recommended. In this case, the tax office checks the information and corrects the incorrect data or a block that is no longer up-to-date in the ELStAM database. If this is not possible immediately, for example because incorrect civil status data is available, the tax office will issue a certificate for the wage tax deduction with the correct wage tax deduction characteristics. These are to be used as a basis for the wage tax deduction until the electronic wage tax deduction features are corrected.