Detailed description
The electronic provision of wage tax deduction features facilitates and accelerates communication between employees, employers and the tax office, since in most cases it can be completely paperless.
Your own ELStAM can be called up free of charge and changed on request.
For general questions about the ELStAM procedure see further links.
In the future, it is planned that the income tax deduction characteristics can also be called up electronically via the ELStAM procedure for all persons who are not required to register in Germany. In a first stage, since January 1st, 2020, employees with limited income tax liability under Section 1 (4) EStG (in particular cross-border commuters or seasonal workers) have been involved in this process. For this, employers need the identification number (IdNr) and the date of birth of their employees. The issuance of the certificate for the income tax deduction for employees with limited income tax liability is therefore no longer necessary.
However, in the case of employees who are not subject to the obligation to register, the employer is only provided with tax class I (main employment) or VI (secondary employment).
The participation of employees in the ELStAM procedure who are subject to limited tax liability under § 1 Para. 4 EStG and for whom an allowance within the meaning of § 39a EStG is taken into account or whose wages are exempt from taxation according to the regulations in double taxation agreements or the tax deduction according to the regulations in Double taxation agreement is reduced or limited upon request, but is not yet planned. In these cases, as before, a paper certificate for the income tax deduction will be issued upon request. The employee subject to limited income tax liability must submit the paper certificate to the employer immediately.