ELStAM, employee, certificate for income tax deduction

Every employer is informed electronically of the wage tax deduction features of his employees (exception: see link to hardship application). Paper certificates (income tax card, replacement certificate) are usually no longer relevant.
For electronic data retrieval, the employer only needs the tax identification number, the date of birth and the information whether it is a main or part-time employment.

A (replacement) certificate for the wage tax deduction is only issued in order to enable an appropriate wage tax deduction in the case of incorrect, not immediately correctable data.

• For this purpose, an application with proof of the correct civil status data must be submitted to the tax office.
• The tax office will forward the incorrect data to the registration office for clarification and correction.
• At the same time, the employer's access to the employee's ELStAM is blocked.
• The certificate for the wage tax deduction must be presented to the employer, who then no longer uses the electronic wage tax deduction features but rather those of the certificate.
• After the error has been clarified with the registration authority, the employer automatically receives a message from the tax office that the block has been lifted and the corrected ELStAM can be accessed.
• In this case, the employee will not receive any notification from the tax office. The ELStAM correction can be seen on the pay slip.
• If the ELStAM has been blocked by this employer before the first access, the employee will receive a corresponding message from his tax office. He has to inform his employer about this.

Special features for foreign employees:

1. Employees who move to Germany from abroad and establish their place of residence in Germany are automatically assigned a tax identification number.

• Is an ID no. not yet issued for the employee, the local tax office issues a certificate for the wage tax deduction for the duration of one calendar year at the request of the employee. The employee must present this to his employer. The certificate replaces the employer's obligation and authorization to access the ELStAM.

2. Foreign employees who do not have a place of residence in Germany and who only stay here for a short period (maximum 6 months) do not receive a certificate for the wage tax deduction, but a certificate for employees with limited income tax liability.

• This is issued by the employer's business premises tax office at the request of the employee.
• The employee can also instruct his employer to submit the application.

3. Foreign employees who do not have a domicile in Germany but have their habitual residence (= residence of more than six months) will receive a certificate from their domicile tax office (= tax office that is responsible for the place of habitual residence) upon request for the wage tax deduction.