Leistungen A-Z

Depending on the reason for application:

• Form "Application for the Issue of a Certificate for the Deduction of Income Tax 20__"
• Form "Application for the issue of a certificate for the deduction of income tax 20__ for employees with limited income tax liability".
• Form "Application for the issue of a certificate for the deduction of income tax 20__ for employees with extended unlimited income tax liability and for other recipients of wages from domestic public funds".
• Online procedure possible: no
• Written form required: yes
• Personal appearance required: no

• „Antrag auf Ausstellung einer Bescheinigung für den Lohnsteuerabzug 20__“
• „Antrag auf Ausstellung einer Bescheinigung für den Lohnsteuerabzug 20__ für beschränkt einkommensteuerpflichtige Arbeitnehmer“
• „Antrag auf Ausstellung einer Bescheinigung für den Lohnsteuerabzug 20__ bei erweiterter unbeschränkter Einkommensteuerpflicht und für übrige Bezieher von Arbeitslohn aus inländischen öffentlichen Kassen“

The wage tax deduction is usually carried out for you by your employer on the basis of the electronic wage tax deduction characteristics (ELStAM). In some cases, however, it is not possible to retrieve the ELStAM, for example, because

• Reporting data is incorrect,
• Your employer does not participate in the ELStAM procedure,
• you have not (yet) been allocated an identification number, although you are subject to unlimited tax liability and are required to register in Germany,
• you belong to a group of persons who cannot yet participate in the ELStAM procedure because they are not required to register in Germany:
  • Employees with unlimited tax liability who do not have a place of residence (e.g. homeless persons, prisoners).
  • Employees with limited tax liability within the meaning of § 1 (4) EStG who apply for an allowance in the wage tax reduction procedure
  • Employees with extended unlimited tax liability within the meaning of § 1 Para. 2 EStG
  • Employees who are to be treated as employees with unlimited tax liability within the meaning of § 1, para. 3 EStG upon application.

The responsible tax office will then issue you with a "certificate for wage tax deduction" on application, which can be used as a substitute by your employer as a basis for wage tax deduction (so-called substitute certificate). If your employer does not have such a certificate, he must deduct the wage tax according to tax class VI.

Retrieval of the electronic wage tax deduction characteristics (ELStAM) is not possible.

Depending on the reason for the application

none

Responsibility lies with the tax office responsible for you (your local tax office)

As a rule, the service and information office of your local tax office

You can find the tax office responsible for your place of residence via the tax office search on the website of the Federal Central Tax Office.

• Tax office search on the website of the Federal Central Tax Office

Section 39 (1) sentences 2 and 3 and Section 39e (8) of the German Income Tax Act (EStG)

• § 39 Absatz 1 Satz 2 und 3 (EStG)
• § 39e Absatz 8 Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG)

Letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance dated 8.11.2018 (BStBl I p. 1137) and 7.11.2019 (BStBl I p. 1097).

Hessian Ministry of Finance