Steuer-ID (German tax identification number)

The BZSt describes the identification number as an eleven-digit number that contains no information about you. It is permanently valid and does not change if you move, change your name or marry. Section 139b of the Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung) says a person may only receive one, and each number is only issued once.

It is separate from the tax number (Steuernummer) a local tax office uses for your returns. Your employer, health insurer and the Federal Employment Agency all use the Steuer-ID to report tax-relevant data about you.

1. Register your address (Anmeldung) after you arrive.
2. The registration office sends your data to the BZSt.
3. The BZSt posts your number to your registered address. For data protection reasons it is only ever communicated by letter.
4. If nothing has arrived after three months, send the BZSt your surname, first name, address, date and place of birth using its online form or by letter, and it will contact the registration office and send the number.

Lost the letter? You do not get a new number; the BZSt re-sends the one already assigned. It also appears on your income tax assessment and your annual employment tax statement (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung).

Your employer uses your Steuer-ID and date of birth to fetch your electronic wage tax data (ELStAM), including your tax class. Under section 39c of the Income Tax Act:

• If you culpably fail to give your employer the number, tax must be deducted at tax class VI, the highest rate of withholding.
• If it is not your fault that the number has not yet arrived, the employer may use your expected tax data for up to three calendar months, then corrects the earlier months once the data arrives.
• If you still have not provided it after three months, class VI applies backdated.

For a nurse or doctor starting work weeks after landing, this is the reason to do the Anmeldung immediately.

The BZSt says social service providers, employers and other bodies must report tax-relevant data to the tax authorities, and need your number to do it. In practice you will be asked for it by:

• Your health insurer, which has needed it since 2011 to report your contributions.
• The Federal Employment Agency if you receive benefits.
• Your bank, if you set up a tax exemption order on savings income.
• Pension funds and the family benefits office (Familienkasse) for child benefit.

If you do not give it, several of these bodies can obtain it from the BZSt through an automated request procedure.

• Registering late, so the letter arrives after your first payday.
• Moving before the letter arrives. The number can only be sent to another address with your written authority and a copy of your ID.
• Two numbers. If data errors give you a second number, the BZSt says the first one assigned is kept and the other is cancelled.
• Mixing it up with the Steuernummer when filling in forms.