Submit your tax return online with Elster
With the program "Elster Form" and the portal of the financial administration "Elster" you can create your tax return online and send it to the tax office. You have the choice whether you would like to first create your tax return offline and then send it or create it directly online.
Magpie Step 1: Create your software certificate
To register in your personal area of ElsterOnline and sign your tax return, you need a software certificate.
- The certificate is made available to you by the tax authorities free of charge if you register with the tax authorities using the "Registration" button.
- Save the certificate carefully. If you delete the certificate, you have to register again with the financial administration.
Elster Step 2: Download "ElsterFormular"
If your tax return is more extensive, for example because, in addition to income from dependent employment (Annex N), you also have income from business (Annex G) or rental and leasing (Annex V), you can gradually fill out the individual forms and save them again and again, You can also use the data from previous years and do not have to search for your identification number every year.
Magpie Step 3: Fill out the forms individually.
Use the list in the lower left column to choose which forms you need and add the forms to your tax return.
- In the right column you can see which income is explained with this form.
- If you have already created a tax return in the previous year, you can also transfer this data individually.
- While filling in, you will see a short help text either in the right column or below, which will make it easier for you to fill out.
Magpie Step 4: Check, send and print
When you have completed your tax return, you can check it with the help of the plausibility check.
- ElsterFormular reports back to you every field that you have not filled in or filled in incorrectly. You can either fix the error immediately or skip the entry.
- If you have eliminated all errors, you can send the declaration to the tax office. You can choose whether you want to send the declaration to the tax office with or without authentication. Since you have a software certificate, choose "With authentication".
- Select your certificate file in the following mask and enter your number code. Your declaration will then be sent to the tax office.
- At the end you can print out the declaration for your documents. There is a time stamp on the top of the printout that confirms when you submitted the tax return to the tax office.
Magpie very simple: the pre-filled magpie
If you only have income from non-self-employment or from pensions, your data is already available to the tax office. Via your personal area you can enter the data that the tax office has regarding your income; Your health insurance and your Riester contracts. This means that practically all the data you need for the tax return has already been entered in the tax return.
- On one page of the Elster portal you can find out about the pre-filled tax return.
Other services of the tax office
In your personal area of the Elster portal you can also do other business for which you previously had to go to the tax office. You can have your electronic income tax features, which replace the income tax card, sent to you or you can change the number of child allowances.