Elster (software)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My ELSTER

Elster-Logo-New 2019.svg
Basic data

Maintainer Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office
operating system Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, macOS 10.14, macOS 10.15, Ubuntu Linux 19.10, Android (from version 6), iOS (from version 11)
category Tax management program
License Proprietary software
German speaking Yes
www.elster.de
ElsterForm

Elster-Logo-New 2019.svg
Basic data

Maintainer Thuringian State Finance Directorate
Current  version 21.3
(June 16, 2020)
operating system Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10
category Tax management program
License Proprietary software
German speaking Yes
www.elster.de

Elster ( Apronym for El ektronische St your he declaration ) is a project launched in 1996 the German tax authorities of all countries and the Federal Government for settlement of tax returns and tax returns over the Internet. The national coordinator of the project is the Bavarian State Tax Office in Munich. Elster is part of consensus .

The Elster project comprises software on three levels. The first level is the ERiC (Elster Rich Client) client library , which can be integrated into third-party control software. The associated server software is located on a server farm, the so-called central production and service center (ZPS Elster, formerly clearing center) in Nuremberg. In addition, the ElsterFormular program is being developed as a tax administration program and made available free of charge. ElsterFormular has also integrated the Elster client library ERiC. With Mein Elster (formerly ElsterOnline-Portal), the tax administration provides a portal through which tax returns, tax notifications, etc. can also be recorded and submitted online.

ElsterFormular will be provided for the last time for the 2019 assessment period (in 2020), until then all users must switch to Mein Elster or other tax programs.

In contrast to commercial software from third-party providers, according to Stiftung Warentest, both ElsterFormular and Mein Elster (e.g. for income tax returns ) only help the user to a limited extent in optimizing their own tax burden despite intuitive operation, as the focus here is primarily on the electronic provision of the official tax forms.

Legal situation

Income tax return

Since 2009, there has been a legal obligation to electronically transmit capital gains tax registrations as well as the legal obligation to secure authentication for the electronic transmission of income tax certificate data.

Since 2012 (assessment period 2011), private individuals have been obliged to submit their tax returns electronically (Section 25 (4) sentence 1 EStG).

In spite of this obligation, taxpayers can apply for the paper duty by way of the hardship regulation of Section 25 (4) sentence 2 ESt. According to the hardship regulation of Section 150 (8) AO, the tax authority has to comply with an application for paper transmission if the tax laws order a waiver of electronic transmission to avoid undue hardship and an electronic declaration is economically or personally unreasonable for the taxpayer. (Judgment of the Rhineland-Palatinate FG of October 12, 2016, file number: 2 K 2352/15)

Other tax returns

Since 2005, all taxable in Germany are entrepreneurs required by law to their wage tax returns and VAT returns and income tax certificates handle their employees electronically via the Elster system.

Since 2013, advance sales tax notifications have to be transmitted according to the officially prescribed data set by remote data transmission in accordance with the Tax Data Transmission Ordinance (cf. BMF letter of November 16, 2011, BStBl 2011 I p. 1063). In order to avoid undue hardship, the tax office can waive the electronic transmission of the pre-announcements upon request and allow the submission in conventional form - on paper or by fax - if electronic transmission is economically or personally unreasonable for the entrepreneur. This is particularly the case if the creation of the technical possibilities for electronic transmission would only be possible with a not inconsiderable financial outlay or if the entrepreneur is not or only partially able to use the possibilities of remote data transmission according to his individual knowledge and skills (Section 150 (8) AO). If there is no such economic and personal unreasonableness, the tax office has to decide within the scope of the discretion granted to it by § 18 para. 1 sentence 2 UStG on the application of the entrepreneur to be allowed to submit the pre-notifications according to the officially prescribed form in conventional form ( Application decree on sales tax, section 18.1). Such economic and personal unreasonableness has hardly been accepted by the tax authorities in recent years.

Procedure of the Elster procedure

Graphic representation of the Elster process (as of 2017)

The Elster process consists of five steps, with only steps 1 and 2 differing depending on the choice of tax declaration program used (Mein Elster, ElsterFormular or a third-party program). Steps 3 - 5 are independent of this and are identical for all tax return programs.

  1. In the first step, the user enters his tax data in a tax declaration program (Mein Elster, ElsterFormular or a tax declaration program from a third party). The respective program checks the data for plausibility in advance. The user can choose whether he wants to receive a tax assessment on paper or purely digitally.
  2. In the second step, Mein Elster or the respective program transmits the data to the Elster Central Production and Service Center (ZPS) of the tax administration using the Elster program library ERiC. If Mein Elster is used, there is no transmission via ERiC due to the direct connection of Mein Elster to the ZPS Elster. At Mein Elster, the transmission is always authenticated. When using ElsterFormular or third-party programs, the transmission can also take place without authentication. In that case, a so-called compressed tax return must be printed out, signed and sent to the responsible tax office.
  3. In the third step, the data is decrypted after it is received in the ZPS Elster , the authentication - if used - is checked and the control data is pre-checked.
  4. In the fourth step, the data is forwarded to the relevant tax data center in the responsible country .
  5. In the 16 data centers of the tax administrations of the federal states or the data center of the federal government (connected via the federal networks (NdB)), the data is converted into the data formats customary there in the fifth and last step and fed into the corresponding databases . Here the clerks in the responsible tax offices can then access the tax data received. Tax returns sent electronically are given preferential treatment in all federal states.

After transmission, assessment and notification , Elster can collect the tax assessment data and, since the beginning of 2020, the legally binding tax assessment as a PDF in electronic form. Deviations from the information in the submitted tax return are displayed in a third column (notification data comparison). The tax assessment on paper or - if selected - the digital PDF assessment sent by Swiss Post is legally effective.

Transmission via Mein Elster (online portal)

After registering a user account once (required: e-mail address and tax identification number), the user receives a certificate (electronic signature) following the authentication process. This allows tax data to be sent online in an authenticated manner without having to be printed out and signed.

Transmission via ElsterFormular (until 2020)

In contrast to Mein Elster, registration and authentication for the use of ElsterFormular is not a requirement, but optional. Accordingly, the tax return can be sent electronically to the responsible tax office (using the ERiC client library). If this is done without authentication, a so-called compressed tax return must be printed out, signed and sent to the responsible tax office. The tax office cannot process the data without the signed tax return. If the transmission takes place in an authenticated way after prior registration and receipt of a certificate via Mein Elster, printing out or signing is no longer necessary.

ElsterFormular will be made available for the last time for the 2019 assessment period (in 2020).

Transmission via third-party programs

Tax programs that are subject to a fee can transmit tax data electronically (using the ERiC client library) to the responsible tax office. Analogous to the use of Mein Elster and ElsterFormular (authenticated transmission), authenticated online transmission without a signature is only possible after prior registration and receipt of a certificate via Mein Elster.

Situation for taxpayers

Scope of functions My ELSTER

On the website “Elster: Your online tax office”, the tax authorities of the federal states offer the web application “My ELSTER” for private users and entrepreneurs .

It supports all common browsers and allows the creation of:

The ElsterFormular program (so-called “freeware”), which has been published free of charge by the tax administration on CD and on the Internet since 2001, offers a comparable range of functions, but will be made available for the last time for the 2019 assessment period.

Third-party programs from other software manufacturers have (depending on the orientation of the programs) integrated comparable functionalities in their products.

Elster, Java and Linux

The use of ElsterFormular was limited to use with a Windows PC until 2020 (the last year of its provision). The use of "Mein Elster" with a non-Windows PC also failed until 2013 because of the open-source Java implementation OpenJDK . B. is used under Linux, although both the ERiC interface and the "Mein Elster" online portal basically work under all operating systems. The background to this was that the ElsterOnline portal came into conflict with that open source Java implementation. Until May 2013, it required Oracle's proprietary Java (Oracle Java JRE and plug-in); if no Oracle Java was installed, the ElsterOnline portal responded when the “configuration assistant” was executed with the error message: “Cookie transfer failed”. This caused corresponding resentment on the part of the taxpayers, who accused the tax authorities of apparently wanting to force the possession of a computer with a Microsoft Windows operating system and the installation of Java from Oracle.

As a first step, a number of alternative software products for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, which used the ERiC interface, were created in the course of 2005 after a partial relaxation of the license conditions of the Elster standard. Various online tax declaration portals have also offered this service since 2008. However, many of these programs were chargeable (in contrast to "Mein Elster" or ElsterFormular ), even if, in contrast to the official version, they also gave tax-saving tips. As a " workaround ", it was possible to create your tax return with a Linux computer using ElsterFormular under Wine and to send it to the tax office.

In the second step, from May 2013, Mein Elster could also be used without Java. Since the Federal Office for Information Security has been recommending computer users time and again since mid-2012 not to use Oracle Java because of serious security gaps, the registration process in the ElsterOnline portal was made possible without Java, which means that registration in the ElsterOnline portal also has a technology supported by standard Linux distributions. From August 2013 it was possible to log in with a software certificate as well as all functions of Mein Elster without Java.

As of today, the use of security sticks and signature cards no longer requires Java. However, the ElsterAuthenticator must be downloaded and installed from "Elster: Your online tax office". However, this is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux.

Authentication

Mein Elster offers five different types of authentication:

  1. Software certificate (as a file on the computer or a normal USB stick).
  2. New electronic identity card ( AusweisApp2 required, but no prior registration required).
  3. Mobile login with smartphone or tablet with the ElsterSmart app ( Android from version 6, iOS from version 11), requires the import of an existing certificate file via USB or QR code .
  4. USB security stick ("security stick for ELSTER"), outwardly similar to a USB stick with a proprietary crypto chip, developed as a joint product by the companies secunet Security Networks AG and Giesecke & Devrient GmbH , requires the installation of the ElsterAuthenticator.
  5. Signature card from the manufacturer DATEV or Bundesdruckerei (D-TRUST) requires the installation of the ElsterAuthenticator.

With these variants, each user can clearly authenticate himself to the tax administration. The certificates can be used in "Mein Elster", ElsterFormular as well as in tax and financial accounting programs from third-party providers (the latter depends on the manufacturer's implementation).

When submitting a tax return / registration with authentication, the authentication is noted in the tax account concerned. If a tax pre-registration / registration is then submitted electronically without authentication for the same tax type and tax number, this leads to a notification to the clerk in the tax office (principle “one-time authentication, always authentication”). However, this only applies to all advance VAT returns and income tax returns. This ensures that the taxpayer is protected from abuse.

With a certificate, an authenticated taxpayer can also submit tax returns for the spouse - in the case of joint assessment - as well as for other third parties (relatives / clients). In this case the certificate makes the handwritten signature according to § 150 Tax Code (AO) superfluous. Since according to § 87 a AO the electronic tax data transmission expired at the end of 2005 and the new tax data transmission ordinance (StDÜV) had not yet come into force, a legal basis was temporarily missing. Such declarations were accepted by all federal states and their tax administrations, although the necessary amendment to the law had not yet been made at that time. In the meantime, the new StDÜV of January 28, 2003 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 139) restored the necessary legal basis. In Section 1, Paragraph 1, Clause 2 of the StDÜV, transmission by third parties (for spouses, clients) is also legalized. The StDÜV has been out of force since January 1, 2017, and the regulations have been incorporated directly into the Tax Code (AO).

history

Before the introduction of X.509 certificates in 2005, a major point of criticism was that initially when the Elster standard was introduced, no authentication of the submitter was provided, so that anyone with knowledge of a company's tax number could make an electronic registration for it. The data protection officers of some federal states warned of this. The tax number has been required by law on invoices since 2003 and can only be replaced by specifying a separately requested sales tax identification number (USt-IdNr.). In order to avert potential misuse of the tax number in the short term, various business representatives recommended a VAT ID number. to apply and to use this instead of the tax number. The tax returns were only accepted together with the signed paper form, but the tax returns went through without further verification. In their statements, the tax authorities emphasized that this was not a problem as the tax declaration could be changed at any time. For the entrepreneurs concerned, with automated direct debit, it was possibly a bigger problem.

In the spring of 2005, the tax authorities reacted to this accusation by awarding X.509 certificates to every taxpayer. In this way, a tax return can be authenticated with a unique electronic signature. From September 28, 2005, the project ran initially in pilot operation, and since January 1, 2006 it has been generally available in productive operation in all federal states. From then on, Elster offered three different authentication variants ( software certificate , USB security stick (“security stick for ELSTER”) or signature card ). Income tax certificates for wages from the 2009 calendar year can only be sent with an electronic certificate. Regardless of the software selected for the transmission, registration in "Elster: Your online tax office" is mandatory.

Since September 7th, 2015 it has been possible to use the ElsterSmart app (published for iOS and Android) directly for authentication at Elster.

Since 2016 it has been possible to use the electronic identity card directly for authentication at Elster.

Security and data protection

The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) certified Elster in 2010. An ISO-27001 certificate based on the BSI's IT-Grundschutz Catalogs documents the implementation of information security techniques according to this international standard. The protection of confidential information as well as the availability and integrity of the data to be processed by Elster and the processing systems must be guaranteed. Elster's services are provided in a proprietary IT infrastructure certified in accordance with ISO 27001 on the basis of the BSI's IT basic protection catalogs. The certification is intended to document that the IT-Grundschutz according to ISO 27001 has been fully implemented for these services and that dealing with IT security issues is part of the objectives of the tax authorities. The services are provided by the Bavarian State Tax Office. The audit has been repeated regularly since then.

The Independent State Center for Data Protection Schleswig-Holstein (ULD) awarded the "ElsterOnline Client Server" architecture (ElsterOnline) the Schleswig-Holstein data protection seal of approval, thereby certifying that it can be used in compliance with data protection regulations (register number 04-08 / 2010 valid until August 18, 2010). The Schleswig-Holstein data protection seal of approval has been awarded since 2001 to products that meet the requirements of data protection and data security. The expert examination was carried out by the "datenschutz cert GmbH" from Bremerhaven. It clearly demonstrated to the ULD that the procedure used ensures the authenticity, confidentiality and integrity of the electronic documents transmitted. Despite the fact that qualified signatures are not used, at least the level of security that applies to the written submission of data to the tax office is achieved.

Usage statistics

year Income
tax
returns		 Sales tax
pre-registrations		 Income tax
registrations		 Document retrievals Tax
notices		 Income tax
certificates		 electr. Income tax
card (AG)		 electr. Income tax
card (AN)
2000 0.14 million /
0.15 million		 0.26 million 0.31 million 0.00 million
2001 0.32 million 2.46 million 3.17 million 0.01 million
2002 0.55 million 3.11 million 4.04 million 0.05 million
2003 1.10 million 4.38 million 5.70 million 0.48 million
2004 1.81 million 5.68 million 6.53 million 1.02 million
2005 3.59 million 27.1 million 15.3 million 1.52 million
2006 4.6 million 33.9 million 16.9 million 1.8 million
2007 5.5 million 35.4 million 17.0 million 2.4 million
2008 8.2 million 40.9 million 19.1 million /
19.0 million		 2.9 million
2009 8.3 million 39.0 million 19.5 million 5.6 million
2010 8.6 million 39.3 million /
39.2 million		 19.3 million /
19.2 million		 4.7 million 48.5 million
2011 9.5 million 39 million 18 million 5.6 million 50 million
2012 12.0 million 39 million 17 million 4.7 million 49.8 million
2013 15.2 million 38 million 17.5 million 5.4 million 50.6 million
2014 16.1 million 36.3 million 17.2 million 4.1 million 51.1 million
2015 20.0 million 38.5 million 17.8 million 6.1 million 52.1 million
2016 21.0 million 44 million 18 million 5.5 million 53.1 million
2017 22.0 million 38 million 24.3 million 8.14 million 8.6 million 54.5 million
2018 23.1 million 39 million 27.3 million 10.1 million 55.7 million
2019 23.8 million 39.2 million 30.1 million 13.94 million 10.8 million 23.3 million 2.1 million 41 million

Situation for software manufacturers

Software manufacturers have the option of registering as developers in the Elster project. Registered manufacturers are supported in the development of Elster-compatible financial software by a free interface library in order to be able to integrate the Elster functionality into programs on several operating systems. For this purpose, software developers can download a C interface library (“ERiC” = Elster Rich Client, formerly “TeleModul”) for Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X in the members area of ​​the Elster website. In some cases, however, the terms of use of these libraries are formulated in a relatively restrictive manner, so that the use of these libraries offered is excluded by their license conditions, especially for free software .

Interface for free software (until January 2019)

Instead of using the ERiC- API , the manufacturers could also use the specification of the COALA interface for certain functionalities in order to implement the communication with the Elster server themselves. The use of these specifications was also permitted for free software ( open source ) since December 2004 (in the period before that, the interface description could only be viewed after signing a confidentiality agreement ( NDA )). Since this change of course, however, it has been accessible to everyone who registered in the Elster manufacturer forum. However, this interface only allowed the transfer of advance sales tax returns, income tax returns, income tax certificates, long-term extensions and tax account inquiries. In 2012, ELStAM queries were added (corresponding to the wage tax card that was no longer applicable). Annual taxes such as income tax, trade tax, etc. could only be submitted through the ERiC libraries. The transfer of advance sales tax returns, income tax returns and long-term extensions was finally canceled on January 1, 2019.

The Taxbird program , which was developed until 2012 and has since been discontinued, was the first free Elster client (but with significant functional restrictions compared to the Windows program ElsterFormular ). The successor to Taxbird was the free Geierlein program , which essentially offered the same functions. Since the interface used by Geierlein was switched off by the Bavarian State Tax Office, Geierlein could no longer be used, which is why the project by the manufacturer Stefan Siegl was terminated.

Elster as the basis of the digital company account

On February 7, 2020, the Bavarian State Ministry for Digital and the Senator for Finance of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen announced that a standardized digital company account for companies based in Germany would be developed based on Elster technology . The aim is to enable companies to use the new digital solution to process applications in electronic form in the same way in all federal states.

The digital company account will be implemented in two stages: the first pilot procedures will begin in 2020. The first functions (e.g. authentication and organization certificates) should be available in 2021. A nationwide uniform company account should be in use from 2022.

history

1996 The Heads of Automation (Tax) of the highest federal and state tax authorities commission an internal working group to examine the requirements for an electronic tax return.
1996 to 1997 Under the leadership of the working group, the Oberfinanzdirektion München is developing a modular software concept for data transmission via a central communication point based on a Windows-based client / server architecture.
October 1997 Delivery of the first Elster client software to twelve providers of tax declaration programs, including DATEV e. G., the Lohnsteuerhilfe Bayern e. V. and Steueroft Saarlouis.
January 1999 Official introduction of Elster as a procedure for the electronic submission of income tax returns .
January 2000 to
June 2001 		Continuous expansion of the offer by wage tax returns , VAT returns and VAT returns , business tax returns as well as the Declaration on the decomposition of the trade tax base amount.
since early 2000 Introduction of individual services for cities, municipalities, districts, chambers and associations for the electronic transmission of vehicle registration data, death data, notifications according to § 45 of the Income Tax Act, budget data etc. to the financial administration.
Early 2001 Access to electronic tax assessment data and, for the first time, the opportunity to automatically compare the assessment data. Introduction of the free tax program ElsterFormular, developed by the Oberfinanzdirektion Erfurt.
July 2002 Pilot start of the new platform-independent architecture based on the Java programming language in selected federal states as well as the introduction of the electronic signature, which eliminates the need for handwritten signatures and thus the need to print out the tax return for legal reasons.
Mid 2003 Start of planning a standardized electronic transmission of all current documents or documents that are mandatory due to legal regulations.
January 2004 Nationwide pilot start of the electronic transmission of income tax certificates implemented by the computing center of the financial administration of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (RZF) , Düsseldorf. The pilot is carried out with partners from the private sector and public administration.
January 2004 As an alternative to electronic transmission: pilot test by the states of Bremen and North Rhine-Westphalia for a separate printout of the tax return data as a barcode (to be submitted with the tax return to the tax office).
January 2004 Start of planning an integrated, personalized web portal through which tax citizens and tax advisors can carry out all transactions with the tax authorities online after registering once.
March 2004 Pilot start of electronic tax account inquiries for tax citizens and tax advisors in Hesse , realized by the regional finance office in Frankfurt.
March 2004 Implementation of a cross-border online data query for the identification of high-risk cases to combat tax fraud.
January 2005 Obligation to use Elster for wage and sales tax advance notifications as well as wage tax certificates .
September 2005 Official opening of the ElsterOnline portal. Introduction of ElsterBASIS, ElsterPLUS and ElsterSPEZIAL for voluntary authentication
Late 2006 The BZStOnline portal of the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) based on ElsterOnline technology for portals is available. This makes it possible to electronically transmit reports according to the EU Savings Tax Directive , applications for sales tax reimbursement , summary reports (ZM), collective applications for the reimbursement of investment income tax and notifications about capital income actually exempted.
May 2008 Transmission option for the corporation tax return , subclaim type 30.
Mid / late 2008 BSI certifies Elster. An ISO 27001 certificate based on the IT-Grundschutz catalogs of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) documents the successful implementation of information security in accordance with international standards.
September 2008 The BZStOnline portal achieved 99 out of 100 points (very accessible) in the BIK BITV test (project of the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to make web offers more accessible for disabled people)
November 2008 Possibility to transmit reports on § 34a EStG, favoring the profits not withdrawn.
November 2008 The Elster program library "ERiC" is also available for Linux for the first time
July 2009 Extension of the offer to include capital gains tax registration according to the EStG
January 2009 Transmission option for the corporation tax return , subclaim type 31.
Mid-2009 The Customs uses Elster certificates for the electronic transmission of Internet-export declaration Plus ( IAA-plus )
November 2009 Transmission option for the declaration for the separate and uniform determination of the bases for income taxation, sub-type 90.
Early 2010 Extension of the offer to include capital gains tax registration according to the Investment Tax Act
January 2010 Transmission option for the corporation tax return , sub-types 32 and 33.
April 2010 Customs use Elster certificates for the Internet EMCS application (IEA)
April 2010 The ElsterOnline portal is being expanded to include forms for Section 50a of the Income Tax Act (registration via tax deduction for payments to persons with limited tax liability)
April 2010 Start of pilot "electronic objection " via the ElsterOnline portal in the states of Bavaria , Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt
August 2010 Data protection seal of approval for tax data application "ElsterOnline" by the Independent State Center for Data Protection Schleswig-Holstein
November 2010 Transmission option for electronic balance sheets .
Early 2011 Magpie on Facebook and Twitter
February 2011 Transmission option for the declaration for the separate and uniform determination of the bases for income taxation, sub-type 95.
November 2011 The Elster program library "ERiC" is also available for Mac OS X for the first time
November 2011 Transmission and query of the electronic wage tax deduction features , ELStAM.
December 2011 The declaration for the separate and uniform determination of the basis for income taxation for up to 10 participants can be submitted via the ElsterOnline portal.
January 2012 The EÜR income surplus calculation can be submitted via Elster.
February 2012 Even with limited tax citizens from casting about Elster income tax.
April 2012 The corporate income tax return can be submitted via the ElsterOnline portal.
May 2012 Transmission option ZMDO.
1st half of the year 2012 The new identity card can be used at Elster for registration in the ElsterOnline portal.
November 2012 Transmission option for the income tax return of persons with limited tax liability, sub-case type 12.
April 2013 The income tax return can be submitted via the ElsterOnline portal.
May 2013 Registration in the ElsterOnline portal is possible without Java .
August 2013 All functions of the ElsterOnline portal are possible without Java .
January 2014 The “ pre-filled tax return ” is a free service provided by the German tax administration with the aim of making it easier for citizens to prepare income tax returns . The pre-filled tax return, also known as “document retrieval”, has been available since January 2014.
1st quarter 2014 Connection of the power of attorney database of the Chamber of Tax Advisors
1st quarter 2014 Possibility of submitting corporation tax returns without a main form in the ElsterOnline portal.
2nd quarter 2014 The income surplus calculation (EÜR) can be submitted in the ElsterOnline portal.
3rd quarter 2014 Possibility of submitting the sales tax return (sub-type 50) in the ElsterOnline portal.
January 2015 Extension of the document retrieval of the “pre-filled tax return ” to include wage replacement benefits.
January 2015 Application according to Section 34a of the EStG (preferential treatment for profit not withdrawn) is available in the ElsterOnline portal.
March 2015 Registration with new ID card now with AusweisApp2
August 2015 Improved form view and new navigation in the ElsterOnline portal
September 07, 2015 ElsterSmart (Elster app for Android and iOS) available in the respective app stores
March 2016 Notification data can be displayed in the ElsterOnline portal
July 2017 Complete relaunch of the ElsterOnline portal and the www.elster.de website. Relaunch under the names "Elster: Your Online Tax Office" and "Mein Elster".
2019 various online options:
  • Request for an extension of the deadline,
  • Request for adjustment of advance payments,
  • Change of address,
  • Change of bank details,
  • Other message to the tax office,
  • Questionnaire for tax registration for sole proprietorships,
  • Questionnaire for tax registration: establishment of a corporation or cooperative,
  • Questionnaire for tax registration: establishment of a partnership / partnership,
  • Questionnaire for tax registration: Participation in a partnership / partnership
January 2020 Digital income tax assessment

Web links

Wiktionary: ELSTER  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
  • elster.de - the Elster project
  • ladisch.de/elster.html - ElsterFormular with Wine / Linux
  • ubuntuusers.de/ElsterOnline - describes how to ElsterOnline under Ubuntu can use
  • elster4mac.de - Elster for Mac
  • stesie.github.com/geierlein - Geierlein, only for VAT registrations (“a free Elster client, ie an application that allows you to send VAT declarations to Germany's fiscal authorities”) , further development of taxbird.de - Taxbird, free Elster- Client software, only executable under X11 (note, as of October 2011: will no longer be developed beyond 2012, it is still not possible to submit annual tax returns, especially income tax returns, with Geierlein / Taxbird)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ELSTER - Imprint. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, accessed on February 13, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b ELSTER - system requirements. State and federal finance administrations, represented by the IT steering group, accessed on February 13, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Business distribution plan of the Thuringian State Office for Finance - as of April 1, 2019 (PDF) Thuringian State Office for Finance, accessed on February 13, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b ELSTER - ElsterFormular. State and federal finance administrations, represented by the IT steering group, accessed on July 23, 2020 .
  5. ↑ ELSTER - consensus. State and federal finance administrations, represented by the IT steering group, accessed on February 13, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b c ELSTER - ElsterFormular. In: ELSTER - your online tax office. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, accessed on February 13, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Dr. Daniel Hoffmann: Frotscher / Geurts, EStG § 45a registration and certification ... / 2.4 Capital gains tax registration (Paragraph 1). Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG, accessed on February 15, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b c FG Rhineland-Palatinate: Self-employed newspaper deliverers with low operating income do not have to submit an electronic tax return. VERLAG CHBECK oHG, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Christian Ollick: filing tax returns on paper. Haufe-Lexware GmbH & Co. KG, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  10. ↑ FG Rhineland-Palatinate: Independent newspaper deliverers with low operating income do not have to submit an electronic tax return. VERLAG CHBECK oHG, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  11. ↑ BMF v. 11/16/2011 - IV A 7 - O 2200/09/10009: 001. NWB Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  12. ↑ BMF v. December 17, 2012 - IV D 3 - S 7015/12/10001 BStBl 2012 I p. 1260 - Sales tax application decree; Changes as of December 31, 2012 (incorporation of case law and editorial changes). NWB Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, accessed on February 15, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Tax assessment 2017 - it is worth checking carefully - this is how you proceed. Stiftung Warentest, June 19, 2018, accessed on February 20, 2020 .
  14. ↑ a b c How do you get your tax return to the tax office? Lohnsteuerhilfeverein Vereinigte Lohnsteuerhilfe eV, October 7, 2019, accessed on February 14, 2020 .
  15. ↑ ELSTER - system requirements. Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  16. ↑ ElsterForum: Linux / Ubuntu: Cookie transfer failed, # 9
  17. ↑ Wiki Ubuntuusers> Financial Management> Tax Returns
  18. ↑ Detailed installation instructions and problem notes for ElsterFormular on Wiki Ubuntuusers
  19. ↑ ELSTER - ElsterAuthenticator. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, accessed on February 14, 2020 .
  20. ↑ ELSTER - login. In: ELSTER - your online tax office. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  21. ↑ ELSTER - system requirements. In: ELSTER - your online tax office. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Frequently asked questions about My ELSTER - FAQ. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Security stick for ELSTER. secunet Security Networks AG, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Signature cards for authentication. In: ELSTER - your online tax office. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, accessed on February 12, 2020 .
  25. ↑ ElsterSmart in the App Store. Apple Inc., accessed February 12, 2020 .
  26. ↑ a b c d e f g h L. Rabe: Number of electronically transmitted income tax returns in Germany from 2000 to 2019. Statista GmbH, March 11, 2019, accessed on February 14, 2020 .
  27. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar Bavarian State Tax Office, Press officer
  28. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ELSTER - Presse: Current figures. Bavarian State Tax Office - Munich Office, January 31, 2020, accessed on February 14, 2020 .
  29. ↑ a b c d e That is consensus. State and federal finance administrations, represented by the IT steering group, accessed on February 13, 2020 .
  30. ↑ Little Vulture. Accessed January 2, 2020 .
  31. ↑ Bremen and Bavaria cut the Gordian knot in the digital company account - ELSTER technology will be the basis in the future. Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Press Office of the Senate, February 7, 2020, accessed on February 20, 2020 .
  32. ↑ Digital company account - A uniform company account for Germany - Made in Bavaria. Bavarian State Ministry for Digital, February 7, 2020, accessed on February 20, 2020 .