Employee savings bonus: electronic notification only, no more Form VL

In order to apply for the employee savings bonus for capital-forming benefits as part of your tax return, the investment institution, such as the building society, issues a certificate to the investor annually. This certificate (Anlage VL) used to be attached to the tax return. However, the main tax return form 2025 now includes the following new query in line 42 to apply for the employee savings bonus: "The employee savings bonus is applied for all electronically submitted capital formation certificates from the provider." What does this mean?

• As early as 26 June 2013, the "Amtshilferichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz" stipulated that the employee savings bonus should no longer be applied for using the "Anlage VL" in paper form, but that an electronic capital formation certificate should be introduced (§ 13 para. 1 of the 5th VermBG). The Federal Ministry of Finance was to announce separately when the new regulation would first apply (§ 17 para. 14 of the 5th VermBG).
• In December 2016, the Federal Ministry of Finance announced that the electronic capital formation certificate procedure was to be used for the first time for capital-forming benefits invested from 1 January 2017. Therefore, the data was to be transmitted electronically to the tax authorities by 28 February 2018. At the same time, it was pointed out that the "Anlage VL" in paper form would no longer be issued in future (BMF letter dated 16 December 2016, BStBl. 2016 I p. 1435).