Are there no more employment tax cards?

No. Since 2010, no new income tax cards have been sent out, as the government decided to switch to an electronic income tax procedure. This is intended to simplify communication between citizens and the tax office.

Since 2013, all the data that employers need for the monthly income tax deduction, which was previously on the cardboard income tax card, has been made available in a tax administration database for employers to access. This data is referred to as Electronic Income Tax Deduction Features (ELStAM):

• Income tax class,
• Factor for tax class IV,
• Marital status,
• Religion,
• Spouse's religion,
• Number of child allowances,
• Allowance for disabled persons / bereaved,
• Income tax allowance (for high work-related expenses, special expenses and extraordinary burdens),
• Exemption and addition amounts for low earners.