How do I submit my tax return?
You transfer your data securely and electronically encrypted via online submission directly to the tax office - optionally with your personal certificate or with the portal certificate of Lohnsteuer kompakt.
You also have an option of submitting your tax return in paper form - with electronic data transmission and signature. In this case, you send the signed tax return together with the supporting documents by post to your tax office.
An overview of possible tax return submission methods:
- Online submission with a personal certificate
Submit your tax return entirely online with your personal Elster certificate. There is no need to send your tax return by post.
- Online submission with identification
Submit your tax return entirely online. There is no need to send your tax return by post. For your security, you must identify yourself digitally.
- Paper submission with electronic data transmission
First, you submit your data online to the tax office. Then you send a signed printout of your tax return to the tax office.
Important note: Starting from the tax year 2021, the tax authorities, unfortunately, no longer allow this type of submission. Please use another convenient submission option. You can still use the „Paper submission with electronic data transmission“ to submit tax returns for previous tax years.
- Paper submission of completed tax forms
Since June 2021, this option is no longer available due to technical improvements. Just use another convenient submission option.
There are no price differences, so you are free to choose any type of submission you prefer. Regardless of the type of submission, Lohnsteuer kompakt will of course inform you of the legally required proofs that must be submitted to the tax office by post.
In order for your tax return to be legally valid, you must provide a signature in the case of paper submission, i.e. even in the case of paper submission with electronic data transmission, the compressed tax return must be printed out at the end, signed on the first page and then sent to the tax office.
How do I submit my tax return?
Online submission with identification
With online submission with identification, Lohnsteuer kompakt transfers your tax data directly to the tax authorities via the so-called ELSTER interface using a secure SSL connection. As the tax data is processed electronically within the administration, a simplified tax return is provided, meaning you need to submit significantly fewer documents to your tax office than with a conventional tax return.
To use this procedure, you must digitally identify yourself for security reasons.
At the end of the data transfer to the tax office, a confirmation of receipt and the compressed tax return will be displayed as a PDF file for your records. The confirmation of receipt acknowledges the receipt of your data on the tax office's servers. The compressed tax return contains all your tax data that was transferred to the tax office over the Internet.
If you want to submit the tax return online to the tax office, user identification is legally required (§ 87d Fiscal Code). Before the data is transmitted, Lohnsteuer kompakt must verify the identity and address of the submitting client. For this purpose, we use various methods to identify you as a user during the online submission.
Online submission with identification
Online submission with your own certificate
When submitting online with your own certificate, Lohnsteuer kompakt transfers your tax data directly to the tax authorities via the so-called ELSTER interface using a secure SSL connection. As the tax data is processed electronically within the administration, a simplified tax return is provided, meaning you need to submit significantly fewer documents to your tax office than with a conventional tax return.
For a paperless submission with your own certificate (authenticated submission), you need a free certificate from the tax authorities. This certificate enables secure authentication of the submitted tax return, so you no longer need to send an additional signed printout. You can only apply for the certificate for authenticated submission on the website www.elster.de.
At the end of the data transfer to the tax office, a receipt confirmation and the compressed tax return will be displayed as a PDF file for your records. The receipt confirmation acknowledges the receipt of your data on the tax office's servers. The compressed tax return contains all your tax data that was transferred to the tax office over the Internet.
When submitting online with your personal certificate, you may still need to submit mandatory documents by post.
Online submission with your own certificate
Paper submission with electronic data transfer
With paper submission with electronic data transfer, Lohnsteuer kompakt transmits your tax data directly to the tax authorities via the so-called ELSTER interface using a secure SSL connection.
Important note: Unfortunately, the tax authorities no longer allow this type of submission from the 2021 tax year. Simply use another convenient submission option. For declarations for previous tax years, the "paper submission with electronic data transfer" can still be used.
Since the tax data is processed electronically within the administration, a simplified tax return is provided, meaning you need to submit significantly fewer documents to your tax office than with a conventional tax return.
At the end of the data transfer to the tax office, a confirmation of receipt is generated and the compressed tax return is displayed as a PDF file. The confirmation of receipt acknowledges the receipt of your data on the tax office's servers. The compressed tax return contains all your tax data that was transferred to the tax office via the Internet.
Complete the submission of your tax return as follows:
- Go to the "My tax return" page.
- Download the compressed tax return there.
- Print and check the compressed tax return.
- Sign on the first page at the marked spot.
- Send the return with any documents by post to the tax office.
If the signed tax return is not sent to the tax office, your tax return will not be processed. The transferred data will then be automatically deleted from the tax authorities' servers after six months.
Our tip: You can add to or change your details. Resubmission is always free of charge.
Paper submission with electronic data transfer
Paper submission of completed tax forms
Note: From June 2021, this option is no longer available due to technical improvements.
Please use another convenient submission option.
Paper submission of completed tax forms
Do you want to resubmit your income tax return?
Case 1: Tax return not yet submitted to the tax office
If you have found an error in your tax return, this is generally not a problem. You can change your tax return at any time on Lohnsteuer kompakt and resubmit it electronically to your tax office. The tax office will process the latest version. For your tax return to be processed, it is necessary to send the printed and signed declaration to the tax office. Only then will the data you transmitted via ELSTER be retrieved and processed by the tax officer. If you do not send your tax return to the tax office, your data will be automatically deleted after six months at the latest.
Case 2: Signed tax return already sent to the tax office
In this case, you can easily resubmit your tax return online to your tax office and then submit the updated compressed declaration with your signature. It is sufficient to include a written note to your tax office. You can find a corresponding cover letter in our sample letters ("Resubmission of income tax return").
If you have already submitted the signed tax return, it is best to inform the relevant tax office in advance by telephone that you wish to submit a corrected version of your tax return. This will prevent the resubmission of the tax return from overlapping with the tax office's issuance of the tax assessment notice.
Case 3: Tax return submitted purely online
In this case, you can also resubmit your tax return electronically certified to your tax office. It is best to inform the relevant tax office in advance by telephone that you wish to submit a corrected version of your tax return. This will prevent the resubmission of the tax return from overlapping with the tax office's issuance of the tax assessment notice.
Case 4: Tax assessment notice from your tax office already received
If you have already received the tax assessment notice from your tax office, you must lodge an objection to the tax assessment notice. Only then can your tax assessment be corrected. We also offer a corresponding sample letter for this ("Objection due to error").
If you have any further questions, please contact our customer service ([email protected]). If you wish, we will also call you back.
Do you want to resubmit your income tax return?
