Your employer deducts income tax directly from your wages with every monthly pay cheque. This part of income tax is therefore known as payroll tax.
Wages include, for example
It does not matter whether
The amount of income tax is influenced in particular by
When calculating income tax , a number of flat-rate allowances are taken into account without you having to submit an application. These include, for example ,
In most cases, this concludes the income tax assessment process for you.
You may need to submit an income tax return after the turn of the year if you
It is best to submit your income tax return to the tax office electronically. You have the option of submitting your tax return electronically with authentication. You authenticate yourself using the ELSTER certificate. This acts as an electronic signature and ensures
of the data sent.
To obtain a certificate, you must register on the ELSTER online portal. This involves several steps, such as submitting your registration details, receiving a confirmation email via the ELSTER online portal, and receiving the activation code by post. Please complete the registration in good time so that you can submit your tax return by the deadline.
Once you have registered on the ELSTER online portal, you can also take advantage of the pre-filled tax return. To this end, the tax authorities will provide you with, for example, the following data and supporting documents stored in your personal file:
If you have registered for the document retrieval service, you can automatically transfer this data into your income tax return.
Please note: You must submit your tax return electronically if you receive or have a share in the following types of income:
This applies regardless of the method used to calculate profits for the EÜR (cash basis accounting) annex, the balance sheet and the entire income tax return.
Paper forms are available from your tax office or online. Frequently used forms are also provided by town and local council offices.
You can post the fully completed and signed tax return to your tax office or hand it in there in person.
Please note: The tax office does not accept tax returns by email. You must sign your tax return by hand in order to submit it by the deadline.
You may submit an informal request to the relevant authority to have these deadlines extended.
If your income tax return is prepared by a tax adviser, a general extension applies, with the deadline for submission being 28/29 February of the second subsequent year.
The tax office cannot extend these deadlines.
Please note: If you submit your tax return electronically but without authentication, it will only be received by the tax office once you have submitted the so-called ‘condensed tax return’ signed by you. In this case, electronic submission alone is not sufficient.
Please bear this in mind, particularly in the case of an application for assessment. If you submit the ‘compressed tax return’ after the four-year deadline has expired, it will be too late.
You do not need to submit any supporting documents. It is sufficient to keep them at home.
none
At the end of the year, your employer must issue you with an income tax certificate, either electronically or on paper. The same applies if your employment ends.
They will also submit the data contained therein electronically to the tax authorities.
Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG)
Lohnsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung (LStDV)
machine generated, based on the German release by: Oberfinanzdirektion Karlsruhe als Vertreterin des Finanzministeriums Baden-Württemberg,24.09.2026