Elektronische Lohnsteuerabzugsmerkmale Änderung

If your personal circumstances have changed - e.g. due to marriage - your personal income tax deduction details will usually also be changed.

Since 2014, it is no longer necessary to submit a certificate for wage tax deduction to the employer. The employer receives the wage tax deduction details (ELStAM) electronically from the tax authorities. To retrieve the data, the employer only needs the employee's date of birth and tax identification number as well as information on whether the employment relationship is the main or secondary one. In the case of existing employment relationships, the employer already has this information.

The tax offices are responsible for the following changes:

• Change of tax class
• Consideration of adult children
• Consideration of children who are registered outside the parent's municipality of residence
• Income tax reduction procedure

The registration office is responsible for the following changes

• Changes of address
• changes at the registry office, e.g. due tojoining or leaving the church,marriage,birth, adoption or death

Theseare still managed by the citizens' offices of the cities and municipalities and automatically transmitted to the tax authorities to change the personal income tax deduction features.

There is an obligation to notify the tax office if the taxpayer

• the prerequisite for a less favorable tax class has occurred (e.g. the entry of tax class I due to "permanently separated" in the previous year and thus the elimination of the prerequisite for tax class III),
• a lower number of child allowances must be taken into account,
• the requirement for a tax class II granted on application no longer applies.

Other changes to the ELStAM can be applied for: e.g. :

• Entry of tax class II due to the birth of a child for single persons,
• Voluntary entry of a less favorable tax class, for example tax class I instead of III or IV
• Tax class change between III/V, IV/IV or IV/IV with factor

Please refer to the relevant service for details of the respective change:

- Change on marriage or establishment of a civil partnership
- Change on joining the church
- Change on leaving the church
- Change on separation
- Change on resumption of marital union
- Change of tax class for single parents
- Change of tax class for spouses
- Change of tax class for registered civil partnerships
- Change on the death of a spouse
- Change of address and personal data
- Change for several employment relationships in parallel with several employers

A change to the electronic wage tax deduction characteristics (ELStAM) due to a change in personal circumstances can be made both ex officio and at the employee's request.

Depending on the constellation, either your local tax office or your municipality of residence

Forms for changing the electronic wage tax deduction characteristics (ELStAM) by the tax office and for wage tax reduction are available online at ELSTER and can be obtained in paper form from the tax office or via the forms server of the Federal Tax Administration.

If changes need to be made by your local authority, please contact them.