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How to Get Your German Steuer-ID: Don't Apply for Something That Arrives by Itself

How to Get Your German Steuer-ID: Don't Apply for Something That Arrives by Itself

One-line summary: Germany's personal tax ID (Steuer-ID) is not something you apply for — it is mailed to you automatically after you register your address. The only things you can actually do online are re-requesting a lost one for free, and filing a special form if you have a German employer but no German address.

First, which of the three numbers do you need?

Number What it is Who needs it
Steuer-ID / IdNr 11 digits, lifelong, nationwide Anyone working or filing taxes in Germany
Steuernummer Issued per local tax office, changes when you move districts Freelancers and sole traders who invoice
USt-IdNr EU VAT ID Businesses trading B2B inside the EU

This article covers only the first one. If you are a freelancer who needs to invoice, you also need the second number (via the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung — see Step 4). Do not invoice with your personal ID.

Read this before anything else: if you have no German address registration (Anmeldung) and no German employer, you cannot get a brand-new Steuer-ID from abroad. Any service selling you one from overseas is a scam or a grey-market operation. The remote steps below are for people who have already registered an address in Germany or already have a German employer.

Step 1: Already lived in Germany? Check your old paperwork first

German tax ID guide: the three numbers and where to find yours

Check in this order — most people find the number without any new application:

  1. Any payslip (Gehaltsabrechnung): look for St-ID / IdNr / Steuer-ID in the header.
  2. Your annual wage tax statement (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung, issued each January–February) at the top left.
  3. Any previous tax assessment (Einkommensteuerbescheid), first page.
  4. Ask your employer's HR team — payroll always holds your number.
  5. None of these work? Move to Step 2 — the re-request is free, and any paid page is fake.

Step 2: Lost it or never received it — free re-request from the BZSt, by post only

This is the only genuinely online step in this article, and even it ends with a paper letter (for data-protection reasons, the BZSt never sends the ID by email, phone or fax):

BZSt online forms portal: Obtain tax identification number

  1. Open the BZSt online forms portal (online.portal.bzst.de) and find Obtain tax identification number.
  2. Fill in: your full name (including middle names), your full address as registered with the Bürgeramt, and your date and place of birth.
  3. Wait for the letter: guides put it at 2–4 weeks, up to 6 weeks in busy periods; one guide says follow up in writing only after 3 months with no letter.
  4. The trap: the address must match the Bürgeramt register. If you moved without re-registering (Ummeldung), the letter goes to the old address and the process stalls — re-register first, then re-request.
  5. In a hurry? About 5 business days after your Anmeldung, you can ask at your local Finanzamt counter with your passport and get the number in person (in Germany). If your employer cannot wait, they must withhold tax at emergency class 6 (Steuerklasse 6) — the worst rate — temporarily; once you supply the ID, payroll is corrected and the difference comes back via your annual return.

Step 3: No German address, but a German employer — the special Finanzamt form

German tax ID and address registration explained

If you live outside Germany but work for a German employer (limited tax liability, beschränkt einkommensteuerpflichtig), use this dedicated route:

  1. Ask your employer first: which Finanzamt covers the employer's place of business (Betriebsstättenfinanzamt)? The application goes to that office, not just any office.
  2. Fill in the dedicated form, officially titled "Antrag auf Vergabe einer steuerlichen Identifikationsnummer für nicht meldepflichtige Personen durch das Finanzamt" (application for a tax ID for people not required to register an address).
  3. If you have an ELSTER account, you can submit it via Mein ELSTER as a "Sonstige Nachricht an das Finanzamt" (other message to the tax office) with the form attached; without ELSTER, send the signed paper form as that Finanzamt directs.
  4. Expect postal delivery again, on the tax office's timeline. Hand the number to your employer's HR as soon as it arrives — do not leave it until payday.

Step 4: Freelancers and sole traders — do not stop here

A personal Steuer-ID alone does not let you invoice. You also need to:

  1. Submit the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung (tax registration questionnaire) via ELSTER to get a Steuernummer.
  2. The form is only available in German, and errors in the profit-forecast fields can trigger advance tax payments (Vorauszahlungen). If unsure, have a Steuerberater (tax advisor) check it.
  3. If you move to a different Finanzamt district, your Steuernummer changes — notify the new office immediately and update your invoice templates, or your customers face denied input-VAT deductions.

Costs, timing and warnings

  • Cost: application and re-request are €0. Paid "expediting" services are a red flag.
  • Timing: automatic letter after Anmeldung, about 2–4 weeks; re-request, 2–6 weeks; in-person lookup at the Finanzamt, about 5 business days after Anmeldung.
  • Having the number creates no tax bill by itself: tax liability depends on your income source and residence status, not on holding the number — and that is also why you should not obtain a number you do not need.
  • Do not mix the numbers up: the personal ID never changes; the Steuernummer changes when you move districts and is the one for invoicing.
  • Not verified: how each individual Finanzamt handles the no-address form (pure email vs notarised paper) was not checked office by office; ELSTER's interface is German-only, and the form titles above are given in German for exact matching.

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