ELSTER certificate expired or expiring: how to renew it

An ELSTER certificate file is valid for 3 years. If it is about to expire, you log in to Mein ELSTER before it runs out: the extension starts there and gives you a new file. If it has already expired, that no longer works. You then renew your access with a new identity check and get new activation data. Your account stays in both cases.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

In brief

Lifetime: 3 years from the day your certificate was issued in step 2 of the registration.
Still valid: log in to Mein ELSTER, finish the extension, activate the new file. Your data stays unchanged.
Already expired: use the access renewal ("Login wieder ermöglichen"). New activation data arrives by post and e-mail.
Afterwards: the old file is invalid. Any software that uses a copy of it needs the new one.

How long is an ELSTER certificate valid?

According to ELSTER's help, every electronic certificate has a validity period, and expiry is a normal event. For a certificate file (.pfx) and for the security stick, it starts when the final certificate is issued in step 2 of the registration and lasts 3 years. For a signature card it usually starts when the card is produced.

You can see when yours ends after logging in: on the start page of the private area ELSTER shows the date on which your certificate becomes invalid. Mein ELSTER also e-mails you several weeks in advance, and some tax programs add a notice of their own.

Extend the certificate while it is still valid

This is the easy way, and ELSTER says you must take it before the expiry date.

Log in to Mein ELSTER as soon as the notice e-mail arrives. For a certificate file or a security stick, ELSTER says to do this as soon as possible.
During the login ELSTER shows you information about the pending extension. The extended certificate is fetched automatically.
Save the new certificate file. ELSTER confirms: new certificate file generated and downloaded, use only the new file from now on. You find it in your browser's download folder or in the folder you chose.
Activate the new file on the page "Aktivieren Sie jetzt Ihre neue Zertifikatsdatei" (activate your new certificate file now): pick the file with "Durchsuchen" (browse), enter the password of the new file and click "Zertifikatsdatei aktivieren".

Important: the moment you activate the new file, the old one becomes invalid. Your drafts, inbox messages, settings and profiles stay unchanged in an extension, and no permissions change.

Forgot the password of the new file? Log in once more with the old file and repeat the password change.

Certificate already expired: what to do

After expiry you can no longer log in with the old certificate, and you can no longer extend it either. At first you have no access to the data in your private area. The expiry does not delete your user account.

To get back in:

Open ELSTER's page "Login wieder ermöglichen" (access renewal). It is meant for exactly this case: your certificate expired, you forgot your password or you lost the file.
Enter the e-mail address and user name of your account and click "Weiter" (next). Forgot the user name? On request ELSTER sends you the details of all accounts registered under that e-mail address.
Confirm your identity, online or by letter.
You receive new activation data by post and by e-mail. After you enter it you get a new certificate and log in as usual.

During the renewal you can also block your previous certificate. A blocked certificate stays blocked and cannot be reactivated.

If you already have an account, you do not register again: when a user account exists for your tax identification number, a new registration is not possible and ELSTER points you to the access renewal. The first registration is described in ELSTER certificate: registration step by step.

Signature card and security stick

The security stick can be extended like the certificate file. The certificate stored on a signature card cannot: you need a new card. You request the activation data for the switch before the old card expires, after logging in, under "Zertifikatswechsel". For technical reasons ELSTER does not guarantee that this data stays valid for more than 30 days, so finish the switch promptly.

What happens to software that uses the certificate?

After an extension only the new file is valid. According to ELSTER all other copies lose their validity, and a login with them no longer works. If you stored the file in tax software, on a second computer or in a backup, replace the old one with the new one there.

If you log in only with the certificate file, without a valid certificate you also cannot get into Mein ELSTER to send, for example, a VAT return. For the login to the BZSt online portal, where you file the OSS return, the BZSt says an existing ELSTER certificate can be used; in that case you need the new file there as well. Where the OSS return is filed is explained in OSS return: BZSt portal or ELSTER?. So do not schedule the extension for the week of a deadline.

Common mistakes

Waiting until it expires. After expiry the easy extension is gone, and you need a new identity check with a letter in the post.
Registering again although an account exists. ELSTER refuses it. Use the access renewal.
Keep using the old file. After activation it is invalid.
Opening or importing the new file. ELSTER says to only save it. Test it with a login.
Not writing the password down. According to ELSTER the security of the file rests on its password. Write it down and keep it safe.

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT is the tax software for Amazon and eBay sellers in Germany: your OSS return first, then VAT, EÜR, trade tax and income tax, calculated and filed in one place.

You upload your Amazon and eBay CSV reports, and VAT GPT splits the VAT for Germany and the EU (OSS).
You check the figures and confirm them.
With VAT GPT Pro you send the OSS return to the BZSt. In VAT GPT's sending window you select your ELSTER certificate file (.pfx or .p12) and enter its password. According to the note in the sending window, VAT GPT uses both for that single session only and deletes them right afterwards; they are never stored.

For you this means: after an extension you do not have to update anything in VAT GPT. At the next sending you pick the new file. You get the certificate itself from ELSTER; VAT GPT does not issue it.

There are Free, Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro plans. Try it free

Frequently asked questions

How long is an ELSTER certificate valid? A certificate file or security stick: 3 years from issue in step 2 of the registration.

How do I know when it expires? After the login the start page of the private area shows the date. Mein ELSTER also e-mails you several weeks ahead.

Is any data lost when I extend it? No. Drafts, messages, settings and profiles stay.

My certificate has expired. Do I have to register again? No. You renew your access under "Login wieder ermöglichen". The expiry does not delete your account.