ELSTER registration for businesses: how to set up your account

Registering with ELSTER is free and happens once. You choose an account type, enter your details, confirm your email address, prove your identity by letter or online, and finally set up your access, for example with the ElsterSecure app or with a certificate file. For a sole proprietor without employees, ELSTER recommends the account type “For a private person” (“Für eine Privatperson”); if you have employees, you choose “For an organisation” (“Für eine Organisation”).

Last updated: 26 October 2026. All statements about ELSTER refer to this date.

The essentials in brief

Cost: Registration in Mein ELSTER is free and one-time. Afterwards you submit tax data authenticated, that is without a signature.
Account type: Sole proprietors and solo self-employed people without employees and without a corporation: “For a private person”. Employers and entrepreneurs with employees: “For an organisation”.
Steps: Personal details, confirm your email address, verify your identity, set up your access.
Two activation items: The activation ID arrives by email, the activation code by post. With the online identity check, the letter is not needed.
No tax number yet? For the account type “For a private person” you need no tax number, but your tax identification number. There is also the registration with an email address only; it allows only the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung).

Which account type do you choose?

ELSTER distinguishes by your activity and by whom you file for.

Account type	For whom	You need
For a private person	Employees filing only for themselves, plus sole proprietors and solo self-employed people without employees and without a corporation (ELSTER’s recommendation)	Tax identification number, date of birth, email address, user name
For an organisation	Employers, entrepreneurs with employees, associations and administrations	Federal state, the organisation’s tax number, contact details of the contact person, user name

The tax identification number is not your tax number. The difference is explained in Tax number vs tax ID in Germany.

Registration in four steps

Personal details: You enter the data from the table above. Use a real email address and enter your date of birth correctly. With a wrong email address you will not receive the activation ID; with a wrong date of birth the letter with the activation code cannot be generated, and you may have to repeat the registration. The minimum age for Mein ELSTER is 18.
Confirm your email address: You receive an email with a six-digit verification code, which you enter on the Mein ELSTER page.
Verify your identity: You can choose between a check by letter and the online identity check with your ID card (Nect Wallet app or AusweisApp with your ID PIN). By letter, you receive the activation ID by email and, separately, the activation code by post at the address stored with the registration office or the tax office.
Set up your access: Once you have both activation items, you complete the registration through the link in the email with the activation ID. ELSTER recommends the ElsterSecure app. Alternatively you log in with a certificate file: you choose the file name and password yourself, and the file ends in “.pfx”.

Certificate file or ElsterSecure app?

With a certificate file, security rests on the password, because the file could be copied unnoticed. Only save the file and do not import it on your PC. At the end you test it with a login. If you suspect someone has copied the file, change the password under “Mein Benutzerkonto”: a new file is issued and the old one becomes invalid. With ElsterSecure you scan a QR code at login and confirm with screen lock, Face ID, fingerprint or PIN.

New business: registering without a tax number

If you have just registered your trade and have no tax number yet, you still need an ELSTER account, because you submit the tax registration questionnaire electronically; only on application can the tax office waive this to avoid undue hardship (§ 138 (1b) sentence 3 AO). The registration “For a private person” does not require a tax number but your tax identification number, and according to ELSTER it offers tax returns, tax filings and further forms. There is also the registration with an email address only; according to ELSTER you use it only if you have not yet been given an identification number or a tax number. You receive two emails: first a confirmation link, then an activation code and an activation ID. These are used to create a certificate file for your business.

The certificate initially allows only the questionnaire. As soon as the tax office has given you a tax number, you convert the registration into a full user account (Mein ELSTER, “Mein Benutzerkonto”, “Funktionen eines vollwertigen Benutzerkontos freischalten”). Only then are returns and advance returns available. More on the questionnaire: Tax number in Germany: applying with the tax registration questionnaire online.

Common mistakes

Entering a made-up or misspelled email address. The activation ID will never arrive. If you received neither letter nor email, you repeat the registration.
Not checking the spam folder. The activation ID comes in an email; check your spam folder if needed.
Creating a second account. If a user account already exists for your tax identification number, a new registration is not possible. You renew the access in the existing account instead.
Losing the certificate password. It protects your certificate file. A forgotten password is replaced through an access renewal, for which new activation data is sent.
Expecting more than the questionnaire from the email-only registration. The email-only registration offers only the questionnaire; all other forms follow after the conversion to a full account.

How it works with VAT GPT

You register on elster.de. After that, it continues in VAT GPT like this:

Fill in the questionnaire: If you still need a tax number, you fill in the tax registration questionnaire for sole proprietorships in VAT GPT free of charge and send it to the tax office.
Upload files: your Amazon or eBay CSV reports and your invoices. The AI reads amounts, countries and tax rates.
Check and send: VAT GPT prepares the advance VAT return, you check and confirm; with VAT GPT Pro you send it via ELSTER directly to the tax office.

Everything is in one place: advance VAT return, OSS return, annual VAT return, EÜR, trade tax and income tax returns. With Go you use all Pro features free of charge for 30 days. Get to know VAT GPT or create an account right away.

What VAT GPT does not do

VAT GPT is not tax advice – for example on which account type is right for your situation.

What does VAT GPT cost?

Free (basic features, free of charge), Go (30 days free with all Pro features), Pro €49 per month or €444 per year, each including VAT.

Frequently asked questions

What does ELSTER registration cost? Nothing: registration in Mein ELSTER is free and one-time.

Do I need an organisation account as a sole proprietor? According to ELSTER’s recommendation, not as long as you are not a corporation and have no employees: then “For a private person” fits. With employees you choose “For an organisation”.

Can I register before I have a tax number? Yes. For the account type “For a private person” you need your tax identification number instead of the tax number. There is also the registration by email address only; at first it allows only the tax registration questionnaire.

Where do I get the activation ID and the activation code? The activation ID comes by email, the activation code by post, separately. The ID is an 18-digit code.

What if I receive nothing? Check the spam folder. If neither letter nor email arrives, you repeat the registration.

Do I have to register separately for other tax software? Yes: for authenticated submission, the one-time registration in Mein ELSTER is required. Most commercial software products support this submission.