How long does it take to get a tax number in Germany, and what do you do meanwhile?

Waiting for your tax number? Neither ELSTER nor the German Fiscal Code (AO) names a fixed processing time. What is certain is the process: you submit the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) electronically to your tax office within one month of starting your activity, and the tax office sends you the tax number by post after checking it.

Last updated: 27 October 2026

In short

Duration: the check takes as long as your tax office needs; plan so nothing depends on one day.
Meanwhile: with an email-only ELSTER registration you can send the questionnaire straight away. Tax returns cannot be filed at first.
Invoices: the tax number or VAT ID belongs on your invoice; exceptions apply up to €250 (§ 33 UStDV).

How it works: from trade registration to tax number

Register your trade if you run a trade business. Freelancers tell the tax office directly that they have started.
Register with ELSTER, at first with your email address only. Creating the user account is then completed immediately; no letter is sent.
Send the tax registration questionnaire: electronically, within one month of starting the activity (§ 138 (1b) and (4) AO). The competent tax office is the one where your management is located or, for freelancers, where the activity is mainly carried out.
The tax office checks the questionnaire. This step has no official deadline.
The tax number arrives by post. After that you can unlock all functions of a full ELSTER user account.

Everything else about the questionnaire: Tax number in Germany: applying with the tax registration questionnaire online.

How long does processing take?

The honest answer: only your tax office knows. The ELSTER texts on the questionnaire say that the tax number arrives by post "after the questionnaire has been checked", but name neither days nor weeks. § 138 AO only regulates your deadline, not the tax office's. We found no reliable official figure.

Two things are in your hands:

Submit the questionnaire early. The one-month deadline runs from the start of your activity. If you wait weeks, you lengthen the wait yourself.
Give complete, consistent information. The questionnaire asks, among other things, about your expected income, the way you determine profit and VAT. The clearer your answers, the less reason for queries.

What can you do while you wait?

Write invoices. An invoice must show the tax number issued to the business by the tax office or the VAT ID issued by the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) (§ 14 (4) no. 2 UStG). Invoices whose total does not exceed €250 are an exception: they do not need this information (§ 33 UStDV). This does not apply to invoices for supplies within the meaning of §§ 3c, 6a and 13b UStG. Talk to your tax office first if you have to issue larger invoices before the tax number arrives.

Prepare your bookkeeping. Collect receipts, keep payments separate, store your Amazon and eBay reports. None of this needs a tax number.

Apply for a VAT ID along with it. If you state in the questionnaire that you need a VAT ID, the tax office forwards your application to the BZSt once you are registered for VAT. If you apply to the BZSt yourself, you state the tax number under which you are registered for VAT (§ 27a UStG). What comes next for the OSS: OSS registration in Germany: step by step.

No tax returns without a tax number. Until the tax office has given you a tax number, you cannot file tax returns in ELSTER at first. If a due date for an advance return falls into the waiting period, talk to your tax office beforehand. The deadlines themselves: German advance VAT return (UStVA): filing online, deadlines and permanent extension.

When should you ask?

No official text gives a fixed date. The questionnaire help says: "Your tax office is happy to answer questions." If you have heard nothing for several weeks or an invoice is coming up, call or write to your tax office. Have ready the date you sent the questionnaire and the details of the transmission.

Which mistakes come up often?

Waiting for a letter from the tax office. The questionnaire must come unprompted within one month.
Submitting only after weeks without news. The one-month deadline starts with the start of your activity, not with a letter.
Entering the tax ID as the tax number. The tax number is independent of the identification number; more here: Tax number vs tax ID in Germany: what is the difference?.
Choosing the wrong tax office. What counts is the place of management or, for freelancers, the place of the main activity.
Issuing invoices over €250 without a tax number. The mandatory information is then missing.
Posting a paper form. Paper is only allowed on application in special hardship cases.

How VAT GPT helps you with this

You fill in the questionnaire directly in VAT GPT. In three steps:

Fill in the questionnaire: in VAT GPT you fill in the tax registration questionnaire for sole proprietorships.
Check your details: you check and confirm your entries.
Send: VAT GPT sends the questionnaire to the tax office; the tax number arrives by post.

Afterwards you carry on in the same account: upload Amazon and eBay CSV reports and invoices, check the result, send with VAT GPT Pro – advance VAT return, OSS return, annual VAT return, EÜR, trade tax and income tax returns. Everything in one place.

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

Frequently asked questions

How long until I get my tax number? The ELSTER help texts give no official processing time. The tax office sends the tax number by post after checking the questionnaire.

By when must I submit the questionnaire? Within one month of starting the activity, electronically and unprompted (§ 138 (4) AO).

May I write invoices without a tax number? Invoices must show the tax number or the VAT ID (§ 14 (4) no. 2 UStG). Invoices with a total of up to €250 are exempt (§ 33 UStDV), except invoices for supplies under §§ 3c, 6a and 13b UStG.

Can I file advance VAT returns before the tax number arrives? Not at first in ELSTER: with an email-only registration you can only send the questionnaire. Tax returns are possible once the tax office has given you the tax number.

Do I get the tax number by email? According to ELSTER you receive it from your tax office by post after the questionnaire has been checked.

Where do I find my tax number later? On a notice from the tax office, top left behind the word "Steuernummer".

Can I speed up the tax number? The tax office decides how long it takes. You can send the questionnaire early and completely and ask if needed.