Prefilled tax return in ELSTER: what sellers get

The prefilled tax return brings data the tax office already holds into your income tax return: for example wage tax certificates and insurance contributions. For sellers the most important figure is missing. Your profit is not part of it; it comes from your EÜR. The retrieval is still useful for whatever sits next to the trade.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

In brief

  • What is in it: Data of the last four years that was sent to the tax authorities about you.
  • Switch on: You register with your identification number in Mein ELSTER and agree to the retrieval.
  • What is missing: Business income, business expenses and profit; you work these out in the EÜR.

Which data does the tax office already have?

ELSTER calls the prefilled tax return a free service of the tax administration. It provides electronic data and certificates of the last four years that were sent to the tax administration about you:

  • master data stored at the tax administration (name, address, bank details, religion)
  • wage tax certificates sent by your employer
  • wage replacement benefits, for example unemployment benefit, sickness benefit, parental allowance
  • notifications about pension benefits
  • contributions to health and long-term care insurance
  • provision expenses, for example Riester or Rürup contracts
  • grants and refunds from authorities and public bodies
  • contributions for capital-forming benefits
  • capital income covered by an exemption order

How do you switch on the retrieval?

You retrieve the certificates to use the prefilled tax return. For that you need a registration with your identification number at Mein ELSTER. Then you must agree to the retrieval in your user account at Mein ELSTER. Alternatively you can use software from a commercial provider.

The data is available at the earliest one day after you agree. You can retrieve it around the clock and repeatedly. How to set up an ELSTER account is in ELSTER registration for businesses: step by step. For a sole proprietor without employees, ELSTER recommends the account type "Für eine Privatperson" there, which needs your identification number; that is the registration the retrieval requires.

What is not in it for a seller?

The list above contains no business income, no business expenses and no profit. For Amazon and eBay sellers that is the core of income tax. You work it out yourself: whoever is not required to keep books and does not, may take the surplus of business income over business expenses as profit (section 4 (3) EStG). That is the EÜR, explained in Income surplus statement in ELSTER: filing the Anlage EÜR. You enter the result in the Anlage G (Anlage G explained for online sellers in Germany).

Your advance VAT returns and the OSS return do not come from this retrieval either. They arise from your sales.

When is the retrieval still worth it?

If you are or were employed next to the trade, you get the wage tax certificate, wage replacement benefits and insurance contributions without typing numbers. The same holds if you draw a pension or have provision contracts. For a seller who only sells, the benefit is smaller, for example master data, insurance contributions, provision expenses and capital income covered by an exemption order.

What do you check before you send?

  • Master data: Are name, address and bank details correct?
  • Figures: Do wage tax certificates and contributions match your own documents?
  • Gaps: What is not in the list is missing in the return. Your profit and your Anlage G belong to it.
  • The year: The retrieval delivers the last four years; choose the tax year you file.

How VAT GPT helps

VAT GPT is the tax software for Amazon and eBay sellers in Germany: your OSS return first, then every other tax you owe, calculated and filed in one place.

  1. In income tax you request access: tax ID, date of birth and your consent. VAT GPT asks the tax office with them.
  2. The tax office sends an activation code in the format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX, according to the note in the app by post in live operation; that can take several days. You enter it.
  3. With "Import" you take the data into the fields of the income tax return and check it there.

VAT GPT works out your profit in the EÜR from your Amazon and eBay reports; with VAT GPT Pro you send the income tax return through ELSTER. There is Free, Go (30 days free with all Pro features) and Pro (€49 per month or €444 per year, including VAT). Try for free now

Not tax advice: the content does not replace individual advice.

Frequently asked questions

Does the prefilled tax return cost anything? ELSTER calls it a free service of the tax administration.

Does it apply to the self-employed? ELSTER offers the retrieval to private persons. The data is what was sent to the tax office about you, also if you are self-employed.

Can I retrieve the data more than once? Yes, ELSTER says: "around the clock, seven days a week and repeatedly".

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