Tax ID in Germany: your Steuer-ID, found, explained and replaced

One number for life: what the Steuer-ID is

The Steuer-ID (officially steuerliche Identifikationsnummer, also IdNr or TIN) is Germany's personal tax identifier: 11 digits, assigned once, valid for life. It never changes - not when you move, marry, change your name, or leave Germany and come back. The digits encode nothing personal; it's a pure identifier issued by the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern (BZSt), the federal central tax office.

It's one of the two numbers every German HR form wants, and the pair confuses everyone: the 11-digit Steuer-ID handles tax, the 12-character Sozialversicherungsnummer handles social insurance. Different systems, different letters, both arrive automatically.

Germans themselves mix up the Steuer-ID with the Steuernummer - a different, older tax number (more below). When an employer, bank, or the Kindergeld office asks for your "tax ID", they mean the 11-digit Steuer-ID.

How you get it: automatically, after your Anmeldung

There is no application form for new arrivals. The chain is:

1. You register your address (Anmeldung in Germany) - the registration office reports you to the BZSt.
2. The BZSt assigns your Steuer-ID and mails it to your registered address.
3. The letter arrives in roughly 2-4 weeks (up to 6 in busy periods - September's student wave slows everything down).

Babies born in Germany get theirs a few weeks after the birth is registered (Having a baby in Germany) - which is why Kindergeld applications can quote the child's IdNr almost immediately.

The Your first 30 days in Germany plan treats the Steuer-ID like the Sozialversicherungsnummer: a "wait for the letter" item, not a "go apply" item. But unlike the social security number, there IS a shortcut when you can't wait - see the Finanzamt route below.

Where to find it right now

Already been in Germany a while? The number is on more documents than you'd think:

• The original BZSt letter ("Zuteilung der Identifikationsnummer") - the one you should have saved.
• Your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung - the annual wage-tax statement from your employer.
• Any Einkommensteuerbescheid - the Finanzamt's assessment after a The German tax return.
• Your payslip - many (not all) payroll systems print it as "Steuer-ID" or "IdNr" (Your German payslip decoded).
• Your ELSTER account - visible in your profile if you registered at elster.de, the official tax portal (ELSTER in English).
• Your employer's HR system - they have it because payroll runs on it; just ask.

One place it is not: your Anmeldebestätigung. The registration certificate proves your address; the tax ID follows separately by post.

Lost it: the two replacement routes

• Online (official, free): the BZSt's re-request form sends your Steuer-ID again. For data-protection reasons it comes only by letter to your registered address - never by email or phone - and takes up to several weeks. Ignore any website charging money for this; the BZSt never charges.
• In person (the fast route): your local Finanzamt can look your Steuer-ID up at the counter - bring your passport (and ideally the Anmeldebestätigung). Many offices do this without an appointment. This also works for new arrivals about 5 business days after the Anmeldung, once your registration has propagated - often weeks before the letter shows up.

The in-person route is the single most useful trick on this page: expats routinely wait a month for a number the Finanzamt clerk can see in seconds.

Job starts before the letter: emergency tax class 6

The Steuer-ID's whole job in payroll is connecting you to your electronic tax data (ELStAM). No Steuer-ID means your employer must withhold at Steuerklasse VI - the emergency class that assumes this is your second job and takes the maximum cut, often close to half your gross (German tax classes (Steuerklassen)).

Three things to know before you panic:

• It's temporary and fully refundable. Once the ID lands, your employer reruns payroll under your real tax class and the difference comes back - usually in the next salary run, otherwise via your tax return.
• Warn HR it's coming and hand the number over the day the letter arrives (or fetch it at the Finanzamt after ~5 business days - see above).
• If the year ends before it's corrected, a The German tax return recovers every overpaid euro - Steuerklasse VI refunds are among the largest and most certain refunds in the system.

Steuer-ID, Steuernummer, USt-IdNr: the three tax numbers decoded

Germany runs three separate "tax numbers", and forms rarely explain which one they want:

Practical translation: employees mostly only ever need the Steuer-ID. Freelancers get a Steuernummer from the Finanzamt after the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung (Freelancing in Germany) and put THAT on invoices - plus a USt-IdNr if they trade across EU borders. Your Steuer-ID stays yours through all of it.

And the fourth lookalike from the other system: the 12-character Sozialversicherungsnummer. Length is the tell - 11 digits = tax, 12 characters with a letter = social insurance.

When you'll actually need it

• Payroll - the number one use; no ID means Steuerklasse VI withholding.
• Kindergeld - the application requires your Steuer-ID and your child's (Kindergeld).
• Opening a bank account - German banks ask for it under international CRS/FATCA reporting rules (Opening a German bank account as an expat).
• Your tax return and ELSTER registration - the portal identifies you by it.
• Government benefits and student finance - BAföG offices and other agencies quote it.
• Riester and other subsidized savings - the subsidy runs on your IdNr.

Same advice as for its social-insurance sibling: the day the BZSt letter arrives, photograph it and store the number in your password manager. It's the last time Germany sends it to you unprompted.

Frequently asked questions