One-off registration
Every employee whose wages are not to be taxed at a flat rate must be registered once electronically with the tax authorities. The software you use provides you with the corresponding options. In certain cases in which electronic retrieval is blocked, you cannot register the employee. For example, retrieval is blocked if the employee has requested this from the tax office or if incorrect registration data has been saved and the tax office has blocked the data. As a rule, you must use tax class VI as a basis in these cases. In some cases, the tax office will also issue a paper wage tax certificate, which the employee must submit to you. You must then take this into account.
Retrieving the ELStAM
You will receive the ELStAM and its validity date electronically for retrieval for the employees you have registered. Retrieve them at the time of payroll calculation with the software you use. You must transfer the ELStAM to the employee's payroll account and apply it from the date of validity.
Monthly change lists
If an employee's individual ELStAM has changed, for example because he or she has applied for a first-time or higher tax-free allowance and the tax authorities have entered this in the data, you will find these changes in lists that you must call up monthly.
On the website www.elster.de under "My ELSTER", you can request that the tax authorities inform you by e-mail when new or amended ELStAM are available.
Deregistration of the employee
After termination of the employment relationship, you must deregister the employee in the ELStAM database using the software. Deregistration is also possible in the case of an existing employer call-off block.
If the employed person dies, the tax authorities will automatically block the retrieval of ELStAM. In the case of salary payments to heirs or surviving dependants, you must register them as employees so that the tax authorities can create ELStAM and make it available for retrieval.