Fragebogen Zur Steuerlichen Erfassung [Tax Registration]

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Reena R

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Last Updated:

June 6, 2025

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Key Takeaway

Every business owner, including freelancers, must fill out the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung).
The tax office (Finanzamt) usually sends a notice to complete the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung. However, they are not obligated to do so.
After completing Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung, you’ll receive your business’s tax number (Steuernummer), which you can use in your invoices and file business tax returns.

This is how you do it

Fill out and submit the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) in English here.
Apply for VAT ID (if necessary).
You’ll receive your business’s tax number within 4-8 weeks.
If you feel nervous or don’t have the time to complete the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung yourself, you can hire a tax advisor to do it on your behalf.

What is Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung?

Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung is a form through which businesses apply for their tax number (Steuernummer) and VAT ID (optional).

NOTE: Your personal tax number is different from your business’s tax number (Steuernummer).

Every business in Germany must complete the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung). Usually, the tax office sends you the notice to complete the questionnaire once you register your business with the trade office (Gewerbeanmeldung). However, the tax office is not obligated to do so.

As a freelancer (Freiberufler), you don’t register your business with the trade office (Gewerbeamt). However, you must fill out the tax registration form.

NOTE: It’s your responsibility to submit the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung within 1 month of opening your business. The tax office is no longer obligated to notify you to submit the form.

Previously, you could download the tax form online, fill it out at the tax office, and submit it directly. However, since 2021, tax registration can only be completed online via the ELSTER portal.

You can also fill out the “Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung” form in English using Norman Finance’s free tool. If filling out the form yourself makes you nervous or you don’t have the time, you can hire a tax advisor to fill it out on your behalf.

You’ll receive your business’s tax number (Steuernummer) within a few weeks after submitting the tax registration form. You use your business’s tax number to file tax returns and issue invoices.

After tax registration, you may have three different numbers for tax purposes.

Business’s tax number (Steuernummer): You get it after submitting the “Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung”
Personal tax number (Steuernummer): You get it if you are employed and filed a tax return.
Tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer or Steuer-ID): Everyone in Germany gets this automatically at birth or the first time they register themselves in Germany.

Who must submit Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung?

Everyone starting a business in Germany must complete the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung). Depending on the legal form (Rechtsformen) of your business, you must choose the appropriate tax questionnaire:

Category of businesses	Legal form (Rechtsformen)	Tax Questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) for different businesses
Sole proprietorships (Einzelunternehmen)	– Freelancer (Freiberufler/innen) – Small business (Kleingewerbe) or sole trader (Kleingewerbetreibende) – Merchant (Kaufmann/Kauffrau (e.K.))	Questionnaire for tax registration of a sole proprietorship (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung eines Einzelunternehmens)
Partnerships (Personengesellschaften)	– Partnership under civil law (Gesellschaft Bürgerlichen Rechts (GBR)) – General partnership (Offene Handelsgesellschaft (OH)) – Limited partnership (Kommanditgesellschaft (KG))	Questionnaire for establishing a partnership (Fragebogen zur Gründung einer Personengesellschaft)
Capital companies (Kapitalgesellschaften)	– Limited liability company (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (GmbH)) – Limited liability company (Unternehmergesellschaft (UG)) – Stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft (AG)) – Non Profit (Gemeinnützige) — gGmbH — gUG – Limited (Limited)	Questionnaire for the establishment of a corporation (Fragebogen zur Gründung einer Kapitalgesellschaft )

*Screenshot of Elster showing different tax registration forms based on your company’s legal form.*

How to fill the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung in Germany?

The official way to complete the tax questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) is through ELSTER. However, you can also complete the form through a:

Third-party app: These apps offer a simplified version of the questionnaire. So, you can fill out the form without getting confused. We find Norman Finance an easy-to-use app that allows you to complete your tax registration in English for free.
Tax advisor: If filling out the form makes you nervous or you don’t have the time, you can hire a tax advisor to fill it out on your behalf.

Here is how you can use Norman Finance to complete the tax registration questionnaire.

Personal Information

In the first section, you will provide your personal information. This includes:

Your Name
Current profession
Birth date
Gender
House address
Tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer)
Previous residential address (If you had shifted from another city in the past twelve months).

Select your religion from the list if you belong to a religious community that pays church tax. If not, select “not subject to church tax.”

You must also provide details on your marital status. The tax office needs this information to get a complete picture of your financial situation.

Lastly, enter your contact information: e-mail, phone number, and website (if any)

Business Information

Write a brief abstract description of your business (Gewerbe).

For example, if you are writing blogs on mountain hiking, write the description as: “Creating content in the form of blogs (articles), videos, and images.”

Office Address: If you have a separate office, select “yes” and enter your office address. If your home is your workplace, choose “no.” Your address determines the local municipality to which you’ll pay the trade tax (Gewerbesteuer).

E-mail and website: Write your business email and website.

Previous business in Germany: If you ran a self-employed business in the past three years, provide your previous tax number (Steuernummer) and the tax office (Finanzamt) that issued it.

Tax: Expected income

Enter your business’s start date and a rough revenue prediction for the first two years. The tax office uses this estimate to

Assess the advance tax payments. You pay these taxes in advance to the tax office every quarter. This way, you avoid paying a big tax bill at the end of the year.
Assess if you are required to charge VAT or if Kleinunternehmerregelung applies to you.

If your revenue estimate deviates too much or too little, you can update the tax office (Finanzamt) later.

Tax: Request a VAT ID

You can apply for a VAT ID while filling out the “Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung.” You can also apply for a VAT ID separately.

You require a VAT ID if you

Intend to charge your customers VAT (sales tax (Umsatzsteuer)).
Sell your products across the EU.

You can avoid sales tax (Umsatzsteuer) if your business qualifies for small business regulation (Kleinunternehmerregelung). This reduces your bureaucratic work.

Note: If you opt out of small business regulation (Kleinunternehmerregelung) voluntarily, you are bound with this decision for five years.

Tax: Bookkeeping type

In this section, select your bookkeeping type. There are two types:

Single-entry bookkeeping, or Einnahmen-Überschuss-Rechnung (EÜR), involves comparing revenue with expenditure to determine final profit. This method is easy and is recommended for new founders. You can use this method if you are a freelancer (Freiberufler) or a small business (Kleingewerbe) earning less than 80,000€ per year.
Double-entry bookkeeping or Bilanzierung (Betriebsvermögensvergleich) is an exhaustive accounting method involving assets, liabilities, etc. Companies registered in the commercial register (Handelsregister), such as GmbH, AG, etc., must use this method.

Tax: Taxation basis

Choose cash accounting or actual taxation (Ist-Versteuerung) if you record your transactions after your invoices are paid or the money enters or leaves your bank account. This is simple, and you can use your business bank account statement for this purpose.

Choose accrual accounting or accrual taxation (Soll-Versteuerung) if you record your transactions after issuing your invoices. It could be possible that you didn’t recieve the money yet.

Experts recommend that new founders select cash accounting or actual taxation. In actual taxation, you only pay the VAT once your invoice has been paid. This saves you from making advance VAT payments and gives you more liquidity.

If in doubt, consult a tax advisor.

Tax: VAT exemption and reduction

The standard VAT rate in Germany is 19%. However, in some instances, the VAT rate is reduced to 7%. According to Section 12 of the Value Added Tax Act (Umsatzsteuergesetz ), VAT is reduced to 7% for the following products and services:

Graphics arts industry: books, newspapers
Sound recording media: discs, tapes, non-volatile semiconductor storage devices, smart cards.
Art objects: paintings, engravings, and sculptures.
Collectibles: zoological, botanical, mineralogical, or anatomical collections.
Products for menstrual hygiene purposes: sanitary pads, tampons, and other plastic hygiene items.

Moreover, certain businesses are exempt from VAT. For example, transactions involved in the supply and installation of photovoltaic systems, components, and devices are exempt from VAT.

Estimations

In this section, provide the expected income from different sources. If you have no income from a particular source, select “No.”

Don’t worry if you don’t know the exact income or expense. Just enter a rough value. These estimates only aim to help the tax office (Finanzamt) determine your tax pre-payments.

Estimations: Special expenses (Sonderausgaben)

Special expenses (Sonderausgaben) are private expenses (not part of business expenses) that you can deduct from your income to save taxes. According to Section 10 of the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetzes), the following expenses can be deducted for tax purposes:

Church tax (Kirchensteuer)
Pension expenses (Vorsorgeaufwendungen)
Education expenses
Donations (Spenden)

It’s an optional field. If you don’t know these expenses, you can skip them.

Estimations: Tax deductions (Steuerabzugsbeträge)

Tax deductions (Steuerabzugsbeträge) are the taxes deducted directly from your income source. In other words, you get the income after deducting the tax.

These typically include:

Payroll/Wage tax (Lohnsteuer)
Church tax (Kirchensteuer)
Capital gains tax (Kapitalertragssteuer), etc.

You can check last year’s tax assessment to determine how much wage, church, and capital gains tax you paid. This will give you an idea of how much tax you may pay in the current and next year.

You can enter the estimate in the tax deduction field. If you don’t know these values, you can skip this field.

Enter your bank details here. The tax office uses this information for tax-related transactions, such as tax refunds.

You can also complete a SEPA direct debit mandate to authorize the tax office to debit your account directly. This allows the tax office to deduct your tax payment from your bank account automatically.

You can skip this field if you don’t want to share your bank details with the tax office.

Review

Select your local tax office (Finanzamt) from the list. If you don’t know your local tax office, you can find one by entering the name of your municipality here.

Review and submit the form. Within four to eight weeks of registration, you’ll receive your tax number (Steuernummer) and VAT number (if applied) via post.

Select your tax office (Finanzamat) field

Keep a copy of the filled tax registration form for your reference.

Costs associated with Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung

You can finish tax registration (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) free of cost through

The ELSTER portal or
The third-party app (NormanFinance)

If you hire a tax advisor (Steuerberater) to complete the form, you can expect to spend between 300€ and 500€.

Mistakes to avoid while filling out the Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung

It is common to make errors when filling out the tax registration form (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung). However, too many errors can prolong the registration process and incur tax disadvantages.

Avoid these common mistakes:

Using a private bank account instead of a separate business bank account
Mentioning the profit forecasts as too high or too low
Choosing accrual taxation
Unclear business purpose
Not taking advantage of small business regulation (Kleinunternehmerregelung)

What happens if you delay your tax registration in Germany?

According to the German Tax Code (Abgabenordnung), you must register your business with the tax office (Finanzamt) within 1 month of commencing business activity.

Failure to do so might result in penalties and audits.