Our employees only speak German in the office and on the phone.

Registering a company or self-employed activity for tax purposes

  • Steuern und Abgaben
  • Unternehmensstart und Gewerbezulassung

If you set up a company, acquire an interest in a company or become self-employed, you must inform the tax office.

  • Basic information

    Companies and the self-employed also have to take care of their taxes during the start-up phase.

    In order for the tax office to classify you correctly for tax purposes, it needs certain information about your company or your self-employed activity. This information must be provided in the "Questionnaire for tax registration".

    You must complete and submit this questionnaire within one month without being individually requested to do so by your local tax office, if possible using the online procedure via the online tax office "ELSTER".

    The tax office uses this questionnaire to determine, among other things

    • what kind of taxes you have to pay
    • when you have to pay,
    • how much you are likely to have to pay.

    The information you provide in the tax registration questionnaire forms the basis for all correspondence relating to your business or self-employed activity with the tax office.

    You must also complete the tax registration questionnaire if you want to work part-time.

    Requirements

    You take a

    • commercial,
    • self-employed (freelance) or
    • agricultural and forestry activity,

    or you establish a

    • corporation,
    • corporation
    • partnership/community or an
    • association,

    or

    • You participate in a partnership/community
    • You do not run your business as a hobby (no intention to make a profit).

  • Procedure

    You should register your company or self-employed activity for tax purposes online if possible.

    Register for tax purposes online:

    • Log in to the German tax administration's "ELSTER- Ihr Online-Finanzamt" website with your ELSTER user account.
      • Note: If you do not yet have an ELSTER user account, you must first create one. Registration involves several steps and can take up to two weeks. You also need the ELSTER user account to submit your tax return electronically.
    • Then select the "All forms" option under the "Forms & services" tab. Then click on the tax registration questionnaire relevant to your business or self-employed activity.
    • Complete the online form in full and upload any required documents. Submit the questionnaire.
    • The tax office will check your details and you may need to submit additional documents.
      You will then be notified of your tax number in writing.

    Note: There is currently no online procedure available for associations and corporations under foreign law.

    In cases where the competent tax office has waived electronic transmission on request to avoid undue hardship, the paper forms are available at the tax office.

  • Necessary Documents
    • for representation: power of attorney to receive
    • for tax payment by direct debit: Completed SEPA mandate
    • in individual cases, further documents specified in the respective questionnaire for tax registration

  • Competent Department

  • Online Services

  • Forms

  • Fees / Costs

    gebührenfrei

  • Deadlines & processing time

    What deadlines must be paid attention to?

    Generally within one month of starting your business.
    Note: In some cases, there are other deadlines, for example for start-ups abroad.

    How long does it take to process

    The processing time varies depending on the responsible tax office.

  • Legal Bases

  • More Information

Feedback on quality

Your feedback will help us to identify and solve problems. You will not receive a personal response. Please do not submit any personal data.

Did you find what you were looking for?
How do you rate this page?*
*Mandatory field

This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.

The official information in German is complete and correct. 30.04.2026

Dienstleistungen · syfq nzm