The tax ID (Steueridentifikationsnummer)
This is your permanent personal tax identification number: eleven digits, issued once, valid for life, and unchanged by moving, marrying or changing jobs. It identifies you as a person to the tax administration.
You receive it automatically by post a few weeks after you register your address at the Bürgeramt. You do not apply for it separately, and it is not something your employer can create for you.
- Your employer needs it to run payroll correctly — without it, withholding defaults to the most expensive tax class VI.
- Your bank needs it to apply your capital income allowance.
- Your health insurer and the family benefits office (Kindergeld) need it too.
The tax number (Steuernummer)
The Steuernummer is a different thing entirely: it identifies a file at a specific tax office, not a person. It changes if you move to a different tax office's area, and you can hold more than one — for example one for your personal file and one for a business.
Employees generally do not need one. If you become self-employed, you request it by submitting the tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung) through ELSTER.
The VAT ID (Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer)
The USt-IdNr. starts with DE and is used for cross-border business inside the EU. If you invoice business clients in other EU countries, or buy services from them, you will need one. You can request it together with your tax registration or later from the Federal Central Tax Office.
It is not the same as your Steuernummer, and it is the only one of the three numbers that is meant to be public — it belongs on your invoices and, for a website, in your legal notice.
If your tax ID never arrived
This happens often — post goes missing, or the name on the letterbox does not match. You can request the number again in writing from the Federal Central Tax Office (Bundeszentralamt für Steuern) free of charge; it is sent to your registered address, so the registration has to be correct first.
In the meantime, ask your employer to apply the correct tax class retroactively once the number arrives. The over-withheld wage tax is not lost: it comes back either through the next payroll run or through your tax return.
Frequently asked
Where do I find my tax ID?
On the letter you received after registering, on any tax assessment notice, and on your annual wage tax statement from your employer. Health insurers also have it on file.
Do I get a new tax ID if I leave Germany and come back?
No. The number is issued once and stays yours permanently, even after years abroad.
My employer put me in tax class VI because I had no tax ID. Is that money gone?
No. Once the number is registered, the employer can correct the withholding, and anything not corrected in payroll is settled through your tax return.
This guide is general information on German tax law, not advice on your individual case. Rules and figures change with each tax year.