Tax registration questionnaire (Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung): section-by-section guide

Who must submit the questionnaire – and by when

You submit the questionnaire when you set up a sole proprietorship, start as a freelancer (Freiberufler), begin a trade business on the side or take over a business. There are separate versions for partnerships and corporations. If you register a trade (Gewerbe), you often also get a reminder from the tax office – but the obligation exists even without it.

The deadline is one month from starting the activity. What counts is the start, not the first invoice: if you start your first job on 15 May, you should submit by 15 June. If you miss the deadline, the tax office sends a reminder and can impose a coercive fine (Zwangsgeld). More serious is that without a tax number you cannot write complete invoices.

For sole traders the tax office of your place of residence is usually responsible; if you run your business from another place, the tax office at the business location may be responsible for VAT and trade tax. ELSTER suggests the tax office based on your address.

Preparation: what you need before filling it in

Allow enough lead time for the ELSTER account. With a certificate file, ELSTER sends you an activation code by post, which usually takes up to two weeks. With the online ID function (identity card with PIN or eID card) the account can be used immediately. How registration works in detail is explained in the guide ELSTER for the self-employed.

• Tax identification number (Steuer-ID), and your spouse’s if you are married.
• Start of the activity, business address, description of the activity, date of trade registration if applicable.
• Estimate of revenue and profit for the first year and the following year, plus your other income (salary, rent, capital income).
• IBAN for refunds and, if you wish, a SEPA direct debit mandate.
• Previous tax numbers if you were self-employed before or hold stakes in businesses.
• Decision: small business (Kleinunternehmer) yes or no, accrual or cash-basis VAT, VAT ID yes or no.

Section by section: how to fill in the questionnaire

In Mein ELSTER you will find the form under “Formulare & Leistungen” → “Alle Formulare” → “Unternehmen” → “Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung”, in the version “Aufnahme einer gewerblichen, selbständigen (freiberuflichen) oder land- und forstwirtschaftlichen Tätigkeit (Einzelunternehmen)”. The sections in ELSTER are named roughly as in the table; order and sub-items may differ slightly.

The profit estimate: realistic rather than optimistically low

The tax office uses your profit estimate to set your income tax prepayments. They are due on 10 March, 10 June, 10 September and 10 December, but only if they amount to at least €400 a year and €100 per date (§ 37 Abs. 5 EStG). A low estimate only gives you short-term liquidity – the tax stays the same.

Example: Jonas starts as a web developer on 1 April 2026, cautiously estimates €10,000 profit and has no other income. Because this is below the basic allowance of €12,348, the tax office sets no prepayments. In fact he earns €30,000. Assuming this is also his taxable income, his 2026 income tax under the basic scale is €4,217. With the assessment notice in summer 2027 he pays these €4,217 – and at the same time prepayments for 2027 of around €1,054 per quarter are set, often also for dates that have already passed. In the extreme case more than €6,000 falls due at once.

Rule of thumb: estimate slightly too high rather than too low and set aside a fixed share of your profit every month. If you estimated too high, you can apply at any time to reduce the prepayments. More in the guide tax prepayments.

Small business scheme: yes or no?

In the VAT section you state your expected total revenue and decide on the small business scheme (Kleinunternehmerregelung) under § 19 UStG. In the first year there is no previous-year revenue; what counts then is that your actual revenue in the first year does not exceed €25,000 – without extrapolating to twelve months. If you exceed the limit, the scheme ends from the transaction with which you exceed it.

From the second year: previous-year revenue at most €25,000 and current year at most €100,000. As a small business you do not charge VAT, but you also cannot deduct input VAT and usually do not file VAT returns. If you opt out of the scheme in the questionnaire (standard taxation, Regelbesteuerung), you are bound for at least five calendar years.

• The small business scheme usually pays off with private clients and low investments, e.g. tutoring, crafts, photography for private individuals.
• Standard taxation usually pays off with business clients (who get the VAT refunded) and high initial investments, e.g. IT consulting with €6,000 of hardware.
• Even as a small business you must be able to receive e-invoices, and for services from foreign businesses you owe the VAT yourself under § 13b UStG.

Accrual or cash-basis VAT?

With accrual-basis VAT (Soll-Versteuerung), VAT arises as soon as you have performed the service – no matter when the client pays. With cash-basis VAT (Ist-Versteuerung) it only arises when the payment is received. You apply for cash-basis VAT directly in the questionnaire. It is open to freelancers regardless of revenue and to everyone else up to €800,000 previous-year revenue (§ 20 UStG); in the first year the estimate counts.

Example: you issue an invoice on 15 December for €5,000 net plus €950 VAT, the client pays on 20 January. With accrual-basis VAT you report the €950 in the VAT return for December and pay it on 10 January – before the money has arrived. With cash-basis VAT it belongs in January and is only due on 10 February. For most founders cash-basis VAT is therefore the better choice. In both cases you deduct input VAT from incoming invoices as soon as invoice and service are there.

Sorting out the VAT ID and filing frequency at the same time

In the VAT section you can apply for the VAT identification number (Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer). Tick it if you have clients or suppliers in other EU countries or use online services from elsewhere in the EU, such as advertising or software subscriptions. The tax office passes the application to the Federal Central Tax Office, which sends you the number by post. Everything about the numbers in the guide applying for a tax number and VAT ID.

The tax office also derives the frequency of your VAT return (Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung) from your revenue estimate. For businesses started up to the end of 2026 a special rule applies: what counts is the expected tax in the first year – over €9,000 monthly, otherwise quarterly; an exemption is not possible in the first year and the following year. Unless the special rule is extended, founders from 2027 must again file monthly in the first year and the following year. If you need more time, apply separately for the permanent filing extension (Dauerfristverlängerung).

The most common mistakes in the questionnaire

Tax offices see these mistakes again and again – and they cost time or money later:

• Submitted too late: the one-month deadline runs from the start of the activity, not from the first payment.
• Profit deliberately estimated low: leads to an additional payment and prepayments all at once (see example).
• Salary or other income forgotten: for people self-employed on the side, total income determines the tax rate.
• Activity described too vaguely: “consulting” leads to queries and, if in doubt, classification as a trade business.
• Small business scheme confused with the 2024 revenue limit: since 2025 the limits are €25,000 and €100,000.
• Cash-basis VAT not applied for, although it would have been possible.
• VAT ID not ticked, although EU clients or EU services were foreseeable.

After sending: tax number and later changes

After sending you receive a transmission log in ELSTER. The tax office gets in touch with questions or sends the tax number by post, usually after two to six weeks. This is followed by the prepayment notice and, if applied for, the letter from the Federal Central Tax Office with the VAT ID.

You only submit the questionnaire itself once. If something changes later, you inform the tax office via ELSTER – for example with the form for changing bank details or via “Sonstige Nachricht an das Finanzamt” (other message to the tax office) for a new profit estimate, an application to adjust prepayments or a switch to standard taxation. If you move, also inform the tax office: if responsibility changes, you get a new tax number.

After the questionnaire with KontoVexa

You submit the questionnaire directly in Mein ELSTER. Afterwards you enter your tax number, VAT ID, type of VAT taxation (accrual or cash basis) and filing frequency in KontoVexa. From this KontoVexa calculates the deadlines, creates invoices, VAT returns, the annual VAT return and the EÜR, and after checking them with ERiC sends them directly to ELSTER. More about ELSTER submission with KontoVexa.

Frequently asked questions