'Lohnsteuerbescheinigung in Germany: What This Certificate Is and How to
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Lohnsteuerbescheinigung is the employer’s annual certificate of salary, wage tax withheld, and the employee’s social contributions in Germany. It is needed primarily for the tax return, but it is also often useful when dealing with the Finanzamt, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Deutsche Rentenversicherung, a bank, or another authority.
The document relates to the previous calendar year. If a person worked for several employers during the year, there will usually be several certificates, one for each job.
What Lohnsteuerbescheinigung is
The name can be translated as “wage tax certificate.” In practice, it is the annual summary of gross salary, withheld Lohnsteuer, Solidaritätszuschlag, Kirchensteuer, and social insurance contributions.
The certificate does not only show amounts. It also lists the employee’s tax markers: Steuer-ID, Steuerklasse, possible Kinderfreibeträge, church affiliation for Kirchensteuer, and the period for which the employer submitted the data.
The document does not replace the monthly payslip. The payslip shows a specific month, while the Lohnsteuerbescheinigung summarizes the data for the year or for the period of employment with a particular employer.
When the certificate is issued
The employer submits the electronic Lohnsteuerbescheinigung to the tax authorities after the end of the calendar year. In a normal situation, the employee receives a printout or electronic copy at the beginning of the following year; for paper cases, the law uses the last day of February of the following year as a guideline.
If the employment contract ended before the end of the year, the certificate is usually prepared after the end of employment or after payroll has been finalized. If you changed jobs during the year, keep all the certificates you receive: the data from each employer may be needed when reviewing the tax return.
Why it is needed
Lohnsteuerbescheinigung is most often used for three tasks:
- to transfer or check data in the tax return;
- to confirm income and taxes withheld before the Finanzamt;
- to attach annual income information to applications submitted to authorities or banks.
The certificate may be requested when calculating or reviewing pension rights, when applying for ALG1, BAföG, parental benefits, an invitation to Germany, a loan, or a mortgage. The exact list of documents depends on the procedure, so it is best to check the authority’s current checklist.
What the document looks like
Today, Lohnsteuerbescheinigung usually exists as data electronically submitted by the employer and as a printout for the employee. The historical paper Lohnsteuerkarte has been replaced by the electronic tax markers known as ELStAM.
The printout usually contains a block with employee and employer data, as well as numbered lines with amounts. These lines are what help you verify the tax return and understand what the employer reported to the tax office.
Left side: employee data and tax markers
In the upper or left part of the certificate, you usually see fields like these:
- Name und Anschrift — the employee’s first name, surname, and address.
- Steuer-ID — the German tax identification number.
- eTIN — an older electronic identifier for transmitting payroll data; in newer cases, Steuer-ID plays the key role.
- Personalnummer — the employee’s internal number at the employer.
- Geburtsdatum — date of birth.
- Transferticket — a technical number for transmitting data into the tax system.
- Steuerklasse — the employee’s tax class.
- Kinderfreibeträge — tax allowances for children, if they apply.
- Lohnsteuerfreibetrag — a tax Freibetrag stored in ELStAM that reduces the monthly tax withholding.
- Kirchensteuermerkmal — the marker for church tax.
- Employer data — the company’s name, address, and tax information.
Lohnsteuerbescheinigung: the appearance and contents of the annual income tax certificate.
Main lines of the Lohnsteuerbescheinigung
The numbering of the lines matters: it follows the official certificate format and helps you quickly find the amounts you need.
| Line | What it means | What to pay attention to |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bescheinigungszeitraum | The period of employment covered by the certificate. |
| 2 | Zeiträume ohne Anspruch auf Arbeitslohn | Periods without entitlement to salary, for example a long gap in payments. |
| 3 | Steuerpflichtiger Bruttoarbeitslohn | Taxable gross salary. |
| 4 | Einbehaltene Lohnsteuer | Wage tax withheld. |
| 5 | Einbehaltener Solidaritätszuschlag | Solidarity surcharge withheld; in 2026 it depends on the amount of tax and applies only above the established Freigrenze. |
| 6-7 | Kirchensteuer | Church tax for the employee and, in some cases, a spouse or partner. |
| 8-14 | Versorgungsbezüge and preferentially taxed payments | Pension or compensation payments, severance pay, and the taxes on those payments. |
| 15 | Kurzarbeitergeld, Zuschuss zum Mutterschaftsgeld, and similar payments | Payments that can affect tax calculation through Progressionsvorbehalt. |
| 16 | Steuerfreier Arbeitslohn | Income exempt from German Lohnsteuer, for example under a double taxation treaty. |
| 17-18 | Commuting payments | Tax-free or lump-sum taxed employer supplements for commuting. |
| 20-21 | Business trips and double household | Tax-free compensation for meals, accommodation, moving, or a second home. |
| 22-23 | Rentenversicherung | Employer and employee shares of pension insurance. |
| 24-28 | Krankenversicherung, Pflegeversicherung, Arbeitslosenversicherung | Contributions to health insurance, long-term care insurance, and unemployment insurance, including private insurance if applicable. |
| 29-32 | Additional data on Versorgungsbezüge | Basis for calculating benefits, the year payments started, periods, and special payments. |
| 33 | Ausgezahltes Kindergeld | The amount of Kindergeld paid, if it is stated in that particular case. |
| 34 | Freibetrag DBA Türkei | A special allowance under the treaty with Turkey, if applicable. |
The full set of lines depends on the official template for the relevant year and on the employee’s situation. If a line is blank in your certificate, this usually means there was no data for it that year.
Letter markers
Letter markers may appear next to the period or individual lines:
- U — a period without entitlement to salary for at least five consecutive working days;
- F — the employer organized tax-free transport for employees;
- M — the employee received meals while working away from home;
- S — a special marker that may appear, for example, when changing employers or in a special payroll calculation.
If a marker is unclear, it is better to clarify it with payroll or HR, because its meaning affects the correctness of the tax return.
How to use the certificate for the tax return
In the tax return, the data from the Lohnsteuerbescheinigung is usually already available to the tax office because the employer submitted it electronically. But the employee should still compare the printout with the return: errors in the Steuer-ID, employment period, tax class, salary amounts, or social contributions can lead to an incorrect calculation.
Check especially whether:
- the employment period matches;
- the name, address, and Steuer-ID are correct;
- the annual gross amount matches your payslips;
- Krankenversicherung, Pflegeversicherung, Rentenversicherung, and Arbeitslosenversicherung are shown correctly;
- there are no unexpected letter markers or blank lines where data should appear.
What to do if the certificate contains an error
First contact the employer, usually HR, payroll, or accounting. If the error concerns tax data that was transmitted, the employer must correct the submission to the Finanzamt.
If too much tax was withheld because of the error, this can be reflected in the tax return. The Finanzamt will review the data and, if the overpayment is confirmed, refund the difference.
Do not change the amounts in the return at random. If you are unsure, ask the employer or a tax adviser for clarification.
If the certificate was lost
Ask the employer to send a copy of the Lohnsteuerbescheinigung again. If the company has closed, contact has been lost, or the former employer does not respond, you can contact the Finanzamt because the employer submits the data there electronically.
For pension matters, it is better to keep the certificates for a long time, at least until your pension record has been checked. They help verify periods of employment and contributions in the Deutsche Rentenversicherung.
If you did not work the whole year
If you worked part of the year and received ALG1 during another part, your annual document package may consist of the employer’s certificate and documents from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit. When filing a return or an application with an authority, it is important to show both periods: the salary period and the unemployment period.
If the employment contract ended, the employer usually issues the certificate after the final payroll calculation. If you started a new job in the same year, keep both certificates.
Who may not receive the certificate
Lohnsteuerbescheinigung is usually not issued in the usual form in cases where the employer withholds tax at a fixed rate and does not use the normal individual Lohnsteuerabzug. This is often the case with a Minijob, but the exact situation depends on the taxation model.
If you work in a Minijob and do not understand whether you need the document for a tax return or an authority, ask the employer for written confirmation of income and the type of employment.
Short checklist
Keep your Lohnsteuerbescheinigung and check:
- the year and period of employment;
- the Steuer-ID and personal data;
- the Steuerklasse and Kinderfreibeträge;
- the gross salary and withheld Lohnsteuer;
- social contributions;
- the U, F, M, or S markers;
- whether you have certificates from all employers for the year.
If the amounts do not match your payslips, do not leave the issue until the tax return deadline: corrections through the employer and the Finanzamt may take time.
