Income Tax Certificate (Lohnsteuerbescheinigung): All You Need to Know!
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Income tax certificates or statements are typically issued at the end of each year and usually provided by your employer by February of next year, and contain details about your salary, tax deductions, and social security contributions with that specific employer. You can have more than one income tax statement if you have multiple employers in that year. These certificates can also be issued once you terminate the contract with your employer in the middle of the year. It's highly recommended to ask for this certificate once your employment agreement comes to an end. In this article, you will learn more about the contents of these statements and why they are important.
What is an income tax Certificate?
As an employee, you receive a monthly pay slip that includes details about your salary (Monatlische Gehaltsabrechnung), income tax (Lohnsteuer), solidarity surcharges (Solidaritätszuschlag), church tax (Kirchensteuer)(if applicable), and social security contributions (sozialversicherungen). These details are summarized in an income tax statement that is issued once per calendar year per employer.
Why do I need an income tax statement?
Your income tax statement is an important document that provides information on the amount of income tax you have paid in the previous calendar year. It also serves as the basis for your income tax return. Since your employer provides your tax office with the electronic data from your income tax statement, known as e-Daten, you do not need to enter it in Form N (Anlage N) of your tax return unless you suspect that the data was not transmitted or is incorrect.
When will I receive my income tax statement?
Your employer should submit your electronic income tax statement to your local tax office no later than the end of February for the previous calendar year. Additionally, you should receive a printed version of the statement from your employer. If you end your employment within the calendar year, you may receive your income tax statement earlier. If you were employed by multiple companies during the year, you will receive multiple income tax statements.
Your 2022 income tax statement
Section 41b of the Income Tax Act regulates the information that must be included in your income tax statement for 2022. The statement includes details such as your employer's address and tax number, wage tax deduction information (ELStAM), duration of employment, periods without wages, taxable gross wages, withheld taxes and contributions, pension-related benefits, health insurance contributions, unemployment insurance contributions, and various other allowances and benefits provided by your employer.
Overall, income tax statements are crucial for understanding your tax obligations and ensuring accurate reporting of your income.
Image taken from steuererklaerung.de
Income Statement Breakdown
In the left column, you will find personal information including:
Name and Address
Tax-ID Nummer
Personal Number (Relative to Employer)
Date of Birth
Tax Class (1 through 6)
Church Tax
Child Allowances
Yearly tax-free allowances
Yearly additional income
In the right column, you will find details about the amounts year-to-date, including:
Employment duration (Nr.1)
Period(s) without wages (Nr.2)
Gross wage (Nr.3)
Income Tax (Nr.4)
Solidarity surcharge (Nr.5)
Church Tax (you & your spouse) (Nr.6 & Nr.7)
Contribution to statutory & private pension schemes (Nr.8, Nr.9, & Nr.10)
Taxes on pension contributions (Nr.11)
Solidarity surcharge on pension contribution (you & your spouse*) & taxes (Nr.12, Nr.13 & Nr.14)
Seasonal, short-term work benefits (kurzarbeitsgeld), tax-free amount, maternity benefits (Mutterschatftsgeld), and tax-free additional benefits sanctioned by your employer (Nr.15).
Tax-free wage, a) double taxation agreements, b) foreign activity (Nr.16)
Tax-free employer benefits, & flat-rate benefits taxed at 15% for travel to work (Nr.17, Nr.18)
Tax-free meal allowance (Nr.20)
Tax-free benefit for double housekeeping (Nr.21)
Contribution (employer & employee) to statutory & private health insurance (Nr.22, Nr.23)
Tax-free subsidies from employers for healthcare and nursing (Nr.24 - a,b,c)
Employee contribution to mandatory health and nursing care fund (Nr.25, Nr.26)
Employee contribution to unemployment insurance (Nr.27)
Severance pay (if applicable)(Nr.32)
Child benefits (Nr.33)
Tax exemptions for double taxation with Turkey (Nr.34)
What are the Capital Letters in Nr.2 means?
Number 2 in your income tax statement describe the no-wage periods, it has 6 possibilities represented with S, M, F, FR, E, and U.
S represents: The capital letter S must be recorded if the wage tax was calculated from other income in the first employment relationship and the wages from previous employment relationships in the calendar year were not taken into account.
M represents: The capital letter M indicates that the employee was provided with a meal of up to EUR 60 on the occasion of or during a professional activity away from home or as part of a work-related dual household management, either by the employer itself or by a third party at the employer's request, which corresponds to the official benefit value in kind is to evaluate. The number of meals provided in the calendar year is irrelevant.
F represents: The capital letter F is to be recorded for a tax-free collective transport of the employee between his home and his first place of work. The same applies to tax-free collective transport between your home and a large area of activity or a collection or meeting point specified by the employer.
FR represents: The capital letter FR is to be recorded for French cross-border commuters who live in France and work for a domestic employer.
E represents: In 2022, employers were obliged to pay their employees a flat rate energy price allowance. The payment was marked with the capital letter E on the income tax certificate for 2022.
U represents: The periods without continued payment of wages must be marked with the capital letter U
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