ELSTER Certificate

German: ELSTER-Zertifikatsdatei

The ERiC interface requires an ELSTER certificate (*.pfx file) for the authenticated transmission of filings to the tax authorities. The certificate is being generated during the registration process of an ELSTER account within Mein ELSTER (elster.de).

1. Foreign entities

Foreign companies usually do not have a German tax number (Steuernummer). Therefore before creating an ELSTER account you need to apply for a so called Ordnungskriterium. To do so fill out the following form and send it to Finanzamt Neubrandenburg - RAB:

https://download.elster.de/download/dokumente/Antrag_auf_Erteilung_eines_Ordnungskriteriums.pdf

Further information can be found in the section Hilfe zur Registrierung ausländischer Datenübermittler und inländischer Behörden of the ELSTER FAQ area.

2. Create account

After receiving the Ordnungskriterium - a so-called organizational certificate for a tax number should be applied for and generated. Start with:

ELSTER - Registrierung Steuernummer - Bitte wählen Sie das Bundesland und geben Sie die Steuernummer Ihrer Organisation ein.www.elster.de

It needs to be a certificate for a so called Organisation identified by a German tax number.

You will be led through the process. Go through the registration process and fill out all required fields at. After completing all steps (in especially after receiving the Aktivierungs-ID by email and Aktivierungs-Code by post) a certificate will be generated.

The complete process (including postal delivery) takes several business days. In case of foreign entities it might take about 2 weeks.

Store the generated certificate and password safely.