Electronic wage tax deduction features (ELStAM)

ELStAM stands for Elektronische LohnSteuerAbzugsMerkmale. These are the individual tax characteristics that the employer needs to carry out the wage tax deduction and which were previously entered on the front of the wage tax card. These so-called ELStAM are

• the tax class
• the number of child allowances,
• the so-called religious characteristic, which certifies membership of a religious community that levies church tax,
• and any tax allowances.

The ELStAM are initially generated directly from the registration data stored by the local registration authorities. This applies in particular to the tax class, which depends on whether the employee is single or married, the number of child allowances and the religious characteristic. At the employee's request, the tax office can add certain other individual tax bases (e.g. allowances for income-related expenses) or change them (e.g. tax class change for married couples/life partners working on both sides, tax class combinations IV/IV and III/V). The employee will be informed by the employer in their payslip about the ELStAM taken into account by the employer when deducting income tax. If you have any discrepancies or questions about the stored ELStAM, please contact your local tax office.

Change of tax class:

A tax class change can be made by November 30 of the current year at the latest. It is also possible to change tax class several times in the current calendar year.

A tax class change takes effect on the 1st of the month following the application.