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German tax registration questionnaire for a corporation

Taxpayers that are not natural persons must notify the competent tax office AND the municipalities responsible for levying the real property and trade taxes of the circumstances relevant to tax registration — in particular FORMATION, ACQUISITION OF LEGAL CAPACITY, a change of legal form, relocation of the management or registered office, and dissolution (§ 137(1) AO). Those notifications must be made within ONE MONTH of the reportable event (§ 137(2) AO). The further information on the legal and factual circumstances relevant to taxation — that is the questionnaire itself — must be transmitted in the officially prescribed data format through the officially designated interface (§ 138(1b) sentences 1, 2 and 4 AO).

Up to date for 2024 — verified on October 3, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 45 min

This content is part of the path: Setting up and registering a business· Step 9 of 10· Next step: Getting a German commercial register extract — current, chronological, historical

Deadlines

One month from the reportable event
§ 137(2) AO — and § 138(4) AO sets the same one-month period for notifications under § 138(1), (1a) and (1b)
The period runs FROM FORMATION, not only from registration
§ 137(1) AO names formation AND acquisition of legal capacity as two separate reportable circumstances
On a change of legal form, relocation or dissolution: another month
The same two subsections, because § 137(1) AO lists those events too

Documents to prepare

  • ELSTER access with a certificate or an ELSTER business account
  • Articles of association and the notarial deed
  • The date of formation and, once available, of entry in the commercial register
  • Commercial register number and registry court
  • List of shareholders and details of the managing directors
  • Registered office and place of management
  • Estimated turnover and profit for the year of formation and the following year
  • Bank details and any authority granted to a tax adviser
See the procedure on the official site

No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.

What this page gives you

The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.

Who this applies to

  • Every German corporation being formed or already formed — GmbH, UG (haftungsbeschränkt), AG — as a taxpayer that is not a natural person (§ 137(1) AO)
  • Cooperatives, which the ELSTER form expressly covers as well
  • Companies whose LEGAL FORM changes, whose management or registered office is relocated, or which are dissolved: § 137(1) AO lists these events on the same footing as formation
  • All of those companies ALSO towards the municipalities responsible for levying the real property and trade taxes — § 137(1) AO names the tax office and the municipalities side by side, not as alternatives
  • Not through this form: sole traders and partnerships, for which ELSTER maintains separate questionnaires
  • Anyone also opening a commercial business or permanent establishment must in addition notify the municipality under § 138(1) sentence 1 AO; the municipality then informs the competent tax office without delay

Worked example

Nordlicht Gerüstbau GmbH is formed before a notary on 4 May 2026

The articles of association are notarised on 4 May 2026; registration in the commercial register does not follow until 19 June 2026. The managing director, Miriam Sander, assumes that tax registration only begins with the entry in the register. The wording says otherwise: § 137(1) AO names FORMATION and ACQUISITION OF LEGAL CAPACITY as two separate reportable circumstances, and under § 137(2) AO each notification must be made within one month of the respective reportable event. For the formation, therefore, the month runs from 4 May, not from 19 June. Miriam transmits the questionnaire through Mein ELSTER — the information on the legal and factual circumstances relevant to taxation must be transmitted in the officially prescribed data format through the officially designated interface (§ 138(1b) sentence 2 AO). Because the GmbH is at the same time opening a commercial business, the notification under § 138(1) sentence 1 AO also goes to the MUNICIPALITY, which in turn informs the competent tax office without delay; and § 137(1) AO requires the notification to the tax office AND the municipalities responsible for the real property and trade taxes in any event. From the entries in the questionnaire the tax office then derives whether VAT preliminary returns are due monthly or quarterly: on taking up an activity the calendar month is the filing period for the current and the following calendar year under § 18(2) sentence 4 UStG, subject for the tax periods 2021 to 2026 to the deviating rule in § 18(2) sentence 6 UStG.

How to fill it in, step by step

  1. Record the triggering event and its date: formation, acquisition of legal capacity, change of legal form, relocation or dissolution (§ 137(1) AO) — the month runs from it.
  2. Assemble the corporate documents: articles of association, the notarial deed, the commercial register number once available, the list of shareholders.
  3. Log in to Mein ELSTER and select the questionnaire for the formation of a corporation or cooperative.
  4. Enter the registered office and the place of management — they determine which office is competent, and relocating them is itself reportable under § 137(1) AO.
  5. Estimate turnover and profit for the year of formation and the following year; the tax office derives the advance instalments from those figures.
  6. Check the VAT entries with particular care: filing period, cash or accrual accounting, any VAT group.
  7. Give the bank details and any authority granted to a tax adviser.
  8. Transmit the questionnaire electronically (§ 138(1b) sentence 2 AO); only on application may the tax office waive this to avoid undue hardship, and the official paper form is then used (sentence 3).
  9. Make the notification to the MUNICIPALITY responsible for the real property and trade taxes as well (§ 137(1) AO) and, where a commercial business is opened, under § 138(1) sentence 1 AO.

Good to know

  • The notification goes to TWO places. § 137(1) AO names the tax office competent under § 20 AO and the municipalities responsible for levying the real property and trade taxes side by side.
  • The list in § 137(1) AO is expressly not exhaustive: what must be notified are 'the circumstances relevant to tax registration', the events named being only examples ('in particular').
  • The questionnaire is not a separate procedure in law but the discharge of the duty to provide information under § 138(1b) AO; sentence 4 extends that duty expressly to taxpayers within § 137 AO who are not already obliged to notify under § 138(1) AO.
  • Electronic transmission is the rule and the paper form the exception — and that exception requires an APPLICATION and the avoidance of undue hardship (§ 138(1b) sentence 3 AO).
  • The Federal Ministry of Finance may, by a circular to be published in the Federal Tax Gazette, provide for exceptions to the duties to notify and to provide information where the activity has no or only negligible tax effect (§ 138(1c) AO).
  • The municipality informs the competent tax office WITHOUT DELAY of the content of the notification under § 138(1) sentence 1 AO — the two routes converge, but they do not replace one another.
  • The expected turnover determines the filing period: the calendar quarter is the statutory default (§ 18(2) sentence 1 UStG), the calendar month applies above 9 000 euros of previous-year tax (sentence 2) and on taking up an activity under sentence 4, modified for 2021 to 2026 by sentence 6.

Common mistakes

  • Waiting for entry in the commercial register. § 137(1) AO names FORMATION as a reportable circumstance in its own right alongside the acquisition of legal capacity, and the one-month period in subsection 2 attaches to each event.
  • Informing only the tax office. The notification must also be made to the municipalities responsible for levying the real property and trade taxes (§ 137(1) AO).
  • Using the sole trader questionnaire. ELSTER maintains separate questionnaires for sole traders, partnerships and corporations; the circumstances they ask about differ.
  • Treating a change of legal form or a relocation as not reportable. Both are expressly listed in § 137(1) AO, and each event starts the one-month period afresh.
  • Pitching the turnover estimate arbitrarily low to avoid instalments. It drives the filing period and the instalments; too low an estimate merely shifts the burden to the final bill.
  • Filing on paper without applying for the hardship waiver. The information must be transmitted in the officially prescribed data format through the officially designated interface (§ 138(1b) sentence 2 AO); the paper form is available only after a successful application (sentence 3).
  • Not notifying the dissolution. It appears in the same list as the formation (§ 137(1) AO).

Frequently asked questions

When does the period start — at notarisation or at registration?

Both events are separately reportable: § 137(1) AO names formation and acquisition of legal capacity separately, and under § 137(2) AO the notifications must be made within one month of the respective reportable event.

Who must I notify?

The tax office competent under § 20 AO AND the municipalities responsible for levying the real property and trade taxes (§ 137(1) AO). Anyone also opening a commercial business or permanent establishment additionally notifies the municipality under § 138(1) sentence 1 AO, which informs the tax office without delay.

Must the questionnaire be filed electronically?

Yes. The information on the legal and factual circumstances relevant to taxation must be transmitted in the officially prescribed data format through the officially designated interface (§ 138(1b) sentence 2 AO). On application the tax office may waive this to avoid undue hardship, in which case the officially prescribed paper form is used (sentence 3).

Which events other than formation trigger the duty to notify?

§ 137(1) AO names in particular the acquisition of legal capacity, a change of legal form, relocation of the management or registered office, and dissolution. The list is open through the words 'in particular': what must be notified are all circumstances relevant to tax registration.

Will my company have to file VAT returns monthly or quarterly?

The filing period is in principle the calendar quarter; the calendar month applies where the previous year's tax exceeded 9 000 euros (§ 18(2) sentences 1 and 2 UStG). On taking up an activity the calendar month is the filing period for the current and the following calendar year (sentence 4), subject for the tax periods 2021 to 2026 to the deviating rule in sentence 6.

Does the same one-month period apply to the questionnaire itself?

Yes. Notifications under subsections 1, 1a and 1b of § 138 AO must be made within one month of the reportable event (§ 138(4) AO); for the notifications under § 137 AO the same period follows from § 137(2) AO.

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Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.