Apply for and renew ELSTER certificates

Anyone submitting a tax return electronically must apply for a certificate

Tax data is extremely sensitive data. When transmitting it electronically to the tax office, it must therefore be especially protected. For this reason, it is encrypted with the ELSTER certificate. The certificate essentially replaces the signature. Both are unique and make it possible to clearly determine who submitted the data.

Why certificates?

Digital certificates are like an ID card. They make it possible to clearly identify the holder during communication. They are issued by special certification authorities which, like a notary or citizens’ office, are considered trustworthy.

Certificates are used in many everyday situations without us being aware of it: in online banking, when paying with a debit card at the supermarket checkout, or when transferring data from a smartwatch to a mobile phone. In online shopping, the so-called TLS/SSL certificates protect sensitive customer data such as addresses or payment information during transmission.

While companies usually use a PKI and a Key Management System to manage certificates, applying for and renewing them can be difficult for small businesses or private individuals.

Small hurdle at the beginning

If you want to transmit your tax data electronically for the first time, you need to allow for some time. Applying for the required ELSTER certificate can take up to 14 days. The first step is choosing the right certificate variant. For private users, the free basic certificate is usually sufficiently secure. For companies and tax consultants, there are paid versions with higher security levels.

This is how to proceed

You can find the official portal of the tax authorities at elster.de. There you create a user account and select login with a certificate file. For registration, you enter your personal data, your tax number or ID, and the responsible tax office via the online form. After submitting, you will receive an email with an activation ID. The activation code will be sent to you later by post. With this information, you create your certificate and save it on your computer. You then log in to “Mein ELSTER” and set your own password.

Important: Store login data and password securely

With this password and the certificate file, you can now authenticate yourself for three years.
Keep your activation ID, code, and password in a safe place. Without the password, you cannot use the certificate and will have to register again. Also remember the storage location of the certificate on your computer. Additionally, you can store the certificate on an external data carrier (e.g., a USB stick).

Using a password manager is particularly secure and convenient. It can generate strong passwords and stores the login data for all your user accounts. This means you only need to remember the password for the manager.

If you have a new ID card, you can also use it to log in instead. In this case, the postal delivery of the code is no longer required, but you will need the free AusweisApp2.

From this point on, you can send your tax return paperless and encrypted with the certificate.

About three months before the certificate expires after three years, you will be reminded by email to renew it.

Renewing the Elster certificate

You can only renew your Elster certificate as long as it has not yet expired. Otherwise, you will need to apply for a new one and take processing and postal delivery times into account.

To renew, proceed as follows:

Log in to your Elster user account with your old certificate data. A message will then appear indicating that your certificate will soon expire. Click on “Renew now,” upload the old certificate, and confirm it with your PIN. You can then assign a name for the new certificate and set a password. After that, download the renewed certificate. Again, remember the storage location and the new password.

To activate the certificate, log in to the portal again, select the new certificate, and confirm it with your PIN. If the new certificate name is listed in the overview, you have successfully renewed it.

You can then delete your old certificate from your computer, as it is no longer valid.

Companies that use many certificates rely on a certificate management tool such as our essendi xc. It not only protects against unnoticed certificate expiration but also makes it possible to effectively monitor and automatically renew them. xc also takes care of deploying the new certificates to the target systems.