Every German citizen has an individual tax identification number, also abbreviated as tax ID or in the tax assessment as IdNr. It consists of eleven digits, is valid for life, and was communicated to every person living in Germany by letter in 2008.
The tax ID is primarily used for correspondence with the tax office. You must provide the number in all communications and applications to the tax office. Employers or social benefit providers such as health insurance companies can also ask for the tax ID. Using the number, the student union or the BAföG office can forward all important data to the tax authorities. For example, day and place of birth, gender, family name, first name, previous names, and address. The number is also used in the application for child benefit. Here you must also provide the child's tax ID, as well as the tax ID. For more information, visit the German tax ID website or the Tax ID website. For more information on the tax identification numbers, see www.tax ID.org. The tax number dates from before the introduction of the tax ID. It is often abbreviated as Stnr. and consists of 13 digits. You will receive the sequence of numbers when you are registered for tax purposes for the first time. If you get a new number, your tax office will inform you by post. If necessary, you can also apply for the number sequence from the Federal Central Tax Office. For confidential support, call the Samaritans in the UK on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255 or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/. In the UK, call the helpline on 0800 0800 90 90 90 or click here for details on how to get in contact with a Samaritan on behalf of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSL).