Digital tax assessments from 2027: set up ELSTER right

The new version of Section 122a AO has already been in force since the start of this year: it applies to administrative acts issued after December 31, 2025 (Art. 97 § 28(2) EGAO). Its core, however, was postponed by one year. The sentence under which tax assessments on electronically filed returns are to be delivered by making them available for download only applies to administrative acts issued after December 31, 2026 (Art. 97 § 28(2) EGAO). So nothing changes during the current year: in 2026, assessments are only delivered electronically if the taxpayer has actively consented in their ELSTER user account beforehand; all others still come by mail (Federal Ministry of Finance).

From 2027, the relationship is reversed. Explicit consent is then no longer necessary, and the electronic assessment becomes the norm as long as no request for paper has been made (Federal Ministry of Finance). What matters is the route by which the return reached the tax office. Section 122a(1) sentence 2 AO names the case where the return was submitted by the taxpayer personally through a user account provided by the tax administration, and the case where it was submitted by a person with a power of attorney to receive documents, such as a tax adviser (Section 122a AO). For private households, the first case is the relevant one: anyone who fills in and sends their return in Mein ELSTER will usually receive a digital assessment from next year. According to the letter from the Federal Ministry of Finance, this applies regardless of when the return was filed, so it also covers a return submitted in 2026 whose assessment only arrives in the new year (Federal Ministry of Finance).

The rule comes with limits. Section 122a(1) sentence 2 AO is a "should" provision: the tax office retains discretion, it is expressly not a legal entitlement, and paper may still be sent for technical or organizational reasons (Federal Ministry of Finance). In addition, electronic delivery is currently only possible nationwide, as a rule, for income tax, trade tax and corporate income tax (Federal Ministry of Finance). For a retired couple or a family, this means in practice: the income tax assessment is affected, including amended assessments and advance payment notices, which ELSTER also provides for income tax (ELSTER).

The digital route is not new; it is simply becoming the default. The tax administration's statistics show how fast it is growing: in 2024, ELSTER made 3.75 million assessments and other administrative acts available for download nationwide, and in 2025 the figure was 7.97 million (ELSTER statistics). From January to the end of September 2026, another 10.29 million were added (ELSTER statistics). At the same time, 53.47 million tax returns of all kinds were submitted electronically nationwide in 2025, from income tax to property tax returns (ELSTER statistics). Anyone who files their own income tax return via Mein ELSTER belongs to the group whose assessments fall under the new rule from 2027.

The first step is to look into your own account while no assessment is waiting. Many households registered years ago, file their return once a year and have not looked at the settings since. So take your time to check whether the login still works, which email address is stored and how long the certificate file remains valid.

The notice goes to the email address stored in the ELSTER user account. It is sent unencrypted and, apart from the tax number, only contains a short description of the assessment, not the assessment itself (ELSTER). A change of address is only complete once you click the confirmation link in the confirmation email; until then the old address remains valid, and the new one is only displayed after you log in again (ELSTER). The Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office advises using an address you will have permanent access to, because a work address, for example, may change (Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office). In retirement this is an obvious case: the old company address is still in the account, but the mailbox behind it has long since been closed.

With the change, your mailbox becomes the inbox for deadlines. How to protect it with a strong password and a second login step, and how to tidy it up so important messages do not get lost, is covered in our article Secure your email account.

Many private households log in with a certificate file, a file with the extension .pfx that opens access together with a password. The password protects the private key in the file and can be 10 to 128 characters long (ELSTER). Because a certificate file can be copied unnoticed, security depends on the password. If you suspect anything, change it after logging in under "Mein Benutzerkonto"; a new certificate file is then issued and the old one automatically becomes invalid (ELSTER). A password manager stores the long password without it ending up on a sticky note on the screen.

The file is first saved in the "Downloads" folder. The Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office recommends moving it to another folder and also storing it on a separate medium such as a USB stick, so that access is preserved if there is a problem with the computer (Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office). ELSTER itself asks you to only save the file and not to open or import it on the computer (ELSTER). What a complete household backup can look like is described on our page on data backup.

A certificate file expires after three years. When you renew it, you create a new file without new activation data being sent, and it is again valid for three years (Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office). Just under three months, that is 90 days, before expiry an email reminder arrives; it is repeated 40 days and 2 days before expiry if the file has not been renewed by then (Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office). After renewal, only the new file works. The old one should be deleted so there is no mix-up at the next login (Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office), and the copy on the USB stick has to be replaced as well. If the file has already expired, it can no longer be renewed; access then has to be renewed with new activation data (Rhineland-Palatinate State Tax Office).

Which option suits you depends on the devices in your household. If you mainly work at a computer, a certificate file with a backup copy and a noted expiry date serves you well. If you use your smartphone with a screen lock anyway, the app works without a file. With every option, the device change matters: anyone replacing a phone or computer should first work out how access moves to the new device. How to move data without losses is shown on our page on data transfer.

The digital route is not mandatory. If you want to keep receiving letters, request one-off or permanent postal delivery (Section 122a(2) AO). The request, like a later withdrawal, only applies to the future and only takes effect once it reaches the tax office (Section 122a(2) AO). The Federal Ministry of Finance names the ELSTER portal as the route for such requests; what matters is that the request is on file at the time of release (Federal Ministry of Finance). In Mein ELSTER, you request permanent postal delivery in your user account; the account is then blocked for electronic delivery (ELSTER).

The request applies uniformly to all assessments under the same tax number (Federal Ministry of Finance). For married couples assessed jointly, it is enough if one of them makes the request: the assessment then goes by mail to the joint address (Federal Ministry of Finance). If you change your mind shortly before an expected assessment, be aware that the request and the release can overlap in time; the rules for the form in which the assessment actually arrived then apply (Federal Ministry of Finance). The decision therefore belongs in the fall, not in the week the assessment is expected.

If you work through these points in November and December, you will start the new year with a login that works, an address that gets read and a routine you have practiced. The graphic above sums up the four most important ticks; the list above is the detailed version to tick off at the computer.