About two weeks after your Anmeldung, a plain letter from the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern lands in your mailbox containing your Steuerliche Identifikationsnummer (Steuer-ID) — an 11-digit number that is yours for life.

You do nothing to get it — it's triggered automatically by your registration. Just:

Don't throw the letter away (it looks unremarkable — this is the classic newcomer mistake).
Workers: give the number to HR immediately — without it you're taxed at the maximum emergency rate (tax class VI) until fixed. You get the overpaid tax back, but why lend the state your money?
Students: you'll need it for any part-time job, scholarship payments, and sometimes for bank paperwork.

Lost it / never arrived? You can request it again from the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern online (takes up to 4 weeks by post), or get it faster in person at your local Finanzamt with your passport and Anmeldebestätigung.

Note: this is different from the Steuernummer (a separate number the Finanzamt issues for tax returns/freelancing) — a distinction that confuses everyone; the Glossary explains it.

Red flags:

The envelope looks like junk mail — plain, no urgency, no colour. In your first three months, open everything with an official sender before deciding it's boring.
Anyone emailing you "your tax ID" with a link, or asking you to "confirm" it together with bank details — the BZSt communicates by post, full stop.
Mixing up Steuer-ID and Steuernummer on forms — when HR asks, they want the 11-digit Steuer-ID from this letter.

You do nothing to get it — it's triggered automatically by your registration. Just:

Don't throw the letter away (it looks unremarkable — this is the classic newcomer mistake).
Workers: give the number to HR immediately — without it you're taxed at the maximum emergency rate (tax class VI) until fixed. You get the overpaid tax back, but why lend the state your money?
Students: you'll need it for any part-time job, scholarship payments, and sometimes for bank paperwork.

Note: this is different from the Steuernummer (a separate number the Finanzamt issues for tax returns/freelancing) — a distinction that confuses everyone; the Glossary explains it.

Red flags:

The envelope looks like junk mail — plain, no urgency, no colour. In your first three months, open everything with an official sender before deciding it's boring.
Anyone emailing you "your tax ID" with a link, or asking you to "confirm" it together with bank details — the BZSt communicates by post, full stop.
Mixing up Steuer-ID and Steuernummer on forms — when HR asks, they want the 11-digit Steuer-ID from this letter.

Receive your tax ID (Steuer-ID)

Receive your tax ID (Steuer-ID)