The Elster program

Yes magpies are birds whose call precedes them to want to take with them everything that is not rivet-proof and nail-proof. But this is by no means the thieving bird, no this is about your electronic tax return. Schelm is anyone who thinks bad about it 🙂 Elster is the name of a project by the German tax administration (i.e. all states and the federal government together) that processes tax returns and tax returns via the Internet. The Bavarian State Tax Office acts as coordinator here. In this case, you will have the bird on your computer. Because after you have loaded the magpie program, you will see a small black bird as an icon on your desktop.

Tax returns are electronic

Electronic tax returns have been possible since 1999. In 2016, 21 million of them were submitted to the tax authorities. In contrast, four years earlier, there were only 12 million. As a result, almost two thirds of all declarations are submitted electronically. However, this is certainly also due to the large proportion of tax advisors and payroll tax assistance associations. They also submit your tax return electronically if you use their service. This means that with advance sales tax returns (estimated 38 million) and income tax returns (around 18 million), this amounts to more than 150 million declarations, registrations and notifications. And that number is constantly increasing! The Elster system is being expanded more and more and now comprises a whole range of different tax types, declarations, applications and notifications.

You have a magpie obligation if you make advance payroll and sales tax returns. Here you have to submit via magpie. In contrast, employees, pensioners and pensioners are free to decide whether to use good old paper or use electronic transmission. However, the electronic tax return is also becoming increasingly popular among “normal people” and is slowly but surely becoming the standard here. If you're honest, it's also very convenient to be able to do everything on the computer at home. It is also less prone to errors and if you make a mistake, there is always the opportunity to improve yourself without having to fill out a completely new form.

Better to use tax software right away

Basically, at Elster, you fill out the paper forms digitally. There are no tips here as to what can be a problem for a beginner when it comes to tax. So good advice is expensive. Mine is in this case: tax software and the best coordinated for the airmen Tax:savings account. Here you have better equipment and filling it out is easier. With a cost factor of 25 euros, such software is also quite affordable. The programs offer you filling out help and sometimes also really good tips on what else could be relevant for you. Your tax return is then simply sent directly to your tax office via the Elster interface. In the best case scenario, your tax return runs in the background, so to speak, and you don't have to know which line you have something to write on. The software usually does this for you and, so to speak, builds your tax return in the background.

Benefits of electronic tax returns (not Elster)

• Numerous tips and background information on taxes are included to keep you up to date
• Data from the previous year can be transferred, which saves time
• Plausibility check prevents incorrect entries
• Calculations will then give you an idea of the financial impact
• Appraiser determines the discrepancies between the recognized positions by the tax office and your submitted declaration

The magpie form and My Magpie can only partially or not do all of these points. This results in 4 out of 5 declarations being submitted via tax software. These are either taxpayers who create their own tax or even professionally created solutions from, for example, Datev and other providers who specialize in tax consulting.

Elster form comes from office

The tax authorities provide the Elster form free of charge. They did not also pay attention to help and the like the commercial programs do. Finally, it must be said that it is not in the spirit of the federal government to point out to the taxpayer the possibility of tax savings (magpie (bird) moderately flat). What's more, if you don't have much experience, the magpie form is pretty difficult. The Office has come up with two paths. You can use the program Elster Form or “My Elster” online (formerly the Elster Online Portal). However, the Elster form is only available here for the Microsoft Windows operating system. It is downloaded and then installed and saved locally on your PC.

From the existing catalog, you can then select the individual modules that are relevant to you. The income tax return for the corresponding year is usually sufficient for private users. As a freelancer, you must then also download and fill out the income surplus statement, for example.