My tax number is not accepted!

Written by Jens B.

Last published at: March 17th, 2025

You are in MY orderbird, trying to activate your Online TSE and have entered your business tax number, but the system does not accept it? The issue is likely due to the format, as only the 13-digit federal format (Bundesschema) is accepted. 

Use the converter provided by the Federal Ministry of Finance, or learn how to adjust your tax number yourself:

Adjusting the Tax Number Format

  1. Find your federal state in the table below.
  2. Compare your tax number with the federal format.
    Example for Hesse: "34/05976349" differs from the federal format.
  3. Create the federal format tax number using the table below by adding at least one digit at the beginning and inserting a "0" between the tax office number (F) and district numbers (B).
    Example: 2634005976349 = 2634005976349
     
  4. Enter the federal format tax number (2634005976349) again in MY orderbird.
  5. Done!

From Standard Format to Federal Format

Tax numbers consist of the tax office number (F), district number (B), personal identification number (U), and check digit (P).

Bundesland (Federal State) Bundesschema (Federal Format)
Baden-Württemberg 28FF0BBBUUUUP
Bayern 9FFF0BBBUUUUP
Berlin 11FF0BBBUUUUP
Brandenburg 3FFF0BBBUUUUP
Bremen 24FF0BBBUUUUP
Hamburg 22FF0BBBUUUUP
Hessen 26FF0BBBUUUUP
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 4FFF0BBBUUUUP
Niedersachsen 23FF0BBBUUUUP
Nordrhein-Westfalen 5FFF0BBBBUUUP
Rheinland-Pfalz 27FF0BBBUUUUP
Saarland 1FFF0BBBUUUUP
Sachsen 3FFF0BBBUUUUP
Sachsen-Anhalt 3FFF0BBBUUUUP
Schleswig-Holstein 21FF0BBBUUUUP
Thüringen 4FFF0BBBUUUUP

👉 On ELSTER.de, you can learn how to convert your previous tax number into the new federal format or use the converter provided by the Federal Ministry of Finance.