Electronic filing procedure for capital income tax relief

From 1 January 2023 onwards, applications for 

• refunds of capital income tax under section 50c (3) / section 44a (9) of the Income Tax Act and
• exemptions from capital income tax under section 50c (2) sentence 1 no 1 of the Income Tax Act

must be filed electronically via the Federal Central Tax Office’s official online portal (BOP), using the officially prescribed data set (see section 50c (5) sentence 1 in conjunction with section 52 (47a) sentence 2 of the Income Tax Act; section 32 (6) KStG in conjunction with section 50c (5) sentence 1 in conjunction with section 52 (47a) sentence 2 EStG).

Decisions on these applications are also issued in electronic form and can be retrieved from the online portal.
Registration and log-in information for the online portal is available here.

Applications for capital income tax relief may be filed by non-resident recipients of capital income themselves or by an authorised representative. Authorised representatives must provide proof of their legal authority (see sample) to act on behalf of non-resident capital income recipients in tax-related administrative proceedings.

Conversion of the BZSt online portal

On 15.07.2025, the capital gains tax relief procedure will be switched to the new BZSt online portal. The portal changeover will be accompanied by new online forms and a new customer portal.

As of this date, two portals are therefore active. The portals are two separate systems. All applications submitted via the old portal will also be completed in the new portal. The notification of the decision is therefore made in the old portal. These applications and notifications can also only be found in the old portal.

All applications submitted via the new portal can also only be found in the new portal. Notifications of decisions will only be made in the new portal. 

Inquiries, document submissions and appeals can be made in the old portal until the end of the year, but can also be made in the new portal. When using the general forms in the portal, but also for inquiries by e-mail or post, the BZSt requests the following information:

• For applications in the old portal: Ticket transfer number and, if already known, the registration number
• For applications in the new portal: process number and, if already known, the registration number

Please ensure that you select the correct subject area, especially when using the general forms. 

Draft forms saved in the old portal will not be lost when you switch to the new portal, but they can no longer be transmitted. 

Saved form drafts in the new portal only remain valid and can only be viewed until a new form version exists. A new form version can - but does not have to - be created with every release change: 1.9.2025; 13.10.2025, 1.12.2025, 19.1.2026, 2.3.2026, 20.4.2026, 1.6.2024, 20.7.2026, 7.9.2026, 19.10.2026, 7.12.2026. 

The certificates used so far can also be used in the new portal until the regular expiry date.

Certificate of residence

Online applications must be accompanied by a separate certificate of residence (including the period of validity) in accordance with the applicable double taxation agreement with Germany. On the certificate, the tax authority must confirm that (a) the applicant’s place of residence, habitual abode or management at the time when the capital income was accrued matches the information provided by the applicant in the application and (b) the applicant is therefore covered by the relevant agreement / had their registered office there / is an eligible applicant under section 43b of the Income Tax Act.

In certain cases, the German tax authorities may request submission of the original certificate of residence.