Please note:
You can find general information about income tax certificates in our article on the theme.
For which employees are wage tax certificates created?
Income tax certificates are created for all employees who:
- earned taxable income in 2025,
- that has been processed via Personio Payroll for at least one month.
If the employee did not receive any taxable income but was still paid via Personio Payroll, no wage tax certificate will be issued. This applies, among others, to employees who were on parental leave for the entire year or who received only income subject to flat-rate taxation (e.g., marginally employed persons).
When are income tax certificates issued?
Personio Payroll will submit the income tax certificate to the relevant tax offices during the period from December 2025 to February 2026. Once the data has been successfully processed there, Personio creates the corresponding PDF document and makes it available under Payroll > Documents.
Please note: Please note that processing errors may result in some income tax certificates only becoming available at a later date, and that the option to create income tax certificates for a specific month is not currently supported.
Where can I find the income tax certificates in my account?
The income tax certificates are available here as PDF documents:
- payroll: In the Documents tab.
- employee profile: They are also automatically carried over to the employee profile. To do this, check the billing months December through February.
I am expecting an income tax certificate for a specific employee, but have not received one. How do I proceed now?
Proceed as follows:
- First, check whether the employee is subject to income tax certification. This is the case if:
- the tax calculation was performed using a custom tax bracket, and
- the employee has earned taxable gross salary.
- If the requirements are met and no income tax certificate has been created, there may have been a technical error during the transfer between the tax office and Personio Payroll. For further clarification, Payroll Owners can contact our support team.
What do I need to consider if I change my payroll provider in 2025 and no longer use Personio Payroll in December?
Personio Payroll only creates income tax certificates for employees who left the organization while using Personio Payroll.
For all employees who remained employed by the company after the change of provider, the income tax certificate will not be issued via Personio Payroll. In these cases, your new payroll provider will create the preparation.
What do I need to consider if I changed my payroll provider in 2025 and have been using Personio Payroll since then?
First, please check the settings under Payroll > Manage > Taxes > prorated wage tax certificate (LStB) when changing payroll accounting providers during the current year. There you can specify whether your previous provider has created income tax certificates for the previous payroll periods of the current year. There are two options here:
- Income tax certificates have already been issued by the previous provider: In this case, income tax certificates will only be created for the period in which the payslip was carried out via Personio Payroll.
- Income tax certificates were not issued by the previous provider: Please ensure that the transfer values have been uploaded to Personio Payroll in full. This is the only way to ensure that the correct figures are shown on the income tax certificate.
What can I do if I have found an error in my presentation values for 2025 or if they have not yet been imported into Personio?
Payroll owners can contact our support team so that we can make the necessary amendments for you.
Please note:
This theme is not relevant for you if you were already using Personio Payroll before 2025.
What should be considered if some employees do not yet have a tax identification number?
If a tax identification number (tax ID) is missing, no income tax certificate can be created, as it cannot be processed by the tax authorities. Once you have the tax ID, please enter it retroactively in the employee profile. After the next payslip has been approved, the income tax certificate is created. If in doubt, Payroll Owners can contact our support team.
How can I check whether the amounts or contents of my income tax statements are correct?
Compare the figures from the income tax statement with the figures from the payroll account and the last payslip. If you encounter any discrepancies, Payroll Owners can contact our support team directly.
How are income tax certificates created for employees who left during the year and subsequently received further payments?
For employees who left your organization during 2025 and subsequently received further payments, all amounts for the entire year will be summarized on a single income tax certificate.
Personio Payroll does not create a separate income tax certificate for payments made after the leaver in the 2025 tax year.
Are income tax certificates automatically customized in the event of corrections to the previous year?
If amendments are made in 2026 for the year 2025 and these require an adjustment or cancellation of the wage tax certificate, Personio Payroll automatically triggers the correction. The refreshed wage tax certificate will be made available as a new document after the end of the month in which the correction is made.
How can I recognize a corrected or canceled income tax certificate?
In such cases, "Correction" or "Cancellation" is noted on the left side of the document, above the personal details.
I see variances in social security contributions for individual employees between pay slips and income tax certificates. What could be the reason for this?
These variances often occur when a so-called ratio calculation has to be performed as part of the income tax statement. This is the case when payments have been made that are tax-exempt but subject to social security contributions. This is usually due to a company pension plan (BAV) and/or SFN premiums.