The Federal Central Tax Office is responsible for the tasks related to the Register of Charity Organisations, Parties, Voters’ Associations and Public Bodies (so called ‘Charity Register’) (section 5 (1) no. 47- new German Tax Administration Act (FVG)).

The Charity Register includes all organisations that can receive donations which are allowable for the income tax of the donor. The Charity Register also includes foreign EU- and EEA-based charity organisations.

The foreign organisations can file a registration to the BZSt for the assessment of the non-profit status and the subsequent inclusion in the Charity Register.

The BZSt will then check whether you meet the requirements for charitable status as defined by the German Fiscal Code. If your application is approved, you will be entered in the Charity Register and may issue a donation receipt for your donors from Germany in accordance with the official German model, which is recognized by the German tax authorities for the deduction of special expenses in accordance with Section 10b of the Income Tax Act.

You must submit your application for entry in the Charity Register electronically to the BZSt via the BZSt online.portal.

You will need a certificate to log in to the BZSt online.portal. If you already have a certificate for the BZSt online portal (BOP) or the Elster online portal, you can use this for the login.

If you or your authorized representative, who is not based in Germany, do not yet have a certificate, you can obtain one by registering in the BOP. For domestic authorized representatives, it is recommended to obtain the certificate by registering in "My ELSTER".