E-Bilanz
The E-Bilanz: Germany's electronic tax balance sheet (§ 5b EStG)
The E-Bilanz is the tax side of German year-end reporting: a structured electronic balance sheet and income statement transmitted to the tax office. It is separate from — and often confused with — the Company Register disclosure. This page explains what it is, who must file it, and how it works.
What the E-Bilanz is
The E-Bilanz is the electronic transmission of the balance sheet and income statement to the tax office, required by § 5b EStG. Any business that determines its profit by comparing net assets (Betriebsvermögensvergleich, i.e. keeps double-entry books) must send these figures to the Finanzamt electronically in a standardised data format rather than on paper.
It is not a different set of accounts — it is your financial statements re-expressed for the tax administration. The whole point is machine-readable, structured data the tax office can process automatically, which is why the format and the tagging matter as much as the numbers.
The taxonomy and the format
The E-Bilanz is filed as XBRL, tagged against the official E-Bilanz taxonomy published by the tax administration. There is a core taxonomy (Kerntaxonomie) plus supplementary and specialist profiles for particular legal forms and industries. Each position in your balance sheet and GuV maps to a defined taxonomy element, and mandatory fields must be present — reported, or explicitly marked as empty.
You can either transmit the commercial balance sheet (Handelsbilanz) with a reconciliation to tax values (Überleitungsrechnung), or transmit a dedicated tax balance sheet (Steuerbilanz). Both are permitted under § 5b EStG; the choice affects how the differences between commercial and tax accounting are presented.
E-Bilanz vs. Company Register disclosure
Different recipient
The E-Bilanz goes to the tax office (Finanzamt); the disclosure filing goes to the Unternehmensregister. They are two separate submissions to two separate authorities.
Different visibility
The E-Bilanz is never public — it is confidential tax data. The Company Register filing, by contrast, is published or deposited for third parties to access.
Different channel and timing
The E-Bilanz is transmitted via ELSTER on the tax calendar, usually with the corporate tax return. The disclosure has its own twelve-month § 325 HGB deadline.
Who must file — and the standalone product
In practice, every corporation (GmbH, UG, AG, SE, KGaA) files an E-Bilanz, because corporations always keep double-entry books. Partnerships and sole traders that are on double-entry accounting file it too. A registered sole trader small enough to use cash-basis accounting (EÜR) under the § 241a thresholds does not file an E-Bilanz — they submit the tax office's cash-basis form instead.
jahresabschluss.io offers the E-Bilanz as a standalone product at EUR 20 per fiscal year. It builds the XBRL, maps your accounts to the correct taxonomy profile, and gets the filing ready for ELSTER transmission — independent of, and much cheaper than, the full statutory statements. If you only need the tax balance sheet, you can take just that.
Because the underlying numbers come from the same trial balance as your statutory accounts, preparing both together avoids double data entry: the commercial statements feed the Company Register disclosure and the E-Bilanz feeds the tax office. Keeping them consistent also reduces the risk of a query from the Finanzamt, which can compare the tagged tax figures against what it already holds.
Frequently asked questions
What is the E-Bilanz?
It is the electronic tax balance sheet under § 5b EStG: a structured XBRL transmission of your balance sheet and income statement to the German tax office. Any business on double-entry accounting must file it.
Is the E-Bilanz the same as filing with the Company Register?
No. The E-Bilanz goes to the tax office via ELSTER and is confidential; the disclosure filing goes to the Unternehmensregister and is public or deposited. They are separate obligations with separate deadlines.
Who has to file an E-Bilanz?
Every business that determines profit by double-entry bookkeeping — all corporations, plus partnerships and sole traders on accrual accounting. Small sole traders using cash-basis (EÜR) accounting under § 241a file a different form instead.
What format is the E-Bilanz?
XBRL, tagged against the official E-Bilanz taxonomy (Kerntaxonomie plus supplementary profiles) and transmitted electronically via ELSTER. Mandatory taxonomy fields must be filled or explicitly marked as empty.
How much does an E-Bilanz cost with jahresabschluss.io?
The E-Bilanz is a standalone product at EUR 20 per fiscal year. It builds the XBRL and maps your accounts to the correct taxonomy, ready for ELSTER — separate from and far cheaper than the full statutory statements.