Short Answer

Your employer will automatically tax you at the highest possible rate if you do not provide your tax ID before your first payday. This placeholder category is Tax Class 6, but you will recover the overpaid money once your ID is processed.

What Most Expats Don't Realize

You started your new job but the Federal Central Tax Office had not mailed your identification paper by the end of the month. Your HR manager locked in the payroll using the default system settings instead of utilizing the statutory three-month grace period, because they lacked your official data. You opened your first payslip only to discover a massive deduction that slashed your net salary by 45%, leaving you short on rent money for the next month.

What To Do

  • Ask HR to temporarily process your payroll using your date of birth and registered address as a stopgap measure.
  • Print out your registration confirmation (Anmeldebestätigung) to prove to your employer that you have officially applied for the number.
  • "Können Sie die Lohnabrechnung im nächsten Monat rückwirkend korrigieren?" (Can you retroactively correct the payroll next month?) — ask this at your HR department.

The Truth

The system assumes everyone has a paper trail. If the mail is slow, the software defaults to punishment mode because it does not know your marital status.