Registering Your POS With the Tax Office: Step by Step
How to report your TSE cash register to the Finanzamt via ELSTER: required data, deadlines, full reporting — and how to automate it.
7 min read · Last updated: August 30, 2026
You run an electronic cash register with a TSE? Then it has to be registered with the Finanzamt (the German tax office) — that's what §146a Abs. 4 of the Abgabenordnung (German Fiscal Code) demands. The good news: the registration takes 15 minutes if you have the right data at hand. And with the right POS system, you don't even have to do it yourself.
Here's how the registration via ELSTER works, step by step, which data you need and which deadlines apply.
Do I have to register my cash register?
Yes, if you use an electronic recording system with a TSE — which means practically every modern POS system in the hospitality industry. The registration requirement has been in force since January 1, 2025 and applies to restaurants, cafés, bars, food trucks and snack bars just as much as to retail.
Only businesses that work exclusively with an offene Ladenkasse (open cash drawer without any electronics) don't have to register anything.
The background to this obligation — why it exists and what happens if you ignore it — is covered in our article on the Kassenmeldepflicht (cash register registration requirement).
The data you need for the registration
Before you log in to ELSTER, have these details ready:
- Your Steuernummer (tax number) and the details of the Betriebsstätte (business premises: name, address)
- Type of recording system (e.g. tablet POS system)
- Serial number of the cash register — for app-based systems, the serial number of the device the POS app runs on
- Purchase date of the cash register (for rentals/leasing: contract start date)
- TSE details: serial number, BSI certification ID and type of TSE (cloud or hardware)
- Total number of cash registers at the Betriebsstätte
With a cloud TSE, you'll find the serial number and certification ID in your POS system. In Servire, all TSE details are shown in the Web Desk under the TSE settings — ready to copy.
Step by step: registering your cash register via ELSTER
- Log in to Mein ELSTER at elster.de. You need a user account with a certificate file — you usually already have one for your tax returns.
- Open the form: "Mitteilung über elektronische Aufzeichnungssysteme (§146a Absatz 4 AO)" (notification of electronic recording systems). You'll find it via the form search.
- Enter the Betriebsstätte — name, address, Steuernummer.
- Enter each cash register individually: type of system, serial number, purchase date, plus the TSE with its serial number and certification ID.
- Submit. You'll receive a transmission confirmation — save it, it belongs in your records as part of your Verfahrensdokumentation.
Important: Every submission is a complete filing. You always report all cash registers of a Betriebsstätte together — a new submission completely overwrites the previous one. If you only report the new register and leave out the existing ones, you have accidentally "deregistered" them.
Which deadlines apply?
| Situation | Deadline |
|---|---|
| New cash register purchased | Registration within one month |
| Cash register taken out of service | Notification within one month |
| Existing registers (purchased before July 2025) | Registration was due by July 31, 2025 |
If you missed the deadline for existing registers: don't sit it out, catch up. A late registration is better than none — at the latest during a Kassennachschau (unannounced cash register inspection), the gap will show, because the inspector can see in advance which registers are on file for your business.
What happens when I replace a register or a device?
Two notifications: you deregister the old register with its decommissioning date and register the new one with its purchase date. Both can go into a single ELSTER submission, as long as you include the complete inventory of registers at the Betriebsstätte.
The same applies when you swap a TSE (for example after its certificate expires) — the new setup belongs in the filing.
Or: let your POS system file for you
The registration is no rocket science, but it is maintenance work: every new device, every swap, every closure has to be reported — per Betriebsstätte, as a complete filing, on time.
That's why Servire handles the cash register registration automatically in the Pro plan: the system knows your devices and your TSE anyway, and it transmits registrations, changes and deregistrations to the Finanzamt without you ever touching an ELSTER form. What that costs is laid out transparently on the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to register every iPad individually? Yes. Every device that runs the POS app and records orders or payments counts as a recording system and belongs in the filing.
I have several locations — is one filing enough? No, filings are made per Betriebsstätte. Each location gets its own complete filing.
Does the registration cost anything? No. ELSTER is free, and so is the registration.
I bought my cash register second-hand — what do I enter as the purchase date? The date you acquired the register, not the date of its original sale.
Last updated: August 2026. This article is no substitute for tax advice — for special cases, your Steuerberater (tax advisor) or your local Finanzamt can help.