WIP
Logging in to ELSTER with heylogin
heylogin can store your ELSTER certificate and log you in to the German
tax portal automatically — no more hunting for the certificate file on your
computer and typing your password by hand every time.
What is ELSTER?
ELSTER ("Elektronische Steuererklärung") is the official online portal of the German tax administration. It's used to file tax returns and communicate with the tax office (Finanzamt) digitally.
Instead of a normal username and password, ELSTER logs you in with a certificate file. When you register with ELSTER, you download a small file (ending in
.pfx or .p12 — both are the same format, technically a PKCS#12 certificate) and choose a password for it. To log in at www.elster.de, you then select that file and enter its password every time.That works, but it's inconvenient: you have to keep track of the file, remember where you saved it, and type the password on each login. This is exactly what heylogin takes care of for you.
Don't have an ELSTER certificate yet? You first need to register at elster.de. See the official ELSTER registration help for how to create your account and download your certificate file.
What heylogin does for you
heylogin securely stores your ELSTER certificate file and its password, encrypted end-to-end like all your other logins. When you visit www.elster.de, heylogin fills in the certificate file and the password for you, so you can log in with a single click.
Adding your ELSTER certificate to heylogin
- Create a new login in heylogin and choose ELSTER Certificate as the login type.
- Add your certificate file. Drag and drop your
.pfx(or.p12) file into the certificate box, or click Browse to pick it from your computer. heylogin checks the file and shows Certificate accepted once it recognizes a valid ELSTER certificate.
- Enter the certificate password. This is the password (PIN) you chose when you created your certificate at ELSTER — the same one you normally type when logging in. heylogin needs it to log you in automatically.
- Save the login.
Once saved, heylogin shows the details read from your certificate so you can confirm everything is correct:
- ELSTER account number — the account the certificate belongs to
- Valid from / Valid until — the certificate's validity period
- Serial number — a unique identifier of the certificate
Logging in to ELSTER
- Go to www.elster.de and open the login page.
- Confirm the login in heylogin as usual.
heylogin fills in your certificate file and password, and you're logged in.
Note: For your security, heylogin only fills the certificate file on elster.de. If you add other websites to the same login, the certificate file is never sent there.
Replacing or renewing a certificate
ELSTER certificates expire after a few years, and you'll receive a new file when you renew. heylogin warns you ahead of time:
- When a certificate is close to expiring, it shows Expires in X days.
- After it has expired, it shows Expired X days ago.
To update it, open the login and use the Replace button (or drag a new file onto the certificate), then save. You can renew your certificate directly at ELSTER before it expires — see the official ELSTER access renewal page if your certificate has expired or you've lost the file.
Sharing in a team
Like other logins, an ELSTER certificate can be shared with your team, so colleagues who are allowed to can log in to ELSTER without ever seeing the certificate file or password themselves.
Downloading the certificate file
If you ever need the original certificate file back — for example to use it on another device — you can download it from heylogin using the Download button on the stored certificate (available if you're allowed to view the login's secrets).
Helpful official ELSTER links
- www.elster.de — the official ELSTER portal
- ELSTER registration help registering and downloading your certificate file
- ELSTER access renewal recovering or renewing access if your certificate expired or was lost