PDFs for ELSTER Belegnachreichung: file, total and page limits

Which ELSTER form are you using?

ELSTER states attachment limits in the instructions for each form. The figures on this page come from the instructions for the Belegnachreichung form, as of 13 October 2026. If you submit supporting documents through this form, prepare your PDFs according to these values.

On the same day, the instructions for these forms also stated the same four attachment limits and the same note about page count:

• Sonstige Nachricht an das Finanzamt (other message to the tax office)
• Antrag auf Anpassung von Vorauszahlungen (application to adjust advance payments)
• Antrag auf Fristverlängerung (application for a deadline extension)

This does not mean there is a fixed rule for every ELSTER message. Other forms, tax software from other providers or submission through a tax firm may have their own limits. Forums also contain differing figures, such as 14 MB in total or 100 pages per file. Such posts describe an earlier state or a different submission route and do not replace the current instructions for your form.

Before you change a file, open the instructions for exactly the form you are using. Note down the values from the section on attachments, together with the date on which you checked.

Check four limits separately

For Belegnachreichung, the instructions state four limits. Each one measures something different: a small file can have too many pages, and files that each fit individually can be too large together.

The page limit is therefore not a recommendation. Before sending, you bring a 201-page PDF down to at most 200 pages per file, rather than hoping it will go through anyway. One way to do this is splitting, provided this distribution is permissible for your documents. You do not omit any required pages in the process.

What MB means remains unclear

The instructions do not specify whether an MB here means 1,000,000 bytes or 1,048,576 bytes. For 10 MB, that would be either 10,000,000 or 10,485,760 bytes. If you plan with the smaller, decimal reading, you stay within the stated limit under both readings. However, this does not tell you exactly how ELSTER counts at the limit. The file size converter helps you convert between KB, MB and MiB.

Example: when the total size applies first

With five files in this example, each individual file is under 10 MB and well under 200 pages. Even so, their total of 45 MB is too large. What helps here is reducing the saved documents themselves until their sum is at most 36.91 MB, without dropping any required document. Merging, on the other hand, does not help: it does not reliably reduce the total, and even two such files would together make up around 18 MB in one attachment. If reducing is not enough, check with your tax office whether you can distribute the documents differently.

Check all four values in the calculator

In the upload limit calculator, enter the four values from the instructions and choose the MB unit with 1,000,000 bytes for the sizes, i.e. 10 MB = 10,000,000 bytes and 36.91 MB = 36,910,000 bytes, or enter these values directly as whole numbers in bytes. This decimal basis is a cautious planning assumption, not a confirmed ELSTER limit; don't enter 36.91 as MiB, because that doesn't produce a whole byte value. When you select PDFs, the calculator reads their file size in your browser and tries to read the page count. For files over 50 MiB, or if a PDF can't be read, the page count stays unknown and the page check stays open; the size check still works, and you can also enter page counts yourself. The calculator doesn't change any file and has no connection to ELSTER.

Choose the right reduction measure

Start from the limit that is exceeded. Each measure improves only some of the four values and can worsen another. For this reason, always measure the saved files again afterwards.

Splitting and merging change how your documents are distributed across attachments. Only use them if this distribution is permissible for your documents. If in doubt, ask your tax office.

A file is larger than 10 MB

In Reduce PDF to target size, use “Choose PDF” to select a file of up to 50 MiB. Then choose a method, set a target size if needed, and start with “Reduce PDF to a target size”. The lossless method optimizes the PDF's objects, structure and data streams and can repack losslessly compressed data streams in the process. It does not change image quality. “Balanced” and “Smaller file” re-encode suitable images, and the stronger level can visibly cost detail. The tool keeps the smallest valid result that is smaller than the original; otherwise you receive an unchanged copy. A target size is a maximum: the result may reach it exactly, but the tool does not reach it in every case.

Supporting documents are often scans, and with scans the size usually comes from the scanning itself. The guide to scanned PDFs explains how to choose suitable resolution and color settings at the source. If a file stubbornly remains too large, PDF won't get smaller helps you find the cause.

A PDF has more than 200 pages

Compressing does not help here, because it changes the bytes, not the pages: 201 pages remain 201 pages. You can only get fewer pages per file by splitting. Splitting is only worthwhile if the additional attachments still keep you at no more than 20 and the total size still fits.

Split PDF loads files with up to 250 pages and 50 MiB. You can use it to divide a 230-page PDF into parts of at most 200 pages. However, the tool will not load a 300-page PDF, even if you only want to extract 200 pages. In that case, it is better to create the parts separately at the source. For example, scan the documents in sections or save them as PDF from the original program in several sections.

Too many attachments or too much in total

If you have more than 20 files, you can combine them into fewer attachments with Merge PDF. The tool handles up to 50 MiB per PDF, 100 MiB of input in total and 250 loaded pages. Each new file must then itself be at most 10 MB in size and have at most 200 pages; otherwise you have traded one problem for another.

If only the total size is exceeded, look at the largest individual files first. That is often where there is the most to gain, but this is not certain. How much a file shrinks depends on its content, for example whether it contains scanned images that can be re-encoded, and how much detail the saved version needs to retain. If that is not enough, you can recreate individual documents at the source, for example with more suitable scan settings. You can also use another suitable PDF program, as long as everything remains clearly legible. Check with your tax office whether you may distribute documents across several submissions.

Preserve document quality and confidential information

This guide concerns only the file. It does not cover which documents you submit, whether a document is relevant for tax purposes or which deadlines apply. Clarify these questions with your tax office or your tax advisor. On the technical side, the goal is for each document to arrive complete and clearly legible.

• Work with copies. Our tools overwrite neither the original nor earlier downloads. Keep the source file until the submission is complete.
• After each reduction, check the places that matter: amounts, dates, names, fine print, stamps and handwritten notes.
• Do not remove pages just to fit the limit. You can remove blank pages or pages that were accidentally scanned twice with Delete pages, but only if they truly contain nothing that belongs to the document.
• A scanned signature is an image, whereas a digital signature is a verifiable part of the file. The compressor does not accept digitally signed or encrypted PDFs, and the page tools reject interactive forms, among other things. Do not reprint such files just to make them smaller. You can learn more in the guide to signatures and forms.

Deleting pages is not redaction: the content of the remaining pages is fully preserved, and our tools do not black out any information. Processing runs locally in your browser, although the site loads program components from the internet to do this. You decide where the results are stored when you save them. On shared devices, it is best to delete the copies after submission. Details can be found under File processing and security.

Final check before submission

1. Open each saved PDF, not just the preview in the tool, and page through it completely: are all pages there, in the right order and clearly legible?
2. Compare the page count of each file with the limit of 200 pages.
3. Select all finished files together in the upload limit calculator and check them against the four values from your form's instructions.
4. Attach exactly these saved files and not an older version with a similar name.

When our PDF tools create a new PDF, they automatically check whether it can be opened again and has the expected page count. Only you can see whether every page is legible when you review the saved file. A passed result in the calculator means that the figures meet the limits you entered in the selected unit. Whether ELSTER accepts the files only becomes clear when you submit them. An accepted submission does not confirm that all necessary documents are included completely and legibly. Use the list above to ensure that beforehand.