A German postal address for expats and Germans abroad

Why post from Germany still matters after you move

For a notice, a fixed day counts, not the day you open it. If the tax office sends a notice to an address in Germany, it is deemed notified on the fourth day after posting (section 122(2) no. 1 AO); if it is sent abroad, after one month (no. 2) – in both cases unless it arrives later or not at all. From then on, for example, the one-month period for an objection runs (section 355 AO).

Anyone who lives neither in Germany nor in the EU or the EEA can be asked by the tax office to name an authorised recipient in Germany (section 123 AO). You can name PortoDoc for this; the authorisation for one authority is included in Starter.

A postal address – not a registered address

PortoDoc is a postal address. It is not a residential address for registering with the residents' registration office (Einwohnermeldeamt), and not a business, registered-office or imprint address.

What you see online

Where your post arrives: Letters arrive in Ahrensburg (Schleswig-Holstein); data is stored on servers in the EU (Hetzner, Finland). PortoDoc provides no legal advice, no tax advice and no fiscal representation, and does not monitor deadlines; for summaries, the original letter counts.

• Every letter opened, scanned and stored as a PDF in your account
• Short summary with sender, content and urgency, plus a traffic light: red = deadline or urgent, yellow = action needed, green = for information (a hint, not tax advice; the original letter counts)
• Email notification of your choice: notice only, summary, or summary with the letter as PDF
• Registered letters accepted, signed for and scanned like any other letter
• Translation into English in every plan, deadline detection from the Business plan (a non-binding AI hint; you check every deadline yourself)
• After scanning, originals kept safely stored for 90 days, then shredded; sending an original abroad costs €7.90 (letters up to 20 g)

How it works

1. Step 1

   Create an account and choose a plan

   Sign up online, choose a plan and pay. You receive your PD number straight after ordering.

2. Step 2

   Grant the authorisation to receive post

   You grant the authorisation digitally during sign-up (tick box and your name as signature). It allows us to accept, open, scan and provide letters addressed to you.

3. Step 3

   Share your new address

   Your address is your name with your PD number, "c/o Postuvio UG (haftungsbeschränkt), Am Tiergarten 10-12, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany". Give it to the tax office, the pension insurance, your bank and insurers.

4. Step 4

   Read your post online

   Every letter appears in your account as a PDF with a short summary; you choose how we notify you by email.

Prices

Starter: €19.95 a month or €199.50 a year, 10 letters a month. Business: €49.95 a month or €499.50 a year, 25 letters a month, with deadline detection as a non-binding AI hint. Translation into English is in every plan.

Each additional letter costs €2.95; access to your post is never blocked when you go over your allowance. Sending an original abroad costs €7.90 (letters up to 20 g). All prices include 19% German VAT; paying yearly means 12 months for the price of ten.

See all prices

Frequently asked questions