Regarding REST API or OpenAPI Support in ELSTER

[Dipprojee]

These are the following questions I've -

1. Whether ELSTER provides any REST API/Open API support for data transmission. If yes, I would like to have some reference links for the same, as of now, I'm unable to find one.

2. If ELSTER doesn't have any API support, how does the ERIC communicate with the tax administration (it should use some API if I'm not wrong, so is it abstracted)?

3. There is no information we found on how we can bundle the ERIC jar to our web application and we'll be able to use all the library functions provided by ELSTER in order to transmit the data. Any information on this?

4. If we go with ERIC, then how the authentication be handled? (I believe ERIC is working like a middleman for our software and the tax administration but to connect with ERIC we need to authenticate if I'm not wrong, how can this be achieved?)


Thank you in Advance.

[mhanft]

You have already asked this in the Herstellerforum which is definitely the right place to ask. Here in the "users' forum" nobody will know the answers to your questions.

Anyway, in short:

1. there is still a small relic of an "open interface", but more and more services are being removed from there, and in some years, it will be closed at all. So it makes no sense to develop new software for using this open interface.

2. the ERiC software does have an API. It is explained in detail in the "ERiC Dokumentation" which you can download (besides the ERiC software itself) from the Entwickler-Bereich (developper space)

3. is included in 2.

4. the user must provide a filename of an ELSTER certificate (.pfx file) to ERiC. The certificate must be obtained from the ELSTER website previously.