forium

Tax Preparation Softwareforium.de

Forium GmbH is a Berlin-based private company that builds online and mobile tax-filing software for German consumers, operating the Lohnsteuer Kompakt and SteuerGo platforms plus specialized sub-brands for police officers and students. The company sells B2C subscriptions through web and app stores.

Company typePrivate
Founded2015
HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2C
OfferingSoftware

What forium does

Forium GmbH is a Berlin-based private German limited liability company that develops and operates online consumer tax-filing software for the German market. The company serves individual taxpayers seeking to file annual German income tax returns and optimize deductions, with two core platforms: Lohnsteuer Kompakt, positioned as the "modern classic" online tax solution, and SteuerGo, a newer multilingual platform available in German, English, Polish, Russian, and Romanian. Both platforms offer companion mobile applications distributed through the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Amazon App Store, and share a unified single-login system that synchronizes user data across devices.

The product portfolio also includes two vertically specialized sub-brands: Steuererklärung Polizei, which optimizes deduction capture for German police officers (covering uniforms, travel, phone, and international deployment expenses), and Steuererklärung Student, which enables students and graduates to document study costs as loss carryforwards against future taxable income. The underlying technology is a cloud-based tax-preparation stack with cross-device synchronization; no public API, SDK, or AI/ML capabilities are disclosed, and there is no indication of an enterprise or B2B offering. Multi-language support and dedicated sub-brands suggest a strategy of incremental vertical and linguistic segmentation rather than horizontal expansion.

The company operates a product-led, self-serve B2C go-to-market, with no intermediary distribution partners and no publicly disclosed pricing. Revenue is generated from individual consumer subscriptions or licensing fees for tax-preparation software, consumed primarily in the annual German tax-filing season. Forium is privately held, founder-owned, has no disclosed external funding, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. Operating geographies are concentrated in Germany (DACH core), with multilingual surface coverage nominally extending to the UK, Poland, Russia, and Romania, though no localized tax-software products for those jurisdictions are evidenced.

forium firmographics

Firmographics

Name: forium
Legal name: Forium GmbH
Website: https://forium.de
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2015
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: Forium GmbH is a Berlin-based private company that builds online and mobile tax-filing software for German consumers, operating the Lohnsteuer Kompakt and SteuerGo platforms plus specialized sub-brands for police officers and students. The company sells B2C subscriptions through web and app stores.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

forium industry classification

Industry

Product category: Tax Preparation Software
NAICS: Software Publishers (5132), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412), Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (54121)
SIC: Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
akta.pro primary industry: Tax Planning & Personal Tax Optimization Tools (FSAGADAJ)

Keywords

Tax preparation software
Online tax filing
Consumer tax apps
German tax software
Tax refund optimization

Where forium is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Berlin
HQ country: Germany
HQ region: Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

forium business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Software
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

Tax Software Subscriptions: B2C tax preparation software sold to individual consumers for annual tax filing. Revenue likely derived from software licensing/subscription fees for access to tax preparation tools and submission services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels2 records

forium product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Forium GmbH develops and sells online consumer tax preparation software for the German market, delivered through web platforms and mobile apps. Its portfolio includes Lohnsteuer Kompakt (the flagship online tax filing solution), SteuerGo (a multilingual platform available in German, English, Polish, Russian, and Romanian), and specialized sub-brands Steuererklärung Polizei (for police officers) and Steuererklärung Student (for students and graduates). All products share a unified cloud-based login that synchronizes tax data across devices.

Product overview

Forium GmbH is a Berlin-based company offering a portfolio of online tax filing applications. The core offerings include Lohnsteuer Kompakt (the original online tax filing solution) and SteuerGo (a newer multilingual platform available in German, English, Polish, Russian, and Romanian). Both core products include companion mobile apps for iOS and Android. The portfolio also includes two specialized sub-brands: Steuererklärung Polizei (optimized tax filing for police officers covering occupation-specific deductions) and Steuererklärung Student (designed for students to document study costs for future tax offsetting). The products share a unified login system and are positioned as secure, accessible solutions for tax preparation in Germany.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

Lohnsteuer Kompakt: Online tax filing solution - a modern classic for German tax returns with mobile app availability.
SteuerGo
Steuererklärung Polizei
Steuererklärung Student

Products and services

Lohnsteuer Kompakt Online tax filing application that helps German users quickly, securely, and comprehensibly prepare their annual tax return and maximize their tax refund. Available via web and companion mobile app on iOS and Android.
SteuerGo Online tax filing application available in German, English, Polish, Russian, and Romanian that allows users to complete their German tax return online and via mobile app, with a single login synchronizing data across devices.
SteuerGo App Mobile application companion to SteuerGo that syncs user tax data across devices with a single login; available on iOS (Apple App Store), Android (Google Play), and Amazon Appstore.
Steuererklärung Polizei Online tax filing application optimized for German police officers, covering deductions for travel expenses, uniforms, phone costs, and international deployments.
Steuererklärung Student Online tax filing application optimized for German students and graduates, enabling documentation of study costs as losses that can be offset against future tax payments once taxable income is earned.

Companies that use forium

Customer profile

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

forium technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

forium partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

forium competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

ELSTER: Free official online tax filing portal operated by the German tax authorities. It is not a paid product but defines the price floor and baseline feature set that any commercial offering (Forium included) must justify against. Critical reference competitor on functionality and trust.

Direct peers

Smartsteuer: Established German online tax preparation software for personal returns, owned by H&R Block. Competes head-on with Lohnsteuer Kompakt and SteuerGo on the same German consumer filing use case, with broader brand reach and parent-company backing.
WISO Steuer (Buhl Data): Long-standing German personal tax software suite (WISO Steuer) from Buhl Data, sold via download, web, and retail box product. Overlaps with Forium on DIY personal tax filing in Germany but skews more desktop/legacy and broader financial software portfolio.
Taxfix: Berlin-based B2C mobile-first tax filing app targeting German consumers with a chat-assisted, refund-based pricing model. Closest direct competitor to Forium's SteuerGo/Lohnsteuer Kompakt on geography, customer (individual German taxpayers), and product (annual personal tax return software).

Regional players

Lohnsteuerhilfe Bayern: Large Germany-based Lohnsteuerhilfeverein offering advice-supported tax filing for employees, partly overlapping with Forium's value proposition for German wage earners. Differs by being membership/d advice-led rather than pure DIY software, but addresses the same filing need for overlapping cohorts.

Emerging players

Steuerbot: Early-stage German tax filing app offering guided mobile filing for individual taxpayers, operating in the same consumer segment as SteuerGo with a thinner product surface and recent venture backing. Comparable on geography, target user, and self-serve mobile distribution.

Others

Akquired (Akquise & Finanzen): German tax advisory and filing services firm offering both professional and DIY-supported options. Adjacent to Forium as it competes for the same end-customer tax filing budget, but operates on an advisory/hybrid model rather than self-serve software.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

forium financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

forium leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

forium funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

forium M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about forium

What does forium do?

Is forium a public or private company?

forium is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was forium founded?

forium was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is forium based?

forium is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, in the Europe region.

How does forium make money?

One revenue line is on record: tax Software Subscriptions.

Who are forium's main competitors?

ELSTER is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are Smartsteuer, WISO Steuer (Buhl Data) and Taxfix. Lohnsteuerhilfe Bayern is listed as a regional player. Steuerbot is listed as an emerging player. Akquired (Akquise & Finanzen) is listed as an others.

Does forium have an API?

No public API is recorded for forium.

What industry is forium in?

forium's product category is Tax Preparation Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGADAJ, Tax Planning & Personal Tax Optimization Tools. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.