It’s quite simple really: the German tax system knows that the higher-earner is often bearing more of the costs in the household. However, for a lot of households, this is often not the best solution. By default, the Finanzamt will put both partners in tax class 4, when you first register your marriage or marry in Germany. The class used for additional jobs (Nebenjob or Zweitjob)Īttention married people: you can save moneyĪs you can see, married people can belong to different classes and optimize differently. You are married with a lower income (than your partner in Steuerklasse 3) You are married with both equivalent income You are married with a higher income (than your partner in Steuerklasse 5) You are single, widow(er), separated/divorced Self-employed are paying income tax through other means. In other words, your net salary is directly related to your tax class in Germany.Īs you might have already guessed it this is only relevant to employees. This impacts how much wage tax (“Lohnsteuerabzug”), solidarity contribution (“Solidaritätszuschlag”) and Church tax (“Kirchensteuer”) will be taken from your gross salary. This will help your employer apply the correct tax rate on your payslip, hence the name “Lohnsteuerklasse”. Depending on this, you will be put in different categories by the Finanzamt.

In nutshell your tax class in Germany is more or less defined by your marital status.

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