change tax class germany

How to change your tax class in Germany

Changing your tax class in Germany is a very easy process that you have to do because it is not handled automatically by the local Finanzamt.

Every state in Germany has its own Finanzamt. For example, if you live in Frankfurt, you will need to work with the Hessen Finanzamt. Generally speaking, anything that you have to do that is regarding taxes, you have to deal with them.

There are two main ways to change your tax class.

  • Fill a form and send it by mail
  • Go there personally, fill a form and wait

Unless there is a unique situation to be handled, I would highly recommend you fill the form and send it by mail.

When do you need to change the tax class

Usually, you change the tax class in Germany if your job situation or your partner’s job situation changes. Say that you lost your job. At this point, if you change the tax class to 5 and your partner changes it to 3, your partner makes a whole lot more money as the German government provides you more support and taxes you less.

How to fill the form Antrag auf Steuerklassenwechsel bei Ehegatten

One of the key cases that we will cover is changing the tax class of your and your partners. For just changing your tax class alone, that is just another form. Here are the cases that you need to handle

You 3 and your partner 5

You make potentially a whole lot more money than your partner. This is perfect for the cases when your partner is either working a small job or is not working at all.

You 4 and your partner 4

When both you and your partner are working with equally comparable jobs in terms of salary

You 5 and your partner 3

Your partner makes more money than you. Whatever money that you make will be taxed more than your partners. this is the inverse of the first choice.

With the form filled, send it to them via mail and that is how you change the tax class in Germany.

For more read about Gross to net salary in Germany to make your life easier!


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