Couple with different nationalities
October 1, 2015 | 50,00 EUR | answered by StB Patrick Färber
First of all, to the current situation. I have been married to my wife since August 2015. My nationality is German and my wife's is Greek. Currently, I am in tax class I. My main residence is in town A (Bavaria) and my workplace is in town B (Bavaria). The distance between A and B is 120km. My wife is expected to continue living in Greece until May 2016. I commute every 2 weeks from Germany to Greece and work there for a week in home office. My wife works in Greece as a freelancer.
My first question is, what tax class change can I make now that we are married?
My second question is, can I claim a double household deduction with this setup?
Dear inquirer,
Regarding your inquiry, based on the information you provided:
- Since your wife is a citizen of the EU, she can be treated as an unrestricted tax resident on request (in the income tax return form in the main form!), even though she did not have a residence in the country in 2015, according to § 1a para. 1 no. 2 EStG. This allows you to choose joint assessment or the potentially more favorable splitting tax rate in the income tax return.
- As a result, you can also choose between tax classes IV IV or III V when getting married, regardless of whether your wife is not employed. The tax class choice is only relevant for mid-year wage tax deduction and has nothing to do with the final tax at the end of the year. Tax class IV tends to have a similar effect to tax class I. You should not get too caught up in "calculations", the IV IV option is generally the "safer" choice.
- The income your wife earns from freelance work in Greece is only taxed in Greece and should not be taxed in Germany, as long as your wife does not have a "permanent establishment" in Germany and performs the work there.
- Unfortunately, a double household management cannot be derived from this situation. You do not have a work-related double household management, your wife simply lives in a different location. The trips there are privately motivated.
I hope this information was helpful!
Sincerely,
P. Färber (tax consultant)
