income tax certificate
October 14, 2010 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Gabriele Hellenbroich
I have changed my job. My new employer is asking for my income tax certificate, stating that it is needed for the taxation of social security contributions. I can black out everything except for the social security contributions if I want to. I am generally interested in what the income tax certificate actually serves for the employer. I always thought that social security contributions are legally required?
Thank you in advance.
Kind regards
Dear questioner,
First of all, thank you for your inquiry, which I would be happy to answer based on the information you provided and in the context of your initial consultation. The response is based on the description of the situation. Missing or incorrect information about the actual circumstances can affect the legal outcome.
The wage tax certificate is required by the employer for the correct calculation of wage tax, if income from a previous employment relationship exists in the calendar year, as the so-called previous employer values must be recorded. If these are missing, too little wage tax will be withheld for the annual taxation, and there may be a subsequent tax assessment in the context of the income tax return, which can be avoided by recording the previous employer values. Additionally, the certificate can provide information such as name and address, number of child allowances, church membership, any registered allowances, and the tax class. The social security contributions shown in lines 22 to 25 would signal to the employer that there was an insurance obligation and that contributions were paid. But that's all. It does not show the social security number or which fund they are insured with. And these data are definitely needed for payroll processing. I do not quite understand the request of your new employer and would ask him for the reasons behind this approach.
I hope that these details have given you a sufficient overview of the situation in the context of your consultation, and remain
Yours sincerely,
Gabriele Hellenbroich
Tax consultant
