Getting married? Impact on parental benefits
December 30, 2009 | 50,00 EUR | answered by Matthias Wander
Dear Sir or Madam,
I kindly request answers to the following questions. My girlfriend and I are expecting our first child. We are now wondering how getting married would impact us financially. Here are the details:
- Current salary for me: 40,000 EUR gross/year
- Current salary for girlfriend: 40,000 EUR gross/year
- Expected due date: June 22, 2010
- Planned parental leave for me: 2 months (September - October 2010)
- Planned parental leave for girlfriend: 12 months (June 2010 - May 2011)
- No investments, no additional income.
- If we do not marry, custody will be shared. Joint household.
Question 1: Parental allowance
How much more parental allowance would we receive in total if we were to marry in January 2010 and choose the optimal tax classes? (Compared to remaining unmarried.)
Question 2: After parental allowance
Let's assume that my girlfriend starts working part-time from June 2011 and earns 20,000 EUR. I work full-time and earn 45,000 EUR. How would marriage affect our net income?
I hope I have provided all the necessary information. Thank you in advance for answering my questions!
Best regards,
Dear inquirer,
Thank you for your inquiry, which I would like to answer based on your information in the context of initial consultation.
Tax classes only affect the monthly net income. In the income tax assessment, the "correct" tax on the income is then determined. The monthly income tax deduction amounts are therefore nothing more than advance payments on the income tax to be determined later.
Parental allowance amounts to 67% of the average net income of the last 12 months, at least 300,- euros and a maximum of 1,800,- euros. Since you and your girlfriend have equal incomes, tax classes 4/4 are more advantageous than 3/5. Since tax class 4 corresponds to tax class 1 in the result, marriage would have no effect on the amount of parental allowance.
It is conceivable that you initially take tax class 5 and your girlfriend takes tax class 3, and once your girlfriend goes on parental leave, you take tax class 3. However, keep in mind that with tax class 5, you will pay more income tax than you save with tax class 3. You can reclaim the overpaid tax with the income tax return, but only after the end of the year. This would mean that you would initially have less money available monthly.
Calculation:
(including church tax 9%)
40,000 euros : 13 monthly salaries = 3,076 euros;
Monthly net income:
Tax class 4: approx. 1,800 euros;
Tax class 3: approx. 2,100 euros;
Tax class 5: approx. 1,300 euros;
In the end, on one hand, you would have about 200 euros less monthly, but you can reclaim the overpaid tax with the income tax return. On the other hand, with a rough calculation, you would have a total of about 1,700 euros more in parental allowance than with tax class 4/4.
Although the parental allowance is tax-free, it is taken into account when determining the tax rate. This means that in the end, you will pay more taxes than someone with the same income without parental allowance.
Regardless of how you decide, you should do so early on, as a retroactive change of tax classes is not possible.
Question 2:
45,000 : 13 = 3,461,-
net (Tax class 3) = approx. 2,350,-
20,000 : 13 = 1,538,-
net (Tax class 5) = approx. 790,-
I hope this gives you a first overview.
Kind regards,
Wander
Tax advisor
