Taxes and social insurance contributions for employees

View electronic wage tax deduction features

The electronic wage tax characteristics used for wage tax deduction can be taken from your payslip and viewed in various ways.

Lock or unlock electronic wage tax deduction features for employees

You can have the wage tax deduction features (tax class, child allowances) blocked by notifying your tax office. Your company of employment will then tax your wages according to tax class VI.

Electronic payroll tax deduction features change

If your personal circumstances have changed - e.g. due to marriage - your personal income tax deduction characteristics will usually also be changed.

Marriage leads to a change in tax class

You do not want to keep the tax class combination IV/IV that was automatically assigned when you got married? If so, you and your wife or husband can apply for a change of tax class at your local tax office.

After the death of the spouse or civil partner, the tax class changes in the long term; tax class III can be retained in the short term

If your spouse or civil partner dies, you will be placed in tax class III in the year of death and the following year.

Applying for a change of tax class during marriage or civil partnership

As a spouse or civil partner, you have three possible tax class combinations to choose from. You are free to choose from these.

Permanent separation of spouses and civil partners leads to a change in tax class

You live permanently separated as part of a marriage or civil partnership? If so, the spouse-related tax class combinations are no longer possible from the year after the separation.

Change to the church tax deduction when joining the church

If you join or re-join a church, you are obliged to pay church tax. The procedure for this is largely automated.

Have address and personal data changed

If your address or personal data changes, you must notify us of the changed data.

Change to the church tax deduction when leaving the church

By leaving the church, the obligation to pay church tax no longer applies. The procedure for this is largely automated.

Assign main employer

If you are employed by several employers at the same time, you can determine yourself which employer is to retrieve the family-friendly electronic wage tax deduction features.

Change tax class after resumption of marriage or civil partnership

If you are no longer permanently separated from your spouse/life partner, you are again entitled to the tax class combination III/V, IV/IV or IV/IV with factor.

Apply for a change of tax class for single parents

As a single parent with at least one child in the household who is entitled to child allowance or child benefit, you can apply for the tax relief amount for single parents and thus for tax class 2.

Certificate for income tax deduction issuance

As a rule, the wage tax deduction characteristics are formed at the beginning of an employment relationship on the basis of an application by the employee (possibly by the employer) to the tax authorities.

Apply for a certificate for income tax deduction

Tax office can issue certificate for wage tax deduction if retrieval of electronic wage tax deduction characteristics (ELStAM) is not possible.

Taxing wages from another employment relationship with tax class VI

Wages from all other employment relationships are taxed according to tax class VI.

Employers register and pay income tax

As the employer, you withhold the wage tax from the wages paid and, after electronically transmitting the wage tax registration to the responsible tax office, pay the wage tax to it.

Submitting the remuneration report to the artists' social insurance fund without being asked to do so

If your obligation to pay contributions has ended and you again pay more than EUR 450.00 per year to self-employed artists or journalists, or if you also again hold more than 3 events in a calendar year, you must inform the Künstlersozialkasse.

File an objection against a notice of change to the artists' social security contribution

If the Künstlersozialkasse has sent you a notice of amendment and you do not agree with it, you can lodge an objection.

After registering with the Künstlersozialkasse, file an objection against the decision on the obligation to pay social security contributions for artists.

The Künstlersozialkasse has determined that your company is liable for the Künstlersozialabgabe. You do not agree with this and can lodge an objection.

Social security rights and obligations in the EU

This section provides information on social security rights and obligations in the EU.

Other taxes: payment, rates, tax returns

When you set up a business in Germany, you must comply with certain rules and requirements. This section provides information on your rights and obligations, in particular relating to taxes (payment, rates and returns).