From spouse splitting to family splitting: where are the differences?
In its coalition agreement, the new federal government has laid down the reform plan from spouse splitting to family splitting. Most families in Germany are familiar with marriage splitting. But what would a family split mean for families with children? We’ll enlighten you.
The previous spouse splitting
When it comes to spouse splitting, couples have usually been able to save money after marriage. However, the basic idea of this splitting comes from a time when, at least in most cases, the man brought home a fairly high full-time salary, while the woman at best had a small part-time job in addition to housework and caring for the children.
The man (as the main earner) was thus classified in tax class 3, in which he received a significantly higher net salary. With her lower salary, the woman found herself in tax bracket 5. There is a relatively high tax burden.
Why does the traffic light coalition want to introduce family splitting?
From today’s point of view, in which both partners usually have or could do equivalent jobs, this tax division is no longer fair in many cases. So what was once well-intentioned in the past is often no longer fair today. In addition, a search was made for a way of providing additional tax relief for families with children. This is where family splitting comes into play.
How should family splitting work?
The solution of the traffic light coalition would like to abolish tax brackets 3 and 5. Married couples would then be in a newly aligned tax class 4 in the future. Both partners would be treated equally in terms of the tax burden. The partner, who was previously classified in tax class three and had to pay correspondingly less taxes, is now charged a little higher. Net income would drop slightly. The opposite is true for the partner who was previously classified in tax class 5 due to the lower salary. There is now a little more net from the gross.
It gets interesting from the point when a couple has children. With family splitting, the total tax burden is not only shared by the taxable partners. The difference to the previous spouse splitting is completely clear here. In the case of a couple with one child, the tax burden is calculated by three people. For a family with two children, the tax burden is divided by four.
READING TIP: In this way, parents and families can actively save on taxes!
Overall, families with children should be relieved financially in this way. The more children, the more relief. Time will tell how much and consistently these reliefs will ultimately affect the pay slips of millions of German citizens. The concept sounds exciting and fair. We will take a close look here – and report further.
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