Taxes
Tax identification number
As soon as you have registered your residence in Germany, you will be assigned a personal tax identification number for life ("Steueridentifikationsnummer"). You will receive it automatically by mail about two weeks after your registration. If you have not received the number, please contact us or the Tax Office responsible for your address and provide your full name, your date of birth, and your address.
Stay with Scholarship
If you receive a scholarship for research purposes or for further scientific training and education, then you are typically not subject to wage withholding tax in Germany. You therefore do not have to pay any social insurance contributions. You may have to pay taxes on your scholarship in your home country; please ask for information from your scholarship provider.
Stay with Work Contract
If you receive a work contract, you must in general pay taxes. Your employer will automatically withdraw income tax each month in the form of wage withholding from your gross salary and transfer it directly to the Tax Office. The amount of wage withholding is determined by your income level, your family status, and your tax category. Pension, health insurance, long-term care and unemployment insurance are also deducted and paid from your gross salary. If you reported that you are a member of a Protestant or Catholic religious community when you registered your residence with the Citizen Services Office / Citizen Center, then church tax will also be deducted from your salary. You can find a detailed list of your deductions on your salary statement.
After the conclusion of a calendar year, you should submit a tax return to the Tax Office assigned to where you live. By doing this, you can, under certain circumstances, get back part of the taxes you have paid.
Double taxation: To prevent a situation in which you are taxed in Germany and in your home country at the same time, there are double taxation agreements with many countries. These agreements specify precisely where you have to pay taxes. Please ask about these regulations in your home country.
Tax categories
- Tax category I: Applies for single people who are not single parents, as well as for separated spouses or life partners, and those who are divorced.
- Tax category II: Only applies for single parents who have a claim to relief for single parents.
- Tax category III: Can be chosen by spouses or partners when one partner is not employed or earns significantly less than the other person. The other person than receives tax category V. The combination of categories III and V must be applied for explicitly. To do this, please send the Application to Change Tax Categories, together with a copy of your marriage license, to the Tax Office in your jurisdiction.
- Tax category IV: Spouses or partners are automatically assigned the IV and IV tax category combination. This is advantageous when both partners earn about the same amount.
- Tax category V: Applies exclusively to spouses or partners when one of them has selected tax category III.
- Tax category VI: Always applies whenever you have two or more employment contracts.