Electronic income tax deduction characteristics Change in marriage

If you do not wish to retain the tax class combination IV/IV, which is automatically granted upon marriage, you and your spouse can apply to your local tax office for a change of tax class.

Spouses who are both subject to unlimited income tax liability and do not live permanently apart are automatically classified in tax class IV at the time of marriage, even if only one spouse receives wages.

If you and your spouse meet the requirements for tax class IV, you can also apply for the formation of tax class III for one spouse and tax class V for the other.

Furthermore, you and your spouse can also choose the tax class combination IV/IV with factor.

If your employer and/or your spouse's employer should not be informed about the changed marital status, you and/or your spouse can submit an application to your competent tax office for consideration of a less favourable tax class. This would be tax class I.
It is also possible that you and/or your spouse can have your employer blocked from retrieving the Electronic Wage Tax Deduction Characteristics (ELStAM).

You and/or your spouse must apply to your local tax office for blocking the employer's call.

If you have the call blocked for your employer, your employer is obliged to pay tax on your salary according to tax class VI.

Hint:

Since the law introducing the right to marry for persons of the same sex came into force on 1.10.2017, no new civil partnerships can be established in Germany.

Since then, same-sex couples have been able to marry each other and are thus on an equal footing with opposite-sex couples.

Existing civil partnerships can be converted into marriage. However, there is no obligation to do so. Existing civil partnerships can be continued in their current form.

Please contact the tax office responsible for you.

The application for a change of tax class or for blocking the employer's call must be submitted in writing to the competent tax office on an officially prescribed form.

• You and your spouse are subject to unlimited income tax, which means that your domicile or habitual residence is in Germany.
• You and your spouse do not live permanently apart.
• The transmission of the marriage from the registry office via the registration authority to the Federal Central Tax Office is usually automatic. The tax brackets are set to IV/IV.

None

If you do not wish to retain tax class IV, which is automatically assigned upon marriage, you and your spouse can submit an application for a change of tax class to your local tax office.