(2025) What is a statutory life annuity?

A statutory annuity is a fixed payment linked to a person's lifetime. This includes old-age, disability, and survivor pensions from the statutory pension insurance, the agricultural pension fund, or professional pension schemes. These pensions are only partially taxed, with the taxable portion depending on the year the pension begins.

Taxable portion and tax-free pension amount

If you retire in 2025, the taxable portion of your pension will be 83,5%. The tax-free part of the pension is determined in the year following the start of the pension and remains unchanged for the entire duration of the pension. However, pension increases due to adjustments are fully taxed.

Notification to the tax office

Pensioners can request a “notification for submission to the tax office” from the statutory pension insurance. This notification contains the relevant data for the tax return and is automatically sent in subsequent years. An additional entry of the taxable portion in the tax return is not required.

Types of annuities

Annuities include in particular:

• Old-age pensions
• Disability pensions
• Occupational disability pensions
• Widow's/widower's pensions
• Orphan's pensions
• Parental pensions

One-off payments such as death benefits or settlements of small pensions must also be declared.

Special regulations for victims of the Nazi regime

If periods of persecution under § 1 of the Federal Compensation Act (BEG) have been taken into account in the pension calculation, inform the tax office informally. This also applies to survivor's pensions if the deceased was recognised as a victim. The tax office will check whether these pensions are tax-free.