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Lohnsteuer kompakt FAQs

 


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Statement <%f186%>

This text refers to the Steuererklärung 2022 online. You can find the version for the Steuererklärung 2024 at:
(2024): Statement <%f186%>



What is the eTIN and where can I find it?

eTIN (electronic Taxpayer Identification Number)

All the information on the income tax statement is reported electronically by the employer to the tax authorities at the end of the year. You receive the income tax statement as proof of this.

Your income tax statement also contains the eTIN, which you must enter in your tax return so that the tax office can assign the data transmitted by the employer to you. The eTIN is increasingly being replaced by the new tax identification number.

 

(2022): What is the eTIN and where can I find it?



Which tax class applies to whom?

As a taxable employee, you will be assigned to one of six tax classes for the current income tax deduction. The amount of tax deducted mainly depends on your tax class. The tax class depends on your marital status:

Tax class 1

  • Single, widowed, divorced, permanently separated couples, and married individuals with a spouse living abroad,

Tax class 2

  • Single parents who can claim the single parent allowance,

Tax class 3

  • Married individuals whose spouse is either not working or belongs to tax class 5 (provided the spouses live together),
  • Widowed in the first year after the death of the spouse (provided the deceased was fully taxable and the spouses lived together).
  • Tip: The tax class combination III/V is particularly beneficial if one spouse earns significantly more than the other.

Tax class 4

  • Married spouses who live together and are both fully taxable. 

The tax class choice 4/4 is most favourable for spouses who earn approximately the same amount.

Tax class 5

  • Married individuals when the other spouse is in tax class III. (Provided the spouses live together)

The tax class combination III/V is particularly beneficial if one spouse earns significantly more than the other.

Tax class 6

  • Employees who work for more than one employer.

Since 2010, working couples have had an additional option for tax classes. In addition to the tax class combinations 3/5 and 4/4, there is now also the so-called factor method. With the tax class combination 4-factor/4-factor, allowances are taken into account in the income tax calculation from the outset. This reduces the difference between the income tax paid and the actual tax liability at the end of the year.

Special case: Tax class 0

Employees residing abroad receive the special tax class 0. The wages are then tax-free in Germany due to a double taxation agreement.

(2022): Which tax class applies to whom?



Who receives the inflation adjustment bonus?

If employers grant their employees an inflation bonus (inflation, inflation rate, rate of price increase), this is tax and social security free up to an amount of 3,000 Euro. The condition for tax exemption is that the benefit is granted in addition to the salary already owed. The regulation applies to payments made between 26.10.2022 and 31.12.2024 (§ 3 No. 11c EStG).

Naturally, new regulations often raise questions, such as whether the payment of an inflation bonus is mandatory for employers. And, if it is paid, whether employers must distribute it equally to all employees of the company. The answer to the first question is "No, there is no obligation". The second question was answered by the Parliamentary State Secretary Katja Hessel following an inquiry by Member of Parliament Fritz Güntzler (CDU/CSU) as follows:

"The tax exemption for the inflation bonus decided with § 3 No. 11 EStG does not include a regulation that the bonus must be paid to all employees. It is also a tax allowance that can be paid to employees in instalments within the benefit period" (Bundestag document 20/3987 of 14.10.2022).

Even though both the basic payment of the inflation bonus and any distribution among employees are at the employer's discretion for tax purposes, different practices may arise from collective or employment law. Employers may not arbitrarily favour certain employees or disadvantage others. If not all employees receive a bonus or if it is paid in varying amounts, there must be objective reasons for the different treatment. Otherwise, the principle of equal treatment applies under employment law.

 

Information on the inflation bonus can be found in the official Q&A catalogue of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

 

(2022): Who receives the inflation adjustment bonus?


Field help

as

Select here why you are not subject to social security contributions.

Please choose between:

  • Student
  • Working student
  • Trainee/intern
  • Pupil on internship
  • Other occupation

Important: If you are a student/working student and work more than 20 hours a week, the occupation is subject to social security. This is understood to be a "normal" employment relationship. In this case, select "Employee subject to social security contributions" as the occupation.

Exemption from pension payments for students only applies if the occupation is a so-called Mini-Job or short-term employment (limited to three months or 70 working days within a calendar year). This applies regardless of whether the employment is performed alongside the lectures or during the semester break. If you are subject to pension security contributions, select "Employee subject to social security contributions" as your occupation type.

Name of the occupation

Specify the name of the occupation which is not subject to social security contributions.

Is there a pension entitlement based on the work carried out?

Select "yes" if there is a pension entitlement due to your employment.

Have you acquired an entitlement to an old-age pension in whole or in part without making any contributions of your own?

Select "yes" if, due to your employment relationship, you are entitled to an old-age pension in whole or in part without your own contribution.

This applies in particular to shareholding managing directors of limited liability companies (GmbH) and executive board members of public limited companies (AG). They are exempt from statutory pension insurance if they acquire expectant rights to a pension in connection with their professional activity on the basis of contractual agreements.

  • Until 2007 in this case, the maximum pension amount of 20.000 Euro or 40.000 Euro - as for civil servants - was only reduced and the reduced pension flat rate was only granted if the entitlement to a pension was acquired "wholly or partly without own contribution".
  • From 2008 it is no longer important whether the pension scheme was set up "wholly or in part without own contributions". Since no contributions to statutory pension insurance are paid in here, the maximum retirement provision amount is now always reduced by the notional total contribution to statutory pension insurance, limited to the eastern income threshold, even if the company pays its own contributions.
Should private journeys with a company car be taxed differently than they are taxed by the employer?

The taxation of company cars applies to employees who are provided with a company car by their employer and are also allowed to use it for private purposes.

The private use of the company car is a non-cash benefit and must be taxed by the employee as part of the monthly payroll.

If your employer has usually calculated the non-cash benefit according to the 1% rule in combination with the 0.03% rule for journeys to work, you can correct this retrospectively in your tax return.

The correction of the gross wage always makes sense if the company car is not used daily for journeys between home and place of work.

Tip: Especially for people who work part-time in a home office, it may be worthwhile to do a precise calculation and, if necessary, correct the gross wage.

Tax class

Select which tax class is specified on the employment tax statement. The entry of the tax class is for the tax office's control only and has no effect on the calculation of your income tax. The tax class only plays a role in calculating the monthly income tax that your employer pays to the tax office.

Have you changed your tax class in 2022?

If you have changed the tax class in the current year (e.g. marriage or divorce), enter here the last valid tax class (1 to 5).

You can only have tax class 6 if you have another employment contract (simultaneously with several employers).

Note: Information on the work-factor method for tax class 4 shall not be recorded. It is also not necessary to provide information on any allowances that the employer takes into account when preparing the monthly payroll.

Further information on tax class selection.

Occupation type:

Enter the type of occupation that you had during your active employment in the past year. Choose between

  • Employee, worker (also partial retirement)
  • Civil servant, judge, soldier (professional and temporary)
  • Retiree (already retired)
  • Retiree with active employment (subject to social security contributions)
  • Pensioner with company pension rights
  • Managing director of a GmbH (a limited liability company) / executive board members of an AG (a public limited company)
  • Occupation not subject to social security contributions

Only select "Occupation not subject to social security contributions" if no contributions were paid to statutory social security (health, nursing care and pension insurance) from your wages. This applies, for example, to

  • Working students,
  • Interns,
  • Seasonal workers,
  • Harvesters
  • Temporary jobs,
  • Sick / vacation leave replacement work.

The type of occupation is needed to calculate provident expenses in the "Special expenses" section.

eTIN (see employment tax statement)

Please enter the 14-digit eTIN (electronic Taxpayer Identification Number or electronic transfer identification number) noted on your income tax certificate here.

The eTIN will only be entered by the employer if he does not know your tax identification number. If there is no eTIN on your income tax statement, you do not have to enter it here.

If you have already entered your name and date of birth, simply click on the [Generate eTIN] button and Lohnsteuer kompakt will automatically insert the correct eTIN.


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