What are Ger­man Tax Class­es (Steuerk­lassen)?

If you’ve just moved to Ger­many and start­ed work­ing, you might have already come across the term “Steuerk­lasse” – your tax class. It’s one of the most impor­tant fac­tors that influ­ences how much income tax you pay every month. But don’t wor­ry — while the Ger­man tax sys­tem can seem intim­i­dat­ing at first, under­stand­ing tax class­es is eas­i­er than you think.

Ger­many uses a pro­gres­sive income tax sys­tem — the more you earn, the high­er the per­cent­age you pay. But before the gov­ern­ment cal­cu­lates your tax, they look at your Steuerk­lasse, or tax class, which deter­mines your month­ly pay­roll deduc­tions (wage tax or “Lohn­s­teuer”).

There are six Ger­man Tax Class­es in total. Each one reflects your mar­i­tal sta­tus, depen­dents, and sec­ondary income. You can find the tax class­es in the Ger­man Income Tax Law — Einkom­men­steuerge­setz: § 38b EStG.

The 6 Ger­man Tax Class­es – Explained

Tax Class	Who It Applies To
I	Sin­gle, divorced, or wid­owed indi­vid­u­als with­out children
II	Sin­gle par­ents (with enti­tle­ment to child benefits)
III	Mar­ried per­son – if the part­ner has very low or no income (part­ner will then be in Class V)
IV	Mar­ried cou­ples where both part­ners earn sim­i­lar incomes
V	Mar­ried per­son – if the part­ner is in Class III (usu­al­ly the one earn­ing less)
VI	For peo­ple with more than one job (applies to the sec­ond job)

Why Does Tax Class Matter?

Your tax class deter­mines how much tax is with­held from your month­ly gross salary. It doesn’t affect your total annu­al tax lia­bil­i­ty, but it has a big impact on your take-home pay. For example:

• A Class III tax­pay­er might see sig­nif­i­cant­ly high­er net pay than some­one in Class I — even if they earn the same.
• A Class VI tax­pay­er pays more tax upfront on sec­ondary jobs, which they might reclaim lat­er through a tax return.

Can I Change My Tax Class?

Yes — under cer­tain con­di­tions. For example:

• Mar­ried cou­ples can switch between Class IV/IV and III/V, depend­ing on who earns more.
• Divorce or sep­a­ra­tion means switch­ing to Class I or II (if you have kids).
• Changes can be made once a year via your local Finan­zamt or online using the Elster por­tal or via your tax consultant.

Some cou­ples also choose to switch tax class­es based on expect­ed tax refunds or child­care ben­e­fits (“Eltern­geld”).

Real-Life Exam­ple

Anna and Tom are mar­ried.

Anna earns €60,000/year, while Tom is a free­lancer with vari­able income.

They choose:

• Anna: Tax Class III
• Tom: Tax Class V

This set­up reduces Anna’s pay­roll tax­es sig­nif­i­cant­ly. At year-end, they’ll file a joint tax return to bal­ance every­thing out.

Com­mon Ques­tions from Expats

Do I need to file a tax return if I have only one job?
Not always — but you might get a refund if too much tax was with­held. Worth checking!

I just got mar­ried in Ger­many. Will my tax class update auto­mat­i­cal­ly?
No — you have to apply for a class change at the tax office.

Can I choose my tax class when I reg­is­ter?
Not direct­ly. You’re auto­mat­i­cal­ly placed into a class based on your reg­is­tra­tion and mar­i­tal sta­tus — but you can change it later.

Quick Tips for Expats

Always check your tax class on your Lohn­s­teuerbescheini­gung (your annu­al payslip).

Use a Ger­man Tax Class­es cal­cu­la­tor online to esti­mate your take-home pay.

If you’re unsure which com­bi­na­tion is best (espe­cial­ly as a cou­ple), talk to a tax advi­sor (“Steuer­ber­ater”) — the dif­fer­ence in tax refunds can be substantial.

Fil­ing your annu­al tax return (“Einkom­men­steuer­erk­lärung”) is the only way to get any over­paid tax­es back.

How to con­tin­ue / con­tact to us

We as eng­lish speak­ing tax advi­sors who can advise you about Under­stand­ing Ger­man Tax Class­es and com­mu­ni­cate with the finan­cial author­i­ty on your behalf.

You can con­tact us by using one of these phone num­bers or the mail address.