So I am a bit confused. Say I am working full time in Brandenburg and I have a husband that is unemployed and a 5 year old child. What tax class will I be in. According to [https://www.steuergo.de/en](https://www.steuergo.de/en) it can be either 3 4 or 5 🙂

**Tax class I:**

* Applies to single, widowed, divorced, permanently separated couples and married couples with one spouse living abroad.

**Tax class II:**

* Applies to single parents who can claim the relief for single parents

**Tax class III:**

* Applies to married persons whose spouse is either not employed or belongs to tax class V as an employee
* Applies to married persons whose spouse lives in an EU country
* Applies to widowers in the first year after the deceased spouse’s death

**Tax class IV:**

* Applies to married spouses who live together and both are subject to unlimited tax liability.
* The tax category combination IV/IV is particularly worthwhile if both spouses earn approximately the same amount.
* In the case of the tax category combination IV with factor, tax-exempt amounts are taken into account in the wage tax calculation from the outset. As a result, the difference between the amount of income tax paid and the actual tax liability at the end of the year is lower.

**Tax class V:**

* Applies to married persons, if the other spouse is in tax class III (provided the spouses live together).

by z0rk0l

2 comments

  1. You need to see 3,4,5 as combinations for you and your partner.

    There are three options:

    3/5 … best if you have one income source for the family

    4/4 … best if both partners earn equal amounts of money

    4/4 with factor … basically adds an adjustment factor depending on both partner’s income difference

    For you, probably 3 (you) / 5 (your partner) would be the best combination because your monthly withholdings fit the actual tax amount best. If you do a tax declaration (probably wise in general and as a couple of course) every year, it does not matter that much.

  2. In the end tax classes do not matter. They only define the amount of tax you pay per month.

    Doing the Steuererklärung at the end of the year is defining the overall amount of tax you are owing. You then have to either pay back if you payed toe fee every month or will receive back if you payed too much every month.

    So it’s more a cash flow decision not what you owe in total.

    To be safe you could go 1 if single or 3 if married and just do your tax declaration at the end of year.

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