If mothers or fathers live alone with their children, they receive an additional relief of 4,008 euros per year. For each additional child, 240 euros remain tax-free in the year. The tax allowance is intended to compensate for the fact that single parents maintain a more expensive household, have higher childcare costs and are therefore less able to pay taxes than married couples living together.
Tip 1: Choose tax class II
In order to benefit from the relief amount straight away, apply to the tax office for tax class II for single parents. Prerequisite: You live alone with your children in a household and are entitled to child benefit for them.
Only with tax class II does your employer take the relief amount directly into account in the payroll. And it works like this: With tax class II, an additional 334 euros per month of the gross salary remain tax-free (1/12 of 4,008 euros). For each additional child, 240 euros per year, i.e. 20 euros per month, are added. Without tax class II, the tax bonus reduces the total amount of your income.
Tip 2: Report a child in the household
However, you will only receive the relief amount if your child is registered with you. According to the Federal Fiscal Court, this applies even if your offspring lives in their own apartment (BFH, Az. III R 9/13). With the registration of the offspring in the apartment, the affiliation to the household is irrefutably presumed.
As soon as another adult lives in the household, for example a new partner moves in, the relief amount is over (BMF letter of October 23, 2017, single parents). Exception: The adult is your adult child, for whom you will still receive child benefit. For the amount of the relief, it does not matter whether the other parent pays you maintenance. This is how the Federal Fiscal Court ruled in the case of a mother whose ex-partner did not pay for both children (BFH, Az. III R 36/14).
Tip 3: Apply for child allowance
Single parents with a low income can also benefit from the child supplement. Among other things, this should enable children to participate more in social life. There is up to 229 euros per child and month in addition to child benefit. In addition, the rigid upper income limit has been removed. It can therefore be worth submitting the application for the first time or again. This is now also online. The supplement is granted for six months from the month in which the application is submitted. Single parents can check whether an application promises success on the website of the employment agency.
Are you widowed?
Are you alone with your children after the death of your spouse? In order to secure as much net salary as possible, it is best to stay in tax class III. If you were previously in Class IV or V, now choose Class III. In the year your partner died and in the year after that, you still benefit from spouse splitting. You can enter the relief amount for single parents as an exempt amount in your wage tax data.
Relief possible even in the event of marriage or separation
If single mothers or fathers get married, they do not lose the entire year’s tax credit. You can receive it pro rata for the months in which the conditions for the allowance are met. The Federal Fiscal Court decided against the tax office in favor of a young blended family (Az. III R 57/20).
The single parents only got married in December and moved into an apartment together. From January to November everyone lived alone with their child in a household. Therefore, the two must receive the relief amount for single parents for the remaining eleven months – in addition to the splitting tariff. That is currently EUR 334 per claim month, or EUR 4,008 per year. There is 20 euros per month for each additional child in the household, and 240 euros per year.
Single mothers and fathers can also apply the relief amount in the year of their separation. This was confirmed by the Federal Fiscal Court (Az. III R 17/20). Spouses are entitled to the relief amount for the months in which they live separately and waive joint assessment in the year of separation.
The question is still open as to whether married couples who were assessed together for the last time in the year of separation also receive the tax-free allowance pro rata temporis in addition to the splitting tariff.
Tip: More about the tax and legal consequences of marriage in our Marriages special.
Single parents get the full child allowance
Single parents are entitled to at least half the child allowance and half the care allowance for each child. You can also ensure that the tax office transfers half of the tax exemption from the other parent to you with the “Application for wage tax reduction” or at the latest with the tax return. If you want to benefit from the full care and child allowance, apply for the transfer of the other half in the child attachment to the tax return. You get the full care allowance if your underage child lives with you and is not registered with the other part.
However, the latter can object to the transfer if he or she regularly looks after the child or assumes the costs of care. According to the principles of the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH, Az. III R 2/16), this is the case if the other parent looks after the child regularly and on average 10 percent a year. Partial days are counted as full days even if they do not include 24-hour care.
The full child allowance is included if you fully meet your maintenance obligations while the other pays less than 75 percent, does not have to pay anything due to lack of income or lives abroad.
Danger: Before you decide to transfer half the child allowance, check whether it is worth it: If you have a low income, it is often cheaper if you only take half the care allowance in addition, but not half the child allowance. This has to do with the crediting of child benefit to the child allowance. If you only have half your child allowance, the tax office only offsets half of the child benefit paid out and not the full amount to determine the tax advantage.
