Tax class changes on starting work at the EPO - Germany

Hi there,

I am starting a new job at the EPO in February, and since EPO employees do not pay taxes I was wondering if anyone can give me advice on how to proceed with changing my Lohnsteuerkarte.
My wife and I are currently both IV, and since I will not paying taxes to the German government, would it be safe to assume I will be in V and she will be in III?

Any advice/suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Cheers

as an EPO employee you will stay pay tax, just not into the standard German system.
all this will be sorted on your enrolment day, any questions you have can be directed then.
congratulations on the job by the way, if you need more advice let me know!

Hi Moonboot,

Thank you!

I will wait until Feb. then

thanks again for the advice!

We are in a similar situation, and I wondered if anyone can give us more details as I need to change our tax cards ready for the new year before I hand it to my employer, as I've just finished maternity leave and am still on class 5 which is crippling for my salary. My husband is starting a job at a european office in the new year.

Thanks for any advise. I've asked my tax accountant but will no reply so far.

while this is a bit out of context with regards to your inquiry, here is one bit of warning since I have become aware that you Expats at the EPO are their favourite pray:
there are one or two sales organisations (calling themselves financal adivsor, which they are not) who are cold calling people at the EPO and offer so called "offshore pension plans" supposed to be tax optimized. if you get such a call or offer: RUN
This is a hoax, the product is neither really beneficiary to any resident in Germany tax wise nor is it a good pension plan. They'll do not disclose this to you properly (even though they are obligated to do so according to German laws/regulations for financial advice) but they'll charge you up to 28 (!) full monthly contributions as commission costs and adminsitrative fees upfront before your first dime is actually invested. if you take an average 250-500 EUR- per - month plan just do the math and you see why they have such an incentive to sell people on to such a crappy plan no matter what....

Cheerio

I have had this before and I didn't work for EPO. They are the most sleazy, greasy haired guys I ever met. Any info on the tax class?

You can choose whatever you want to. I would take III in your case which means you'd get more money up front but you'd have to pay some of this money back at the end of the year (if you're earning less than hubby) because his income will count for calculating the tax rate (Progressionsvorbehalt). Since your monthly income is used for calculating Arbeitslosengeld/Elterngeld/etc... it is a good plan to take III. Otherwise it doesn't make any difference, you either pay more taxes up front and then get some back at the end of the year or vice versa.

Thanks Kati for the info, I asked this question to my tax accountant a month ago and still no answer (think it's time to find a new tax accountant). I'll get hubby to got to the Rathaus to change them, problem is his new job at ESO now doesn't start til spring so he'll be staying in his old normal contract job a bit longer, so we'll probably go IV/IV for now and change it later when he starts at ESO.

did you try Thomas Zitzelsberger from Expattax who advertises here on Toytown? He is working for a couple of my clients, some of which are also working at the EPO, so he should be able to help you. Plus, he is an expert on all kind of double taxation issues that may arise for Expats..
Check the business directory for his info... and there are many good reference here on Toytown about him, too

Cheerio