Registration of a secondary residence (Anmeldung)

My husband works in Tubingen, and I work in Munich - so we have flats in both places and commute at the weekends. I am not on the flat contract in Tubingen, but the guys in Munich insisted that he be on the contract here as well. They also told us that he would also have to register in Munich, with the Munich flat listed as his 'secondary residence'. This we duly did. At the time I asked whether there were any financial implications for him being registered in two places and was told no.

However... he has now had a letter from the Munich city authorities that appears to be a demand for 10% of our yearly Kaltmiete as a 'secondary dwelling tax'. His translation skills are a bit ropey, but does anyone have a clue whether this is legitimate?

We actually only got married mid year and have now been told that he has to make Munich his primary residence and Tubingen his secondary, so presumably if this is for real then we are going to get clobbered by the Tubingen authorities next year for the same thing?

Any advice appreciated!

That sound absurd. If he lives in one redicence, and works in a different city, he should be getting a tax rebate for his accomadation/travel costs.

I'm in a similar situation, primary reidence in Munich, renting a small room in Nürnberg, but must admit have not anmelded in either city yet.

A tax rebate???! Are you serious?

Which "guys in Munich" insisted that he be registered here as well?

However, I do believe that as a married couple you do have to have one joint primary residence, the other would be a secondary residence.

If you live in A, and get a job in B, and therefore need to pay for a hotel or second residence in B, this is a business expense. Therefore tax deductible.

The "guys in Munich" were the landlords of our flat.

Disclaimer: I have dodgy german skills so check the links thoroughly and probably best to consult with a tax advisor.

The tax is called Zweitwohnungsteuer. Its 9% of your kaltmiete and I guess the authorities think its justified by city services and what not but I dont really know. Full details on the link. Maybe someone with better German than mine can explain it to you.

Registering twice was probably a mistake. If he's moving back to Munich, he might try deregistering from Tubingen but I dont know what the implications of that would be for you guys. I know Germans who've done it that way but then again they were talking about two countries, i.e Germany and Switzerland and its far less hassle for a native speakers to figure these things out.

MaM brings up a good point about the tax credits too. I wouldnt be surprisded if one doesnt negate the other as crazy as it sounds. Loco german tax laws. In your place Id check with a German tax advisor. It might be as simple as choosing a long term hotel in Tubingen as opposed to a fixed flat.

Good luck!

Registering a second home is not optional, it's legal requirement. The Zweitwohnungsteuer was implemented in Munich at the beginning of this year (February 1st). It's peculiar to Munich city (and some other cities), but not to the outlying regions. However, if your second home is a requirement of your work, and you are married (but not separated in the matrimonial sense), such that your spouse continues to live in the primary residence, then you can apply for an exception to paying the tax. See §2(3)3. of the rules

Having a second home is wonderful for tax-breaks. ALL costs involved in the second residence (rent, Nebenkosten, travel to and from, etc.) can be reclaimed against income tax, on the assumption they are not already paid by your company

Thank you so much, all of you! Sounds indeed like we need a tax accountant to help us figure all of this out. Wish we'd known, we would have changed our registration status as soon as we got hitched, then we would only have had to pay 3 months of this...plus we could have been claiming Tubingen travel back!

Assuming he was already registered in Tübingen with secondary residence in Munich, and you got married mid-year, I don't see why you need to pay anything post wedding-day, assuming, of course that you are registered at the same primary residence in Tübingen... In fact, if you were registered there before the wedding, you might get away without the Munich tax completely, assuming you were living "as a married couple" (nudge, nudge) up to that point.

EDIT: I just realised that you are in Munich, not Tübingen. This changes things a little. I guess he could/should register Munich as his primary residence (citing marriage as the reason for change) and Tübingen as his secondary. I don't believe Tübingen levy the Zweitwohnungsteuer (but can't be sure)

Unfortunately I'm registered here...

Hopefully we can argue the case for not paying anything post wedding - but we only changed our registration status last month due to being disorganised! Anyway, I am going to despatch someone with much better german than I can muster to plead our case with the Munich authorities. I'm just ticked off since neither of us had any idea this was coming in (don't read german papers or own a TV), and we could have changed registration to avoid it had we known!

EDIT - oh, and yes, there is no such thing in Tubingen. Darn and blast.

How long have you been in Germany?

Be careful you don't dig yourself a bigger hole here - you are supposed to register change of registration status within 7 days...

not sure whether that helps but the "wedding" applies to the entire year in tax terms. it doesn't matter what months you married but the year.

So how come my tax class change (due to marriage) was only applied to subsequent months of the year after my marriage not before that?

cool . thanks planetmoni.

don't know.
i was told that by a tax guy that if you plan to marry in the winter, try to make it december not january so you can use the tax reduction for the entire past year. that was two years ago.

How romantic...

Only as far as your monthly salary deductions are concerned. When you submit your tax return at the end of the year you'll be refunded the excess tax payments for the time from the beginning of the year until your marriage.