How and where to get a German tax card

Hello!

So, I've already got my German resident thingie sorted. My Irish contract is now ending at the company I work for, and I'm starting on my German contract for them, but they're asking me for a copy of my Tax Card. Where does one get this mythical tax card? Is it from the same place I got my German resident thingie? (I live in Prenzlauer Berg) Any useful German phrases people can suggest? (Maybe along the lines of "Hello, I'm a non-German speaking idiot from Ireland. I've got a job here, may I have a tax card please?" I assume I'll need to bring some proof of employment? A contract or something?

Thanks in advance! I had a look through the Toytown wiki, it talks about how to get the resident thing but not a tax card, unless I just didn't find it.

More or less yes - at least that is what we did in Munich. You don't need a reason as far as I'm aware.

Oh I guess you're talking about the "Lohnsteuerkarte". You get this at the "Bürgeramt", I think. You live in Prenzlauer Berg, you said? So just go to http://www.berlin.de/ba-pankow/buergerdien...buergeramt.html

Go to the local council authorities they will inform the offices that issue them.

As indicated, simply go to your local Bürgeramt, join the queue and ask for your Lohnsteuerkarte. You will just need id (passport), and your Anmelden document sowing where you live.

It's one of the easier things to do, as they are more than happy to get you into the tax system.

Colin

A couple of the most important things to remember:

If you want the juicy Steuerklasse III (married one with double allowance), take along your marriage certificate, as trying to get them to backdate the class is a real 'mare.

Remember to say "Kein Kirche" or you'll find your income reduce by another 8% and changing your mind later requires proving your lack of religion (unless you want to pay that is)

Really ... isn´t the church tax 8%+ (depending on respective state laws) of your income tax, a tiny fraction of what you claim ?

I applied for my tax number/card at the tax office on Pappelallee near Eberswalder Ubahn station. Much smaller queues, but the same with the Burgeramt no one there speaks a word of English.

Getting the good tax class is not simply a matter of bring your marriage certificate - as well as that, they will want to see the Lohnsteuerkarte of your spouse - you won't get the extra allowance, unless your spouse gets the really low one. Basically it is a fair system. If one person in a marriage is not working, then the other gets all the tax allowances - if both are working, then you can choose how to distribute the tax burden.

As for the Church, as far as I remember when I got my Lohnsteuerkarte in January, the default was for no church tax to be applied (in the old days they hounded you to prove you were not a member of a relevant church - now the default seems to be that you volunteer the information, or you do not pay the church tax). Also the church tax only applies to members of certain Christian religions - Evangalical and Catholic, and I think one other. If you say you are not a member, then that's it as far as the tax office is concerned. As I said, in the old days there was a division of the tax office that sent you out a form that you had to fill out to prove you were not liable, but obviously that was completly unworkable (I got it twice, and both times the form went straight in the bin without any further queries).

Colin

By the way, I'm not sure why people expect civil servants in Germany to speak English - this is Germany. As it happens many of the staff do speak English, sometimes to a very good level. Whether the choose to use it is another matter. How many people in the British, Irish or US civil servant departments speak German, Italian, Spanish etc.

If you are new here and speak no German, you should bring someone along with you who speaks German - this is both practical and polite.

It's your choice to come to Germany, and it is completely unreasonable to expect the country to adapt to your every desire and requirement. There are 85 million people living here, (most of the German believe it or not!!!), and I think that German people are in general very helpful to foreign visitors and residents.

For informationy, I am Irish, and my German language skills are not as good as they should be - but I manage to get by and improve as time goes by (was never good at languages).

Colin

ok i am completely confused by the german tax system. Can someone please explain to me the difference between a Lohnsteuerkarte and a steurnummer?.
I start work next week and have no idea which i need and how i would go about getting this.I am also going to be working freelance so does this make a difference to my tax status?.

if you are working freelance, you may not need a Lohnsteuerkarte - it depends how you intend to operate. The Lohnsteuerkarte is simply a document you are issued with that you give to your employer. This is used to calculate the amount of tax they will deduct each month from your wages. It is similar to a P45 in the UK, which you get when you leave one job, and you give it to your employer when you move to a new job.

Steuernummer is just your tax number, just as you would have in any other country. Obviously your Lohnsteurkarte will reference your Steuernummer, as will any other tax related document.

Now if you are going to be really freelance (in German selbstandig), then you need to register with the "Industrie & Handleskammer", and then you need to use a Steurberater (tax consultant) to manage your tax - they will work out how to minimise your tax liability, and do the paperwork with the Finanzamt (tax office) for you. However, if you decide to set up a company, for example a GmbH (similar to a limited company in the UK, but beware, there are many important differences), and employ yourself, then you will again need a Lohnstehkarte, and your company will use that to calculate and pay your tax. In general, if you want to work freelance, it is silly to set up a company - much better to operate as selbsstandig - however you still need to get the paperwork sorted out if you want to stay on the right side of the authorities.

Hope this helps - feel free to ask more questions if still not clear.

Colin

Hi colin,

I dont suppose you know anything about a 'Sozialversicherungsnummer/Karte do you? Is it similar to the NI in the UK?

Hi berlinender,
I dunno about the NI system in UK, but since I am applying for one (Sozialversicherungsnummer) right now, I was told by my HR that it is similar to my US SSN number that my health insurance company would do it for me( no separate forms and stuff). So I was asked to just wait. I guess that this does not help if you are indeed using insurance from wherever you are from.

There other threads on TT on this topic. Check these.

Again, it all depends on whether you are employed by a company, or whether you are selbstandig. If you are employed by a company, then the company and health insurance company will sort out all the paperwork for you - this is what happened for me when I returned to Berlin in December, and started a new job in January. All I had to do was get my Lohnsteuerkarte, and give it to the company, and then choose which health insurance company I wanted to go with (my employer gave me lots of information and pointers. Once I decided, on the health insurance company, I filled out a very simple form to apply to them, and that was it - all the rest was taken care of - note ther is no medical tests etc. the health insurance company must take you on in this situation.

Now if you want to (or must) work selbstandig, the world is much more complex. The up side, is you should end up paying much less tax, and can claim VAT back etc. health insurance however must be organised privately, and depending on your situation, this may be relatively costly. I re-iterate what I have said elsewhere on this forum, if you want to work selbstandig, use a Steuerberater - their costs are regulated, and relative to your turnover, and they will know everything about how to work with the finanzamt and other relevant authorities - the money you pay them you will get back many times over, as well as not having the hassle of dealing with the authorities (by the way, I am not a Steuerberater, nor are any of my friends - they are much too interesting for that!!! - I am a computer scientist, working for a software company here in Berlin, and have previously worked here Selbstandig, and also run my own GmbH - so I've had all the stress of dealing with this stuff.

All the best, and feel free to ask any specific questions - I'll do my best to answer if I have the knowledge.

Colin