What happens to your German pension if you move abroad?

[DannyThru 30]

What happens to your German pension if you move abroad? (iamexpat.de)

 

quite an interesting article

 

just sharing it in case it helps anyone else

[scook17 159]

On 27/04/2022, 20:39:43, DannyThru said:

What happens to your German pension if you move abroad? (iamexpat.de)

 

quite an interesting article

 

just sharing it in case it helps anyone else

 

Interesting article. From the article:

 

"It’s also worth bearing in mind that, if you plan to stay abroad permanently (longer than six months), you will be subject to unlimited tax liability. This means that you don’t get a basic allowance and have your income taxed from the first euro."

 

I think the wording is poor here, as there are 2 types of people taxed, those who are resident and those who are not. Not being resident means, you can not claim deductions like the tax free basic allowance, but neither are your taxed on an unlimited basis, only on the income originating from Germany. Conversely, those resident in Germany are taxable on their worldwide income.

 

So if most of your income comes from Germany (e.g. German State/Company Pension), you may be better off remaining resident in Germany and spending the summer/winter/whatever period you prefer somewhere else. Rented a house next to a German couple who did exactly that. They didn't like the winters, so lived in Australia (he had worked there for many years) during the winter and Germany in the summer.

 

[SpaceOne 5]

I will never understand why first the salary is taxed (also with SV for future rent) and then the rent itself is also taxed. This is crazy.