Prerequisites
- As a married couple, you are subject to unlimited income tax liability in Germany.
- This is the case if your residence or habitual abode is in Germany.
- They do not live permanently separated.
Documents required
- Form "Application for change of tax class for spouses" with tax identification number and signature of both spouses (see links).
If you got married in Germany, you do not need any further documents.
If you got married abroad:
- Proof of marriage, for example a properly issued foreign marriage certificate.
Please note
For ELStAM matters, you can contact any regional tax office in Hamburg.
To change your personal status data in the residents' registration office (for example, marriage, establishment of a civil partnership, birth), please contact the responsible registration office.
Since the law introducing the right to marriage for same-sex couples came into force on October 1, 2017, you can no longer enter into new civil partnerships in Germany.
Since that time, same-sex couples can marry each other and are therefore on an equal footing with opposite-sex couples.
You can continue an existing civil partnership in its current form or convert it into a marriage.
Deadlines
- If you have married, you will automatically be assigned to tax class IV. This automatic change takes effect from the first day of the month in which you married.
- A change of tax bracket takes effect from the beginning of the month following the application. You cannot change your tax bracket retroactively.
- If a change in tax class or the application of the factor procedure for tax class IV is to take effect in the current calendar year, you must submit the application no later than November 30th of the respective year.
