# German offer - still thinking



## adaki2004 (Jul 28, 2017)

Dear Guys,

I would like to get some advice , tips, hints since my german is not the best and in english i could not really find relevant information regarding the following issue:
I got a quite reasonable offer from Germany (Bayern state) and I'm still thinking because right now I have a girlfriend (in my country she is my common-law wife) who has 2 kids. She does not work, 'just' taking care of the little guys, so we can say she is 'unemployed'.

Since all tax related things have benefits only if you are a married couple , let's assume we are married. If this is reasonable, we will get married, just I need to figure out some more romantic place/reason for it instead of the tax issue.  

So as a married couple the situation would be the following: 
- we would have 2 children (officially her children), would she get the 'Kindergeld' for these 2 little guys , even if she is unemployed ?
- Would she fall into Tax category 5 and me into 3 in this case ?

Thanks and best regards,

Daniel


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

adaki2004 said:


> Dear Guys,
> 
> I would like to get some advice , tips, hints since my german is not the best and in english i could not really find relevant information regarding the following issue:
> I got a quite reasonable offer from Germany (Bayern state) and I'm still thinking because right now I have a girlfriend (in my country she is my common-law wife) who has 2 kids. She does not work, 'just' taking care of the little guys, so we can say she is 'unemployed'.
> ...


Apart from tax, she would also only be able to get family health insurance through you if you are married. Is health care a romantic enough reason? 

Kindergeld is not tied to employment but to legal residence, so yes, she would get Kindergeld.

You don't 'fall' into tax classes, you have to choose (and declare at the tax office) them according to your personal situation.


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## adaki2004 (Jul 28, 2017)

ALKB said:


> Apart from tax, she would also only be able to get family health insurance through you if you are married. Is health care a romantic enough reason?
> 
> Kindergeld is not tied to employment but to legal residence, so yes, she would get Kindergeld.
> 
> You don't 'fall' into tax classes, you have to choose (and declare at the tax office) them according to your personal situation.


Thank you for your satisfying answer ! Just 2 more questions came to my mind. 

1. 'legal residence' means in this interpretation a residence in Germany (and so for the 2 kids) or i.e. in another EU country, if the 'husband' (me  ) works in Germany ?
2. So does this situation mean that I can choose tax category 3 and for my love cat. 5 ?


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

adaki2004 said:


> Thank you for your satisfying answer ! Just 2 more questions came to my mind.
> 
> 1. 'legal residence' means in this interpretation a residence in Germany (and so for the 2 kids) or i.e. in another EU country, if the 'husband' (me  ) works in Germany ?
> 2. So does this situation mean that I can choose tax category 3 and for my love cat. 5 ?



1. Yes, they would be exercising their EU treaty rights as self-sufficient through you. (I put the legal in there because this also applies to non-EEA nationals on work permit, etc.)

2. You can if you are married and those are the tax classes you want the tax department to apply. They will not automatically work out for you how you would pay the least taxes.


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## adaki2004 (Jul 28, 2017)

ALKB said:


> 1. Yes, they would be exercising their EU treaty rights as self-sufficient through you. (I put the legal in there because this also applies to non-EEA nationals on work permit, etc.)
> 
> 2. You can if you are married and those are the tax classes you want the tax department to apply. They will not automatically work out for you how you would pay the least taxes.


Thanks ALKB, but maybe my english is also not that good, but your first answer 'yes' applies to Germany or i.e. any other EU country (i.e. Hungary) as well ?  sorry for being that lame


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

adaki2004 said:


> Thanks ALKB, but maybe my english is also not that good, but your first answer 'yes' applies to Germany or i.e. any other EU country (i.e. Hungary) as well ?  sorry for being that lame


I don't understand - do you mean: will she be able to receive Kindergeld from Germany if she lives in Hungary?

I thought you are all moving together to Germany?

As far as I know, if the children are not biologically yours and you have not adopted them, they would have to live in your household (in Germany) to be eligible for Kindergeld. 

I am also not sure how your wife is supposed to get a tax ID in Germany if she doesn't live here. 

If I am understanding the situation right.


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## adaki2004 (Jul 28, 2017)

ALKB said:


> I don't understand - do you mean: will she be able to receive Kindergeld from Germany if she lives in Hungary?
> 
> I thought you are all moving together to Germany?
> 
> ...


I just thought that if we all belong to the same family/household/community than she will be able to get this outside of Germany (but within EU) because at the first year, most probably i'll move there alone due to the children's school-starting. 

Next year (September) could be the first time that we live together in Germany, in this case I guess she is not eligible for this :/ .

By the way thank you for your answer made me more informed !


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## ALKB (Jan 20, 2012)

adaki2004 said:


> I just thought that if we all belong to the same family/household/community than she will be able to get this outside of Germany (but within EU) because at the first year, most probably i'll move there alone due to the children's school-starting.
> 
> Next year (September) could be the first time that we live together in Germany, in this case I guess she is not eligible for this :/ .
> 
> By the way thank you for your answer made me more informed !


How will she/they be part of the same household if they are not registered in Germany?

I am afraid that I am not aware of the rules (tax and benefits) regarding EU family members who do not move to Germany, especially where stepchildren are concerned. I just know that Kindergeld for stepchildren is a bit complicated even if all are German citizens living in Germany.

You may want to enquire with an internationally-versed German tax advisor.

Or maybe somebody else on the forum has experience with it.


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