The federal government is buttoning up the tax brackets for married couples. In concrete terms, the tax-reducing effects of the splitting procedure should already be taken into account in the monthly wage tax deduction. The controversial tax advantage for such partnerships should probably not be touched.
The Federal Ministry of Finance is planning a reform of the tax classes. A legislative package is currently being drawn up for the project envisaged in the coalition agreement, a spokesman said on Tuesday in Berlin. This involves changes to tax classes 3 and 5.
Specifically, the tax-reducing effect of the splitting procedure for spouses should already be taken into account in the monthly wage tax deduction. In this way, the higher taxation in class 5 would be avoided and a fair distribution of the tax burden would be achieved based on the wages received jointly in the marriage. Family Minister Lisa Paus said that a gender-equitable tax system needed a redesign of tax classes 3 and 5. “This will distribute the wage tax burden more fairly between spouses,” said the Greens politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. This would strengthen economic equality and social security for women.
Green party leader Katharina Dröge demanded fair pay for women. “Women are still paid less than men for the same work. That’s not acceptable,” she said. However, the biggest differences between men and women are in age. Because lower income and shorter periods in the job had a strong impact on pensions. “As a result, women only get about half the pensions of men on average. Poverty in old age is often female,” said Dröge. Higher employment among women and better pay are the key to fighting poverty in old age.
Economists are also calling for a reform of spouse splitting, i.e. the possibility of securing a tax advantage as a spouse or life partner with different income levels. The higher the income difference, the greater this advantage. The tax burden for a couple will not change if the above traffic light plans are implemented. So far, spouses in a civil partnership have always benefited from a splitting advantage if one partner contributes a significantly larger part of the total income than the other. In fact, taxes can be saved in this way compared to unmarried couples.
However, as T-Online found out when asking the Ministry of Finance, a fundamental reform of spouse splitting is currently in bad shape. “According to the coalition agreement, no changes are planned in the so-called spouse splitting in this legislative period.”
In the coalition agreement of the traffic light government with a view to the spouse splitting, it says rather vaguely: “We want to further develop family taxation in such a way that partnership responsibility and economic independence are strengthened with a view to all types of families. In the course of improved digital interaction between taxpayers and Financial administration, we will transfer the combination of tax classes III and V to the factor procedure of tax class IV, which can then be used easily and unbureaucratically and creates more fairness.”
