How to make the best use of spouse splitting

Frankfurt The debate about spouse splitting has been reignited. Lars Klingbeil (SPD) would like to abolish the joint tax return for couples, but politicians from his own ranks and the opposition oppose it. The fact is: couples save 25 billion euros every year through splitting. Couples with large salary differences benefit in particular.

However, the lower-earning partner often pays a disproportionate share of the taxes in the joint assessment – ​​i.e. in the so-called spouse splitting. This has particular disadvantages if wage replacement benefits are to be claimed in the near future. There are often additional tax payments. Both can be avoided by changing the tax class.

Stefan Heine, Managing Director of the tax software Smartsteuer, estimates: “In around 90 percent of the cases, a joint assessment for couples is cheaper than an individual assessment.” The Handelsblatt explains how couples find the best tax class combination for themselves and in which cases they opt for splitting should better do without.