The Splitting Tariff: How Much Married Couples Really Save
Hardly any rule in German tax law is so often overestimated and so rarely quantified correctly as the splitting tariff. It is neither an allowance nor a discount, but a particular way of applying the perfectly ordinary tariff. And its benefit hangs on a single variable: the gap between the two partners' incomes. How much you actually save can be read straight off the Income Tax Calculator by switching between single and joint assessment.
How the calculation works
Under the splitting method of § 32a(5) EStG the combined taxable income is halved. The tax office applies the ordinary single tariff to that half and then doubles the resulting tax. For tax purposes the spouses are treated as though each had earned exactly half the combined income. All tariff thresholds effectively double: the joint basic allowance stands at €24,696 in 2026, and the 42 percent top rate only begins at €139,758 of combined taxable income.
The advantage in figures
Take combined taxable income of €80,000 and vary only its distribution. If one partner earns the full €80,000 and the other nothing, the couple pays €14,418 of income tax under joint assessment instead of €22,464 under separate assessment — a splitting advantage of €8,046 a year. With a €60,000 to €20,000 split the advantage shrinks to €1,385, and at €50,000 to €30,000 to €347. At exactly €40,000 against €40,000 it is zero.
The same pattern appears at higher incomes, only with larger amounts. On €120,000 of combined taxable income a single-earner couple saves €10,798, a €90,000 to €30,000 split still yields €2,415, and at €60,000 against €60,000 nothing remains. The rule is therefore: the more evenly matched the incomes, the smaller the splitting advantage — until it disappears entirely.
Why that is so
The reason lies solely in progression. Because the marginal rate grows as income rises, the upper slice of a high income is taxed particularly heavily. Splitting notionally shifts half of that income onto the partner, where it falls into lower tariff zones and is taxed far more lightly. If both already earn the same, there is nothing left to shift — halving then changes nothing about the distribution, and the tariff delivers exactly the same result as two separate assessments.
The splitting tariff and tax classes are two different things
The most common mistake is to equate the splitting tariff with the III/V tax class combination. That is wrong. The tax class determines only how much wage tax is withheld month by month — your liquidity during the year. The splitting tariff, by contrast, decides the final annual tax and applies under joint assessment regardless of which tax classes you held. If you want to optimise the monthly distribution, the Tax Class Calculator is the right place; if you want to know what comes out at year-end, use the Income Tax Calculator.
From when and for how long splitting applies
What matters is marital status, not the length of the marriage: anyone married on 31 December can choose joint assessment for the whole year — even after a wedding in December. Conversely, the option lapses for the year following a permanent separation. For widowed people the so-called grace splitting applies: in the year of the partner's death and in the following year, taxation continues under the splitting tariff. After a divorce a special form of splitting can apply within narrow limits.
When separate assessment is the better choice
In rare cases separate assessment works out cheaper even though the splitting advantage would be positive on paper. That happens, for instance, when one partner received substantial wage replacement benefits subject to the progression proviso, which under joint assessment also lift the other partner's rate. Something similar can apply with high extraordinary burdens, whose reasonable own contribution is measured against combined income, or where one partner has loss carry-forwards. Since the form of assessment can be chosen afresh each year, a comparison calculation is worth doing in such constellations.
Conclusion
The splitting tariff is a precisely acting instrument, not a blanket marriage bonus. Its value ranges from zero to several thousand euros a year and cannot be estimated, only calculated. Enter your combined taxable income in the Income Tax Calculator, compare the two forms of assessment and use the result as a basis for planning — whether the question is a second part-time job or the size of your prepayments.