SteuerGo FAQs

Living Apart Together: Joint Assessment Despite Living Separately?

Today, more and more couples are choosing to live apart, enjoying space and autonomy, yet still live together. "Living Apart Together" is the lifestyle that is becoming increasingly popular, especially in cities. According to a representative study by the German Institute for Economic Research, in 2006, 13.4 percent of couples lived in separate households. Almost one in six couples in Germany now enjoy the luxury of two homes.

If spouses live apart, the question arises whether they can still choose joint assessment for tax purposes or whether only individual assessment is possible. Since the "Living Apart Together" lifestyle is not yet well known in tax offices, many tax officials believe that a permanent separation exists and refuse the requested joint assessment.

Currently, the Münster Finance Court has ruled against the tax office that "living apart together" spouses can meet the requirements for joint assessment despite long-term physical separation. This is the case if the spouses maintain their partnership in the form of a personal and intellectual community, e.g. have sexual contact, visit each other, go on trips and holidays together, spend a lot of time together, share expenses for household and children, and easily settle expenses for the economic community among themselves.

The fact that the spouses generally keep their income and assets separate does not preclude an economic community. (FG Münster of 22.2.2017, 7 K 2441/15)

The case: The spouses have been married since 1991 and have a son born in the same year. In 2001, the wife moved out of the previously shared family home with the son, first into a rented flat and later into an owner-occupied flat. For the year in dispute, 2012, the tax office concluded that the conditions for joint assessment no longer existed and assessed the spouses individually for income tax.

Whether spouses live permanently apart is to be assessed - according to the tax judges - based on the overall picture of the mutual relationships in the specific individual case. The spouses' attitude towards the marital partnership is also decisive. If spouses live apart for an indefinite period and maintain the marital economic community by jointly handling economic matters and deciding together on the use of family income, this can - possibly together with other circumstances - lead to the assumption that they are not permanently separated.

The burden of proof for the condition of not living permanently apart lies with the spouses who claim this in their favour. Joint assessment with the splitting tariff is more advantageous the more different the spouses' incomes are. If both earn equally well, the spouse splitting does not bring any benefit. Therefore, spouses should only apply for joint assessment if their incomes are different.