Living at the MDC and Berlin-Buch

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6 Taxes Seite 22 von 36 O2 Alice E-plus Simyo www.o2.com http://alice.aol.de www.eplus.de www.simyo.de Check online for latest offers and prices. Most providers nowadays offer packages including flat rate deals for DSL (high-speed internet access), mobile and regular phones including extra packages for calling abroad. Check for best prices to the country you are calling on a regular basis. You will hardly find public telephones any more. However, some of them take coins, but most phones take telephone cards. Telephone cards are available for € 5,00 and € 10,00. If you plan on using public telephones often we recommend buying the € 10,00 telephone cards, as they offer better calling rates than the € 5,00 cards. Telephone cards can be obtained from the post office, gas stations and selected locations. Calling cards can be an alternative for calling abroad. If you have a calling card you can call worldwide from any telephone. The resulting fees are deducted from your bank account. Different companies, such as callingcards.com, phonecardsmile, Verivox or pinsonsale offer calling cards. You ought to select the provider whose offer serves your purposes and intentions best. The different companies can tell you how much international calls cost. We advise to compare different companies and to look for any "hidden costs". It’s pretty much the same with Mobile Phone Companies. Please, compare the “discounters” like simyo or easymobile and full service of providers like Vodafone or O2. 6 Taxes The question of whether or not you have to pay income taxes depends on the kind of your contract. If you have a "real" work contract you have to pay regular taxes and social security contributions. A Stipendium (fellowship), on the other hand, is an established term laid down in the German tax law. Scholarships are exempt from taxation under the following circumstances: - award from public funds or via a public or non-profit agency (as far as recognized according to German law) - sponsoring research or academic or artistic training or continuing education - no higher than the amount required to fulfil the research task or to cover living and training needs - grant according to the regulations of the donor - no quid pro quo requirement or employment of the recipient - with reference to continuing education fellowships: first grant no later than 10 years after completing training. The final decision regarding this rests with the local tax authority, i.e. the German Finanzamt, which is responsible for you. The exemption from taxes also means that you do not have to pay social security contributions. 22
6 Taxes Seite 23 von 36 6.1 Income Tax If your research stay is based on an employment contract in Germany and will last more than 6 months you will basically be liable to taxation in Germany on your globally earned income and assets. If you stay for less than 6 months, your income will be taxed in your own country provided that you work for a foreign employer and the double taxation agreement assigns the right of taxation in such cases to the home country. If one of these conditions does not hold, your salary will be taxed in Germany. Agreements exist with some countries stating that higher education teachers and researchers who come to Germany for a maximum of two years to work on research in a public research institution may pay their taxes in their own country. Details can be found in the double taxation agreements which exist in relation to the Member States of the EU and certain other countries (Overview of countries with existing double taxation agreements). The income tax you incur will be deducted from your salary at source. At the end of each calendar year you may apply to the tax office in your place of residence to have your income tax adjusted ("Lohnsteuerausgleich"). This may entitle you to a partial reimbursement of tax paid. The necessary documents can be obtained from the local tax office ("Finanzamt") or town hall ("Rathaus"). Often, it is worth paying a tax accountant to help you complete your tax return (see 6.1.3) 6.1.2 INCOME TAX CLASSES When you register at the residents' registration office, you will receive your income tax card (Lohnsteuerkarte). If not, the MDC can help you obtain this important card. The card will state your marital status, number of children and the resulting tax classification as well as a possible affiliation to a church (s. chapter 6.2). If you enter into a work contract you have to hand the Lohnsteuerkarte over to the MDC personnel department at the beginning of your stay. The host institution will pay the tax according to the classification. At the end of the year the data is transmitted electronically to the tax office. Employees will receive a separate printout of the electronic income tax certificate from the personnel administration for their own documentation by March of the next calendar year. As the official district key is a prerequisite for the entering of your tax data, the same is only possible by the aid of the tax card. Otherwise the Personnel Administration will be obliged to register you under the unfavorable tax class VI, which can only be offset following receipt of the current tax card. Therefore, please make sure to give your income tax card to the MDC Personnel Department as soon as possible. To get more information on the annual tax declaration see chapter 6.1.3. The amount of taxes charged is determined by your income and family status. Depending on your marital status and number of children, you will be assigned to a tax bracket (Steuerklasse), which will be noted on your tax card: • unmarried without children: tax bracket 1 • unmarried/divorced with children: tax bracket 2 • married couples, of which • only one has an income: tax bracket 3 • both have roughly the same income: tax bracket 4 for both • one earns more money than the other: tax bracket 3 for the one with higher income, tax bracket 5 for the one with lower income 23
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Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Seite 3 von 36 8.
Page 5 and 6: 2 Living in Germany Seite 5 von 36
Page 13 and 14: 3 Local Authorities Seite 13 von 36
Page 15 and 16: 3 Local Authorities Seite 15 von 36
Page 17 and 18: 4 At the MDC Seite 17 von 36 4.3 In
Page 19 and 20: 5. Enjoying Life in Berlin Seite 19
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Page 25 and 26: 7 Social Security and Accident Insu
Page 31 and 32: 8 Science and Research in Germany S
Page 33 and 34: 9. Telephone Numbers, Contacts and
Page 35 and 36: 10 Bibliography Seite 35 von 36 10

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