What happens next with the spouse splitting?

Nevertheless, there is often still a big advantage from spousal splitting. The splitting tariff is based on one household, so that the partners’ joint income is first added together to determine the amount of income tax and – regardless of the actual share of each spouse – then halved again. Both pay income tax equally. This is regulated in Section 32a (5) of the German Income Tax Act. It says: “For spouses who are assessed jointly for income tax in accordance with Sections 26, 26b, the standard income tax, subject to Sections 32b, 32d, 34, 34a, 34b and 34c, is twice the tax amount that is due for half of their joint income tax taxable income according to paragraph 1 (splitting procedure).”