Question on mini job income as a Erasmus student

5POSTS

6 years ago

Hey guys!

Just wanted to explain my situation and wondering how it would work tax wise etc for me, so here goes:

I am a British citizen, my wife is a German citizen.
I study abroad in the EU, however have managed to arrange a Erasmus placement for a few months in Germany, hence I will be paid for the duration, it should be in the region of about 600€ (Paid into my British bank account as it is what I am registered with)
During this period I have also managed to find a ‘mini job’ which pays 450€ per month, but this is in an German bank which I have opened recently.

So this total will amount to ~ 1050€ per month income for me.
However I would like to know how the tax would work, will I be taxed on both my Erasmus earnings and mini job? Or not because they are two separate sources of income and going into two separate bank accounts.

Also regarding health insurance, I am placed
Under my wife’s AOK family insurance, which is also a student one wherein there is currently no cost for me to be added under her name, however I would like to know whether the cost for this per month would increase, and if so by how much.

I would like to be in the clear before I go ahead and do such a thing, as if the health insurance or taxes become too high, I would think there’s no point to do the mini job and solely rely on My Erasmus income.

I thank you very much in advance for all your replies.

With kind regards

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beppi Germany/Singapore Expert

15665POSTS

6 years ago

- It generally does NOT matter, how and where you are paid. Everything below applies to your world income!
- Most scholarships are non-taxable. Please check with ERASMUS about yours.
- A mini-job (up to €450/month) is non-taxable (actually, the employer pays a flat-rate tax to the authorities on top of your pay).
- The income threshold, up to which you can be covered by your wife's public health insurance as dependent, is also €450/month. You should ask the insurer whether your scholarship counts towards that or not. The rules are too complicated to give a definitive answer here.
- If you cannot be a dependent, you need your own health insurance membership (and pay the associated fees). If you are regular student at a German university, you can get the subsidized rate of approx. €75/month. If not, the rate depends on your income and starts at around €170/month. In case of an above-€450-job, the employer pays half of this on top of your pay (plus also unemployment insurance and retirement contributions, which mini-jobs are exempted from).

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TominStuttgart Germany Expert

2814POSTS

6 years ago

I think Beppi has covered this well. The question that springs to mind is if your wife is really insured in Germany? It sounds like you are only temporarily going to be in Germany and most married couple live together. So I have to wonder where she actually resides? If she has moved from Germany say to the UK then she will no longer be insured in Germany unless it is also just for a temporary stay. But like Beppi mentioned, if you cannot be covered for free under family insurance then the special student rates are very reasonable.