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I'm about to move from Italy to Germany for a job and I have a few questions regarding taxation and old-age pension.

  1. In which country will my income be taxed?
  2. In which country should I pay the contributions for old-age pension?
  3. If I have two bank accounts -- an Italian one and a German one (with N26) -- where will the interests gained on deposits be taxed for each of them? Is this taxation on interests done authomatically by the bank or do I need to do anything?
Mark Johnson
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You have said you are "moving" from Italy to Germany. That makes things much simpler. (Rules are more complex if you live in one country and work in another.)

  1. Your salary will be taxed in Germany. You will not be liable for tax on your salary in Italy, provided you register with AIRE.
  2. You should pay contributions for old-age pensions in Germany.
  3. Your German bank interest will be taxed in Germany. Your Italian bank interest will be taxed in Italy and Germany (in theory), but you can claim any tax you pay in Italy back from the German tax due.

I said "in theory" because your Italian income (just interest on savings) will probably be so low that you won't be due to pay any tax in Italy.

I would strongly advise getting a tax advisor (a Steuerberater(in)). Ask your new colleagues for a recommendation.

Old age pensions: You will end up needing to claim a pension from both Italy and Germany. However, because Italy and Germany are both in the EU you can use time in either to meet any "minimum time contributing" requirements. This means you don't need to worry about taking a job for two years in each EU country, and ending up with no pension at all because you haven't met the minimum contributions. You'll just have 27 (rather small) pensions.

DavidRecallsMonica
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Martin Bonner supports Monica
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  • Thanks. I'll surely follow your suggestion about getting a tax advisor. –  Dec 02 '19 at 20:23
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Your income tax and old-age pension will be paid in Germany and will be deducted from your pay automaticly.

When leaving Germany you should apply for a Versicherungsverlauf, which will assist you when applying for a Pension in the future

  • see details inside in the first link below, togeather with other tips one what must be done after arrival in Germany

As for the Bank account in Germany, tax is deducted from your account and must be declared in your yearly tax return.

How the same is done for the Italian bank, I cannot say.

You should also consider enrolment in the A.I.R.E. system

  • which is obligatory for those who take up residence in a foreign country for more than 12 months
  • registration frees you from tax obligations on foreign earnings
  • Italian National Healthcare services can be used with health card issued in Germany

Enrolment in the A.I.R.E. is done by means of a declaration (special form available) made to the locally competent consular office within 90 days of transfer abroad. This involves the simultaneous cancellation from the Civil Registry (APR) of the municipality of residence in Italy. In order to facilitate and accelerate A.I.R.E. enrolment it is necessary (but not obligatory) that the enrolee display a document proving residence in the chosen foreign municipality (e.g. certificate of residence issued by the foreign authority, residence permit, identity card, utility bills, copy of the employment contract etc.). Enrolment can also take place on the basis of information of which consular office is made aware.

3) What is the effective date of my AIRE registration?

The effective date of AIRE registration corresponds to the date in which the Comune in Italy receives the registration request from the Italian Consulate. Please note that the AIRE registration date cannot be retroactive.

If citizens, prior to their expatriation, notified their Comune in Italy of their transfer of residency abroad, the effective date of AIRE registration will correspond to the date in which they notified their Comune of their expatriation. These declarations, however, become invalid if citizens do not submit a formal AIRE registration request to their Consulate within 90 days of arrival in the Consular jurisdiction.

Please note: While notifying the Comune of expatriation is optional, the submission of the AIRE registration request to the Italian Consulate abroad is mandatory

Sources:

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Mark Johnson
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  • Thank you. The AIRE registration is a very good point. –  Dec 02 '19 at 20:17
  • Registration at the Ausländerbehörde most certainly does apply to EU Citizens - at least if you wish to become a German citizen, the clock does not start ticking until you register. – Martin Bonner supports Monica Dec 03 '19 at 12:05
  • @MartinBonnersupportsMonica No, this not correct. The registration at the Meldebehörde is sufficient for that. Application for Citizenship is also not done there. – Mark Johnson Dec 03 '19 at 12:12
  • That is not what the Ausländeramt in Waldshut-Tiengen told me. I tried to register at the Einwohneramt in my Gemeinde in October 2015, but they said there was nothing to do, because we had already registered there when we bought the house in 2007. When I talked to the Ausländeramt saying "what about Brexit", they said "you aren't registered with us, we can back date it to 1st January this year". If you can provide sources, that would be interesting. – Martin Bonner supports Monica Dec 03 '19 at 12:48
  • @MartinBonnersupportsMonica Ah, Brexit. That is a different situation. For most German state the special rules seem the same. Residence permits must be applied before (No deal) Brexit occurs, but will only be processed after Brexit. The date of registration at the Meldebehörde will be considered date of arrival. > 5 years a permanent permit will be issued, otherwise a yearly until the 5 years are fulfilled. Unrestricted work permit for all. Details: https://www.berlin.de/labo/willkommen-in-berlin/freizuegigkeit-eu-ewr-schweiz/artikel.779578.en.php – Mark Johnson Dec 03 '19 at 13:04
  • @MartinBonnersupportsMonica For Baden-Württemberg, the information is less extensive and seems to be a bit different and only in German. Application only after Brexit, which is different from Berlin and Hamburg which started accepting applications in January 2019. – Mark Johnson Dec 03 '19 at 13:29