Hello All.

I am in the process of filling up the kindergeld forms for my son. Someone told me that the authorities want me to submit the original birth certificate along with the kindergeld application. Is this true ?

If yes, is there any alternative to submitting the originals ?

Another question: I heard that the Finanzamt allows either the Kindergeld benefit or the KinderFriebeitrag while calculating tax at the time of my tax assessment. Is this really correct ? I thought they are 2 different benefits.


Cheers,
Nitin.

"Someone told me that the authorities want me to submit the original birth certificate"

I. if you can take care about yourself, fill the application and send it officials by fax
II. open ...

"I heard that the Finanzamt allows either the Kindergeld benefit or the KinderFriebeitrag while calculating tax at the time of my tax assessment."

I. do not believe what finanzamt says! everybody wants to have money ;)

II. how you described your case i - when i was from finanzamt - would choose you as my opfer


P.S. There are so "viele arbeitslose Steuerberater", they can ja help you! ;)

Hi Nitin

I´m back from "Hollydays". Shade...

OK. I did the paperwork you mentioned (Kindergeld). YES is true. You must submit the ORIGINAL birth certificate, but maybe your mistake is the particle THE birth certificate.

When your kid born, you receive THREE birth certificates: one standart, (that´s the important one - surely it came in international format) one for Kindererziehungsgeld and the third is the birth certificate for Kindergeld. The only purpose of that paper is Kindergeld and you has to submit it, no problem.

About the other subject you mentioned, in your salary slip appears something called KFB that means Kinderfreibetrag. I guess is 0.0 when you have no kids, 1.0 when you have one kid and so on... This changes when your kid born and modify your Steuer because gives you a lower tax (I don´t understand 100% how to be honest).

I hope it helps

Hi Nitin,

Birth certificate:
If your kid was born in Germany, you do as YO1 suggested (just a remark: in addition to the two originals for KG and KEG and another original "for religious purposes", you get one original that is the important certificate, AND one international original which you must legalise by putting an "Apostil" on it - a total of five certificates, all of them - original. Go figure).
If not, you show them a translated and legalised copy of the original (non-German) birth certificate. In my case, they were happy to have a photocopy and gave me the original legalised translation back. Which makes sense, since this is your kid's only document that is valid in Germany.

KFB/Kindergeld:
I've been using a Steuerberater for several years now, and kind of noticed what he does about the KFB/Kindergeld (I do read my tax declaration before I sign it :-) :
You cannot get both. But they may result in different amounts, so if you had received Kindergeld during the year, you have to compare the total amount received to the amout you would save from taxes by using the KFB. Then you take whatever is bigger - if Kindergeld is more, you don't reduce your income by the KFB; otherwise, the total KG amount received is deducted from your tax return.

It sounds complicated, but it boils down to this: you cannot have both, but you are allowed to choose which one you take at the end of the year.

Hi _

Thanks for trying to help but Your answers are as confusing as Your name ;) What do You mean by:

'I. if you can take care about yourself, fill the application and send it officials by fax
'

or

'I. do not believe what finanzamt says! everybody wants to have money

II. how you described your case i - when i was from finanzamt - would choose you as my opfer'

My question is not about who fills in the form or takes care about the application, it is about submitting the original or legalized copy of my son's birth certificate.

Again my question is what are the laws regarding KGLD (Is it KGLD or KFB or both ). My question is not whether You believe Finanzamt or not. But in any case thanks for trying to help.

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Hi YO1,

Thanks for Your answers. Forgot to mention that my son was born in Prague, Czech Republic and we just have 1 original BC (birth certificate). It has the apostille and a legalized german translation. So 'THE birth certificate' is not my mistake but reality. Any further advice ?

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Hi Flado,

My kid wasnt born in Germany. So what I have right now is:

A. Original Czech BC with Apostille.
B. Original certified German translation.
C. Legalized (by a Czech notary from Czech Republic) copy of BC

I just want to avoid submitting any of the above original documents.

Do You suggest that I submit:

A. Legalized (by a Czech notary from Czech Republic) copy of BC
B. Legalized copy of the 'Original certified German translation'

OR

A. Legalized (by a German notary) copy of BC
B. Legalized copy of the 'Original certified German translation'

I am in Geneve right now and do not have the option to going to the authorities and showing them the originals and then taking it back. I would be sending everything via post.

Btw, I tried contacting the authorities but no one picks up the phone.

Regarding KFB, thanks for Your input. I ll do the same when I submit my tax return.


Danke und Grüße aus Genf,
Nitin.

Hi Nitin.

No apologies. I forget that your son was born in Czech. Republic.

Genf have a German Embassy/Consulate. Just call them and ask. All the paperwork is the same.

I told you what I did with some documents from my country to send it to another country different than mine (Spain in this case):

* Original + Legalization + Apostille
* Make a fotocopy of all
* Go to the German Embassy (I went to the Spanish Embassy) in the country you are with original and copies to "Authenticate" (this is the magic word) the copies
* Send to Germany the authenticated copies

I think an Embassy or Consulate is a representation of a country in another country. If they see the original and certify that the copy you made is faithfull copy of your original documents, any german officer have to take this authenticated copies as original.

Just an opinion