Anyone who runs a business alongside employment, or who is solely self-employed, faces different assessment period rules for Elterngeld than pure employees.
What does a business change in the calculation?
For the solely self-employed, the assessment period is not the last 12 calendar months – instead, the tax assessment year (steuerlicher Veranlagungszeitraum) applies: the last completed tax year before the birth month. The basis is the profit from the tax return, not turnover.
For mixed income (employment and self-employment simultaneously), special rules apply. These are complex and must be assessed case by case.
Small business (Kleingewerbe): what actually counts?
For Elterngeld, what matters is whether actual income from self-employment or trade under German income tax law (Einkommensteuergesetz) was generated. A mere business registration (Gewerbeanmeldung) without actual activity or actual income does not change the assessment period.
Profit-seeking requirement
Under German tax law, a self-employed activity must have a genuine profit-seeking intention (Gewinnerzielungsabsicht). Activities without a realistic income expectation are treated as a hobby (Liebhaberei) and do not feed into the Elterngeld calculation.
Limits and risks
- A business registered shortly before the birth without genuine activity does not change the assessment period under current law.
- Elterngeldstellen increasingly scrutinise whether actual income was generated.
- Incorrect statements in the Elterngeld application can lead to repayment demands.