Parental allowance for cross-border commuters: living in Germany, working next door
By Felix Böhme, Dipl.-Finanzwirt (FH), graduate in public finance Updated
You live with your family in Germany and work in Switzerland, Austria, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland or the Czech Republic? Then you are often entitled to German parental allowance – but usually not first. This page explains who pays first, which income counts, how the actual net calculation works and what to watch out for when applying.
In short
- If only one parent works – in the neighbouring country –, the neighbouring country pays first. Germany pays the differential amount second.
- If the other parent works in Germany, Germany pays the full parental allowance first.
- Your income from the EU, EEA and Switzerland counts like German income. With a foreign employer, a 13th month’s salary and other one-off payments count as well.
- Always apply in Germany in good time – even if Germany only pays the difference.
Who pays first?
Basic rule: the country where a parent works pays first. Your place of residence, Germany, tips the balance if the parents work in two different countries and one of them is Germany. The complete logic with all cases is on the page Which country pays first?.
For families living in Germany this means:
Work also includes parental leave (as long as the employment continues), unemployment benefit, sickness benefit and maternity benefit. If you receive unemployment benefit, a comparable benefit or a severance payment in the neighbouring country after your job there has ended, you remain subject to that country’s law.
Why you still have your own German entitlement
Even if you work abroad, you can have your own entitlement to German parental allowance because you live in Germany. This also applies if both parents work abroad or if you are a single parent. You must meet the conditions of German law: residence in Germany, the child in your household, caring for the child yourself and working no more than 32 hours a week. Your entitlement is then secondary and paid as a differential amount.
What the differential amount means in practice
Germany compares your German parental allowance with the neighbouring country’s comparable benefit for the same child and the same period. If the foreign benefit is lower, Germany pays the difference. Child benefit is not deducted. Worked examples: Which country pays first?.
Maternity benefits of another EU or EEA country or Switzerland are offset against parental allowance like German maternity benefit. The guidelines give the Austrian Wochengeld as an example. Whether a benefit is comparable is checked by the parental allowance office in each individual case.
Which income counts?
Income from the EU, EEA and Switzerland
Income taxable in an EU or EEA country or in Switzerland is treated like German income. It counts for the amount of parental allowance and for the income limit.
Conversion into euros
If you are paid in francs, złoty or koruna, the parental allowance office uses the reference rate of the European Central Bank. For income before the birth, the rate on the last day of the assessment period applies. Example: your child is born on 15 July and the assessment period runs from 1 July of the previous year to 30 June. Then the rate of 30 June applies. If no rate is published on that day, the most recently published rate applies.
For income or foreign benefits during the period of receipt, the rate on the first day of the previous month applies. Example: for income in October, the rate of 1 September applies.
13th month’s salary and other one-off payments
For employees with a German employer, so-called “other payments” (sonstige Bezüge) do not count, for example a 13th month’s salary or a bonus. This is set out in section 2c of the German Parental Allowance Act (BEEG). However, this exception only applies to pay that is subject to German wage tax deduction.
If you are a cross-border commuter with an employer abroad, the parental allowance office does not distinguish between regular pay and one-off payments. The guidelines on the BEEG say so expressly. This works both ways:
- Before the birth: One-off payments in the assessment period count. Your parental allowance increases.
- During receipt: If a one-off payment is received in a month of receipt, it counts as income in that month. Your parental allowance for that month falls.
The Social Court of Freiburg confirmed this in its judgment of 26 March 2026 (S 9 EG 355/25). A cross-border commuter from Baden-Württemberg worked for a Swiss employer. Her period of receipt included a 13th month’s salary of CHF 4,602.95 (December 2023) and a long-service award of CHF 500 (April 2024). The parental allowance office counted both as income in the period of receipt, reduced the parental allowance and reclaimed €1,633.47. The claimant argued that these payments were “other payments” and should not count. The court dismissed the claim: the exception for other payments only applies to income to which German wage tax deduction applies in principle – i.e. with a domestic employer or a foreign temporary-work agency. It does not apply to pay from a foreign employer. Conversely, one-off payments in the assessment period also count; in the case, this included overtime pay of CHF 2,165.50.
Practical tip: Provide full proof of all pay components in the assessment period, including a 13th month’s salary, bonuses, overtime pay and long-service awards. If you can arrange it with your employer, pay attention to when one-off payments are made: payments in months of receipt reduce your parental allowance. More on timing: Parental allowance and one-time payments.
Applying for the actual net calculation
Normally the parental allowance office deducts notional German taxes based on a tax class. For cross-border commuters there is an exception: the actual net calculation (tatsächliche Nettoberechnung). It applies if all three conditions are met:
- You apply for the net calculation.
- Your income is actually taxed abroad (EU, EEA or Switzerland).
- You are not assigned a German tax class.
The parental allowance office then deducts the taxes you actually paid in the other country – instead of notional German wage tax, solidarity surcharge and church tax. The employee lump sum (Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag) is not deducted in this case. According to the guidelines, social security contributions are still deducted as a flat rate under section 2f BEEG.
Submit tax documents from the other country for this. Whether the net calculation pays off depends on the tax level in the other country. This also applies to cross-border commuters working in Switzerland.
Church tax abroad
For foreign income, the parental allowance office also checks whether you are liable to church tax abroad. There is no official list. The guidelines name Sweden, Norway, Finland, some Swiss cantons and Austria as countries with a comparable church tax.
What the guidelines say about individual countries
The guidelines do not contain a complete overview of the neighbouring countries’ benefits. The table below only shows what is stated there. For the amount, duration and start of foreign benefits, the guidelines refer to the EU’s MISSOC tables. These details change; the decision of the other country is what counts. The column “Familienkasse” shows which family benefits office agrees the order of priority with the parental allowance office (overview as of 02/2024). If a parent works in the public sector, different offices are responsible.
If the parents work in two different foreign countries, for example France and Belgium, the Familienkasse Bayern-Nord in Nuremberg is responsible. Family benefits offices: overview.
Applying step by step
- Responsible is the parental allowance office for the place in Germany where your child lives at the time of the first application.
- Application in the country of work: Apply for family benefits in the country of work as early as possible if that country pays first. An application to the competent office there also counts as an application in Germany.
- Application in Germany: Submit the German application at the same time. Parental allowance is paid retroactively only for the last three months of your child’s life before the month in which the application is received. Do not wait for the foreign decision.
- Coordination: The parental allowance office and the family benefits office jointly decide which country pays first. If Germany pays second, the parental allowance office can make a provisional decision and pay a provisional differential amount, as far as the foreign benefit can be determined.
- Proof: Submit payslips from abroad, tax documents (for the net calculation) and decisions on foreign benefits as soon as you have them. Your own written statement about foreign benefits is not enough.
The parental allowance office decides in each individual case. Help with the forms: Apply for parental allowance and Application by federal state.
Does my foreign employer have to give me leave?
No, not under German law. A foreign employer is not subject to the BEEG and does not have to release you from work because of parental allowance. Whether you are entitled to parental leave in your country of work depends on its law. As a rule, there is no entitlement to parental leave under the BEEG if you usually work abroad and your employment is governed by foreign law.
To receive German parental allowance you may work no more than 32 hours a week on average in the month of the child’s life. So try to agree holiday, release from work or part-time work with your employer.
Important for couples: if a parent cannot get leave abroad, this does not count as “impossibility of care”. The other parent therefore cannot receive 14 months of parental allowance alone.
FAQ
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I work in Switzerland, my wife is at home. Do we get German parental allowance?
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Does my 13th month’s salary from Switzerland count?
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My partner works in Germany, I work in Austria. Who pays?
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Do I have to wait for the decision from my country of work?
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Which exchange rate applies to my salary in francs?
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Is there a calculator for the differential amount?
Sources and legal basis
Same sources as the German page (`U2_grenzgaenger.de.md`). “RL” = Guidelines on the BEEG, as of 07/2026; “p.” = PDF page.
- Who pays first: Art. 68 Regulation (EC) 883/2004; RL Part II 3.1 (p. 400), 3.16 table “child lives in Germany” (pp. 415–416), special case one parent (p. 417); Austria example RL Part II 3.0 (pp. 398–399); secondary entitlement with employment elsewhere in the EU RL 1.1.1.1.1 (p. 43).
- Equivalent periods: RL Part II 3.3, 3.4 (pp. 402–405).
- Own entitlement (Bosmann): RL Part II 3.15.1 (p. 413); section 1(1), (6) BEEG.
- Differential amount, maternity benefits: Art. 68(2) Regulation; RL Part II 3.18 (pp. 417–418); RL 3.1.1.1.2 (pp. 214–215); annex V case 6 (p. 480).
- Income from EU/EEA/CH, income limit: section 2(1) sentence 3 BEEG; RL 2.1.3.2.1 (p. 101); RL 2.0 (p. 81).
- Exchange rate: Art. 90 Implementing Regulation, Decision H3; RL 2.1.3.2.1 (p. 101); RL Part II 3.21 (pp. 425–426).
- One-off payments: section 2c(1) sentence 2 BEEG; RL 2c.1.1 (p. 143); Social Court Freiburg, judgment of 26 March 2026, S 9 EG 355/25 (claim dismissed; full text sozialgerichtsbarkeit.de, decision 179967).
- Actual net calculation: sections 2c(4), 2e BEEG; RL 2c.4 (pp. 158–159), 2e.7 (pp. 189–190); RL annex VI no. 16 (circular of 11 August 2015, Ländermail; p. 484).
- Church tax abroad: RL 2e.1 (p. 172).
- Countries: Switzerland RL Part II 1 (p. 391), 3.15.2 (p. 414), annex V case 6 (p. 480); Austria pp. 398–399, 214; France RL Part II 3.19 (p. 424), annex V case 6 (p. 480); Luxembourg RL Part II 3.18.3 (p. 420); Poland RL Part II 3.3 (pp. 402–403); Denmark RL Part II 2.1 (p. 393); MISSOC note RL 3.1.1.1.2 (p. 214).
- Family benefits offices: RL Part II 4.1.2.1 (pp. 428–430), as of 02/2024.
- Application and procedure: sections 7(1), 12(1) BEEG; RL Part II 4.1.1 (p. 427), 4.1.2.2 (pp. 431–432), 4.1.3 (p. 433); Art. 60 Implementing Regulation, Art. 81 Regulation; proof RL 3.1.1.1.2 (p. 214).
- Foreign employer, 32 hours, section 4c: sections 1(6), 4c(1) no. 3 BEEG; RL Part II 3.20 (p. 425).
- Parental leave with foreign employment: RL 15.1.1.3 (pp. 311–312).
Sources checked: November 2026
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As of November 2026.