How much Familienbonus Plus reaches your payslip
The child tax credit is generous but capped: it only cancels wage tax you actually pay. The calculator shows how much of it works for you.
Familienbonus Plus, Austria's child tax credit, is worth €166.68 a month in 2026 for each child up to the month of their 18th birthday and €58.34 afterwards, for as long as family allowance (Familienbeihilfe) is paid. It is deducted straight from your wage tax, but never below zero. That is why it only arrives in full on a sufficient salary: around €2,495 gross a month for one child under 18, €3,202 for two and €3,841 for three (workplace outside Vienna, no other credits). Below those amounts the unused part is lost unless you qualify for the Kindermehrbetrag, a small cash top-up for low earners. If both parents split the credit half and half, one child needs only €2,077 gross for each half to work in full, which helps when one partner pays too little tax. The calculator applies the credit to your payslip and shows which part works and which part is lost. Expats should note that the child must live in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland.
Familienbonus that actually applies
€2,791
out of a possible €4,000 a year · €232.56 per month
| Monthly wage tax without Familienbonus | €232.56 |
|---|---|
| Monthly wage tax with Familienbonus | €0.00 |
| Net per month | €2,287.04 |
| Unusable (tax too low) | €1,210 |
Sole earners and single parents with low tax receive up to €700 per child as Kindermehrbetrag: choose “Sole earner / single parent” above.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
What the calculator shows
Enter your monthly gross salary, the federal state where you work, the number of children under and over 18 and whether you share the credit. The calculator runs your payslip twice, with and without the credit, and shows the Familienbonus that actually applies as the headline figure next to the possible maximum. If your tax is too low, the unusable remainder appears on its own line. Choose sole earner or single parent and it adds the Kindermehrbetrag.
The credit by salary and number of children
| Gross per month | 1 child | 2 children | 3 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| €1,500 | €0.00 | €0.00 | €0.00 |
| €2,000 | €70.34 | €70.34 | €70.34 |
| €2,500 | €166.68 | €168.05 | €168.05 |
| €3,000 | €166.68 | €283.82 | €283.82 |
| €3,500 | €166.68 | €333.36 | €406.72 |
| €4,000 | €166.68 | €333.36 | €500.04 |
At €1,500 gross there is no wage tax, so the credit adds nothing to the payslip. It works in full for one child from €2,495, for two from €3,202 and for three from €3,841. Where the columns for two and three children show the same figure, the wage tax is already used up and a third child adds nothing on the payslip.
Why the credit stops at your wage tax
Under section 33(3a) of the Income Tax Act the Familienbonus Plus is a tax credit. It comes off the tax calculated on the scale, before the transport credit and other credits, and can only bring the tax down to zero. Nothing is paid out beyond that, apart from the Kindermehrbetrag for very low tax bills. On mid-range salaries with several children part of the credit is therefore often lost, which makes the split between parents a real decision rather than paperwork.
Sharing it or keeping it with the higher earner
Each child carries one credit. It can sit entirely with one parent or be split half and half. A rule of thumb from the calculator: if the higher earner is above the threshold for your number of children, keep the whole credit there. If not, and the other parent also pays enough wage tax, splitting can recover more. With one child, each half works in full from €2,077 gross. Try both options with the split field. A claim can be withdrawn up to five years after the tax assessment becomes final (section 33(3a)(3)(e)), so a poor choice can be corrected later. The Finance Ministry describes the conditions and forms.
Kindermehrbetrag for small incomes
If you qualify for the sole earner or single parent credit and your tax under the scale is below €700 a year, the difference is paid out as the Kindermehrbetrag, plus €700 for each further child (oesterreich.gv.at). On €1,500 gross with one child the tax is €321.48 a year and the Kindermehrbetrag €378.52. It arrives with the annual tax assessment (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung), not on the payslip.
Claiming it
To have the credit in your monthly pay, claim it with your employer; otherwise you get it back through the annual assessment. The page on claiming Familienbonus Plus explains the steps and the evidence needed. If you pay maintenance for a child who does not live with you, separate rules apply, see the maintenance credit.