How to claim Familienbonus Plus: forms, splitting, deadlines
Who claims Austria’s child tax credit where, when splitting it between parents costs money, and what to do after a separation or an 18th birthday.
You claim Familienbonus Plus, Austria’s child tax credit, either through your employer with form E 30, so it lowers wage tax every month, or afterwards in the annual employee tax assessment (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung), online via FinanzOnline or on paper with one L 1k schedule per child. It is worth €166.68 a month per child until the month of the 18th birthday and €58.34 after that, as long as family allowance (Familienbeihilfe) is paid. Two people may claim: the parent receiving family allowance and their partner, or, for separated parents, the parent paying child maintenance. Together they get at most one full credit per child, either one claims all of it or each takes half; if both claim too much, each gets half. Because the credit can only reduce your own tax to zero, splitting loses money when one parent earns little: with €1,500 and €3,000 gross salaries the loss is €1,000 a year. Leave it out of your tax return and you will be asked to pay it back. A claim can be withdrawn up to 5 years after the assessment becomes final.
Familienbonus: claim it in full or split?
Familienbonus per year
€2,000.16
| per parent if split | €1,000.08 |
| per month and child under 18 | €166.68 |
| per month and child 18+ | €58.34 |
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Calculation method
Two ways to claim
Familienbonus Plus is a tax credit under section 33(3a) of the Income Tax Act, and nobody gets it automatically. There are two routes, and you can use both:
- Through your employer with form E 30: the credit then reduces wage tax on every payslip, so you have the money straight away rather than a year later.
- In the annual tax assessment: online through FinanzOnline, the tax office portal, or on paper with schedule L 1k, one per child. If your family situation changed during the year, use schedule L 1k-bF instead, which assigns the credit month by month.
The two routes are linked. If payroll applied the credit and you then file a return, you must claim it there again. The Finance Ministry explicitly warns of an unwanted back payment otherwise.
Who may claim
The credit exists only for a child who receives Austrian family allowance and lives permanently in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland. A top-up payment from the Austrian tax office for a child living abroad (Ausgleichs- or Differenzzahlung) counts as family allowance. Two people may claim: the person receiving family allowance and either their spouse or partner or, for separated parents, the parent who pays statutory child maintenance and qualifies for the child maintenance credit. A partner means a spouse, a registered partner or someone living with the recipient for more than six months of the year.
Full or half: splitting the credit
Each child carries at most one full credit of €166.68 a month. The options are: the allowance recipient claims all of it, the other parent claims all of it, or both claim half. If the two claims add up to more than one full credit, the tax office gives each of you half.
The choice matters in euros. The credit can only bring tax down to zero, and any unused part is lost. An example from our engine with one child under 18:
| Option | Parent on €1,500 | Parent on €3,000 | Total per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| half each | €0.00 | €83.34 | €83.34 |
| all to the higher earner | €0.00 | €166.68 | €166.68 |
At €1,500 gross no wage tax is due, so half the credit evaporates there. Splitting costs this family €1,000 a year. The same happens to a single earner on €2,000 with two children: of €333.36 of credit, only €70.34 works on the payslip because the wage tax is no higher. If both parents pay little tax, look at the Kindermehrbetrag, a refundable amount that can replace the credit.
Familienbonus: claim it in full or split?
Familienbonus per year
€2,000.16
| per parent if split | €1,000.08 |
| per month and child under 18 | €166.68 |
| per month and child 18+ | €58.34 |
Separated parents
A parent paying maintenance for a child who does not live with them can claim all or half of the credit, but only for months in which maintenance was paid in full and the maintenance credit applies. If no maintenance at all was paid during the year, that parent gets no credit; the parent receiving family allowance may then claim it in full or share it with a new partner. Late maintenance payments count in the year they are paid and clear the oldest open month of that year first. Where maintenance was not fully paid, use schedule L 1k-bF. Maintenance in kind counts too, but you must be able to prove it in writing on request.
Changes during the year
Moving in together, marrying, separating or the death of a partner all call for schedule L 1k-bF, because the credit is then assigned month by month. On the payroll side you report such changes with form E 31. You can claim from the month the child is born, so in the year of birth only the months from birth onwards count. When you change jobs, form E 30 must go to the new employer too, or your first payslips there will lack the credit.
Withdrawing a claim within 5 years
A split that turned out badly can be repaired. You may withdraw a claim up to 5 years after the assessment becomes final; it counts as a retroactive event for both parents, and the other parent can then claim the full credit. To see what the credit adds to your own pay in both variants, use the Familienbonus Plus calculator.