Taxes
A child’s Depot: two ceilings, and the lower one is not tax
The NV-Bescheinigung opens up the basic allowance. Family health cover closes much earlier — on a formula that shifts every year.
Published · By The Acutic Research Team
An account in a child’s name has a tax advantage that gets described often, and a second ceiling that rarely gets mentioned alongside it. The second sits considerably lower than the first — and it comes from an entirely different statute book.
The ceiling everyone knows
For income tax a child is a separate person with their own allowances. § 32a (1) EStG sets the basic allowance at €12,348 (“bis 12 348 Euro (Grundfreibetrag): 0”, from assessment year 2026), and § 20 (9) EStG adds the €1,000 saver’s allowance on top. With no other income the headroom is about €13,348.
The bank knows none of this and withholds from the first euro above any Freistellungsauftrag. The bridge is the Nichtveranlagungs-Bescheinigung under § 44a (2) sentence 1 no. 2 EStG — a certificate from the local tax office on the strength of which the paying agent refrains from withholding, because no income tax is expected. Its life is limited:
“Ihre Geltungsdauer darf höchstens drei Jahre betragen und muss am Schluss eines Kalenderjahres enden.” — § 44a (2) sentence 3 EStG
The ceiling almost nobody counts
While a child is covered without contributions under statutory family insurance, that status depends on an income limit of its own. § 10 (1) sentence 1 no. 5 SGB V states it as a formula rather than an amount: the child must have “kein Gesamteinkommen … das regelmäßig im Monat ein Siebtel der monatlichen Bezugsgröße nach § 18 des Vierten Buches überschreitet”.
That it is a formula and not a fixed sum is the important part: the Bezugsgröße is updated annually, so the threshold moves. For 2026 a figure of around €565 per month is widely quoted — used here only for order of magnitude, since the formula governs and the health insurer decides.
Because Gesamteinkommen is defined in § 16 SGB IV as the sum of Einkünfte — for capital income, after the saver’s allowance — the effective ceiling lands near €7,780 of capital income. Between it and the tax headroom sits roughly €5,568: a band in which no income tax arises and something happens anyway.
What happens is not minor. Losing contribution-free cover means separate insurance, whose premiums can exceed the tax saved several times over. The instinct to “use up” the basic allowance collides here with a threshold from another system — and thresholds are unpleasant precisely because one euro over tips the whole status, not just that euro.
What follows from it
None of this argues for or against a child’s account. It argues for knowing both ceilings before either becomes a target, and for knowing the relevant income before the year ends. That is not only interest and dividends: realised gains count, and for fund units so does the Vorabpauschale, which arrives in January without anyone doing anything.
How loss pots and the allowance interact is in the two loss pots and the Sparer-Pauschbetrag; which tranches a partial disposal hits is in FIFO on a partial disposal.
And one point that has nothing to do with tax and may matter most: the assets belong to the child. A transfer is a gift in civil law, the account is at the child’s free disposal at majority, and it is attributed to the child for means-tested support.
Investors running several accounts — their own and their children’s — rarely see the income in one place. The Acutic workspace brings positions together without connecting to a bank, with the approach on the methodology page. It is not a substitute for tax or social-insurance advice.
Frequently asked questions
What does an NV-Bescheinigung add over a Freistellungsauftrag?
Reach. A Freistellungsauftrag exempts capital income up to the €1,000 saver’s allowance. A Nichtveranlagungs-Bescheinigung under § 44a (2) sentence 1 no. 2 EStG lets the bank refrain from withholding beyond that, on the basis that no income tax is expected — for a child with no other income, up to roughly the basic allowance.
How long does it last?
Three years at most: "Ihre Geltungsdauer darf höchstens drei Jahre betragen und muss am Schluss eines Kalenderjahres enden" (§ 44a (2) sentence 3 EStG). A fresh application to the local tax office on the official form is needed after that.
Why is health cover the tighter limit?
Because the two systems compute independently. § 10 (1) sentence 1 no. 5 SGB V conditions free family cover on total income not regularly exceeding one seventh of the monthly Bezugsgröße per month. That is materially less than the basic tax allowance — being untaxed says nothing about insured status.
Do capital gains and the Vorabpauschale count?
Gesamteinkommen is defined in § 16 SGB IV as the sum of income in the income-tax sense, which for capital income means after the saver’s allowance. Realised gains, dividends, interest and the Vorabpauschale all belong to that. How the limit applies in a given case is for the health insurer to determine.
Whose money is it?
The child’s. That is not a formality: transferring assets into an account in the child’s name is a gift in civil law, and the child has free disposal of it at majority. It is also attributed to the child for gift-tax purposes and for means-tested support such as BAföG.
This article is general information, and is neither tax advice nor advice on social insurance law. For your own situation, consult a Steuerberater:in and your health insurer. Legal position: October 2026.
Further reading: Foreign withholding tax, the 30% fallback trap and the Vorabpauschale calculator. Create free account.
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