If you have no financial security from previous work or from your parents' help, you either have the option of receiving BAföG (the German government student aid) or of looking for a job. In fact, not every student can receive BAföG for certain reasons, so to be able to pay the rent they have to look for a job. This is where the working student (Werkstudent) job comes in. A working student works up to 20 hours a week during the lecture period, and in the semester breaks the working time increases to full time, so about 40 hours a week. What's special about a working student job is certain privileges that a normal employee doesn't have. However, there are also some requirements for becoming a working student at all. Depending on earnings, you have to watch out for working student income tax.

  • Being enrolled at a university
  • The 25th subject-specific semester must not be exceeded
  • The student must not be on a leave semester
  • No university degree may be held yet

Working student income tax, taxes, and pay

As already mentioned, a student works up to 20 hours during the lecture period and full time in the semester breaks. During lectures you thus reach the 450 euros a month and in the semester breaks about 1,080 euros. To what extent that has to be taxed always depends on the total amount in the year. But working student income tax can also be reduced. As in normal working life, the tax class plays a big role here too. Anyone who is single, separated, or widowed is in tax class 1. Anyone who is married, on the other hand, gets tax class 4 and can thus save on taxes. As for the hourly wage, we're talking about roughly 12 to 15 euros an hour.

Working student income tax, insurance

How a working student has to be insured is similar to taxes. Depending on how much the student earns, they also have to be insured. If monthly earnings are up to 450 euros, the student is still covered by family insurance. As soon as they exceed 450 euros, though, they are not only liable for income tax but also have to pay into pension insurance. To be on the safe side, sit down with your responsible office and calculate your monthly as well as your whole year's pay. Otherwise you may get a nasty surprise regarding taxes, for example. Better to pay too much tax and get it back than to pay too little and have to pay the difference later.