The allowances for children are not taken into account when calculating income tax. Instead, the employee receives child benefit from the family benefits office in the current year. The number of child allowances in the ELStAM therefore has no effect on the amount of monthly wage tax, but only on the calculation of the solidarity surcharge and church tax. This also applies to the allowance for care and education or training needs. With regard to income tax, it is only checked when the tax return is submitted whether the allowances for children have a more favorable effect than the child benefit already paid.
Note
Information on ELStAM (=electronic income tax card) can be found at www.elster.de. Further information can also be found in the tax tips for families.