Family benefit: Around 500 million euros in child benefit goes abroad

By the end of November, around 470 million euros had flowed in child benefit for children living abroad. This was announced by a spokesman for the Federal Employment Agency (BA) in Nuremberg. “Bild” had previously reported. If you extrapolate the figure for December, the 500 million euro mark is expected to be exceeded – just like in the previous year, when the BA family fund transferred 525.7 million euros to foreign accounts.

At the same time, the BA pointed out that payments abroad account for around one percent of the total child benefit paid out.

Employees from other EU countries usually receive child benefit

Recipients are usually employees from the EU who are subject to social security contributions in Germany and whose children live in their home country. Child benefit follows tax law. “In principle, only those who have their place of residence or habitual residence in Germany or are subject to unlimited tax liability in Germany receive child benefit. EU employees may then be entitled to child benefit for children living in their home country,” said the BA.

The family fund carefully checks the necessary additional evidence and compares it with its contact points abroad. If there are entitlements to family benefits in various EU countries, EU law regulates the ranking of the entitlements.

At the end of 2023, child benefit was paid to around 313,000 children abroad, including 307,000 children in EU countries such as Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Croatia and France. Most of them, 171,000 children, lived in Poland.