The German government’s plan is to transition the child benefit system, enabling payments to be issued automatically following a child’s birth without parents needing to submit an application.
The proposed legislation, which passed in the Bundestag after support from the Union, SPD, and Greens, while the AfD and Linke abstained, outlines a phased approach to implementing this non-application procedure. In the initial stage, automatic payments will begin for the second child. This transition is possible because the Federal Family Services Office (“Familienkasse”) can utilize existing data used for determining benefits for the firstborn child. The plan stipulates that the procedure will subsequently be expanded to encompass firstborn children.
To ensure data completeness, if the Family Services Office does not have bank account details from payments related to older children, it plans to utilize the identification database maintained by the Federal Central Tax Office (“Bundeszentralamt für Steuern”) for necessary data additions.
According to the government’s draft, the automated benefit granting capability will be triggered by the Family Services Office when all relevant facts are known, there are no doubts regarding the entitlement, and banking details are available. The stated goal of this initiative is to reduce bureaucratic hurdles while mitigating the risk of improper payouts.
The determination and automatic transfer of the child benefit will take place immediately after the child is registered and assigned a tax identification number by the Federal Central Tax Office. The decision of whether the Family Services Office initiates the automatic payment or sends a simple welcome letter is intended to be handled predominantly through automated processes.
