There is no question that parenthood is a great challenge. After all, you have to do justice to your offspring and raise them to become independent people and responsible members of society. In addition, families in Germany sometimes experience a veritable madness of authorities and have to deal with various offices. Worth mentioning here, among other things, is the Family Cash Office.
However, the Family Fund is not only an important address for new parents, but for all families with children. These may be entitled to child allowance and child supplement. Both services fall under the jurisdiction of the family benefits offices, which is why it is worthwhile to take a closer look at this institution. Here, interested parties can find out a lot of interesting facts and thus know exactly which concerns they have come to the right address for at the family benefits office.
This is how the Family Tax Office is organized
First of all, the organization of the family fund is worth knowing. On the one hand, this comes across as a federal financial authority, and on the other hand, it is located at the Federal Employment Agency. Nationwide, there are about 8.000 decentralized family funds in the area of responsibility of the public employers and 14 family funds of the Federal Employment Agency. The latter takes care of families in which neither parent works in the public sector.
The family funds in Germany act on behalf of the Federal Tax Administration, after all they are federal tax authorities. Supervision is the responsibility of the Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt).
These are the tasks of the Familienkasse
The determination and payment of child allowance and child supplement are the central tasks of the Familienkasse (family benefits office). The Familienkasse performs these tasks for the federal tax authorities. The administration of the family benefits office, on the other hand, is a task of the Federal Employment Agency.
The tasks of the family benefits office range from providing advice to processing applications and paying out the respective benefits. Families entitled to child benefits are therefore at the right address here.
These are the benefits of the family insurance fund
Which services fall under the jurisdiction of the family insurance fund, is more or less obvious. Nonetheless, here is an overview to make it easier to understand.
- Child benefit
- Child Surcharge
- Child bonus
This family fund is responsible
When it comes to child benefit or child supplement, it is obvious that the family benefits office is the right place to go to. Here the question arises now however, which family cash office is responsible. The family funds of public employers are responsible for their employees. Who is active thus in the public-legal range, draws here the child benefit for its offspring. In most cases, however, this is not the case and a family fund of the Federal Employment Agency is responsible instead.
Finding the right family fund of the Federal Employment Agency is not that difficult in practice. Each child benefit office has a certain catchment area that it covers. The place of residence is therefore decisive for which family benefits office is responsible.
Here's how to reach the family cash fund
In principle, you can make an appointment with the employment agency, but this is usually not necessary for matters concerning the family fund.
Instead, you can reach them by phone, mail or classically by mail. This is a good way to communicate with the family insurance fund.
5 quick tips for dealing with the family cash box
If there is a claim to benefits from the family funds, this can also be asserted. The Familienkasse does not have any discretionary powers, but implements the legal principles in official practice.
Still, it doesn't hurt to know what to look for when dealing with the family cash office. The following tips can help improve communication and simplify the application process.
- Get detailed advice!
- Always contact the person in charge of your case!
- Always inform the family cash office about relevant changes!
- Always submit required evidence as early as possible!
- Take advantage of the online services of the family insurance fund!
Checklist for finding the responsible family fund
If you are not employed by a public employer, you must contact one of the 14 family benefits offices of the Federal Employment Agency for child benefits.
Those who wonder which family fund is responsible for them should proceed as follows:
- Define child benefit recipient
First, it must be discussed who is the child support recipient, because this can only be one person at a time. - Service search on the basis of the place of residence
In the next step, the service search can be carried out on the basis of the place of residence of the child welfare recipient. The Federal Employment Agency will be happy to assist you.
Basically, it should be noted that there is only one family insurance fund of the Federal Employment Agency in Germany. However, the latter maintains 14 departments, whose areas of responsibility vary.