P-account allowance 2026: your total next to last year’s

Every 2026 and 2025 amount at a glance

The table below lists the monthly allowance for zero to five dependants, once from 1 July 2026 and once for the twelve months before. Child benefit is not included yet; it is added per child. The right-hand column shows how much the protection grew on the switchover date. The figures come from the 2026 notice and the 2025 notice in the Federal Law Gazette.

Nothing more is added from the sixth person on. Section 902 sentence 1 no. 1 ZPO refers to the top-ups in section 850c(2) ZPO, and those stop at the fifth person. The steps are uneven: the first person brings €597.42, each further one €332.83. Going from single to parent of one child therefore adds far more protection than going from the third to the fourth child.

Child benefit comes on top

Kindergeld is not counted through the number of dependants but as a separate top-up under section 902 sentence 1 no. 5 ZPO. Under section 66 of the Income Tax Act it is €259 a month per child. A parent of two who maintains them and receives the child benefit uses both building blocks: two dependants and child benefit twice. If the child benefit arrives in your account while you owe the children no maintenance, only the benefit itself counts; with two children that makes €2,108 a month. Special cases are covered under child benefit and garnishment.

What the bank applies by itself and what needs proof

Without any action on your part, the bank protects exactly one amount: the €1,590 base. It applies from the first day the account runs as a P-account and follows section 899(1) ZPO. For everything above it, section 903 ZPO requires a certificate. Until you produce one, the bank may pay the higher balance to the creditor with discharging effect. That money is then gone, even though the top-up was really yours.

The certificate can come from the Familienkasse (family benefits office), a social benefits agency, your employer or a recognised debt advice body in the sense of section 305 of the Insolvency Code. The bank must apply it from the second business day after you hand it in. The full procedure is explained on the P-account certificate page.

Other top-ups are rarer but possible: one-off social benefits, money for extra costs caused by a disability, payments from the “Mutter und Kind” foundation, and Social Code II or XII benefits to the extent they exceed the base amount. In the calculator you enter these under the advanced fields. Whatever is left over in a month moves with you into the next three months; the carry-over page works it through.

One distinction matters for expats used to other systems: the allowance in the account is not the same as exempt wages. At your employer, the garnishment table with its percentage shares applies; in the account, only the fixed amounts on this page do. The comparison for your own net pay is on exempt amount 2026.