Income that counts for housing benefit
As of: August 2026
For housing benefit (Wohngeld), the total income of all countable household members counts. That includes in particular earnings from work, pensions, maintenance, certain social benefits and profits from self-employment. Statutory deductions for tax, social insurance and supplementary old-age provision, plus allowances, come off the annual amount. What remains monthly enters the formula. A low gross salary alone therefore says nothing yet about the claim.
Total income instead of a single payslip
The authority adds the positive income of everyone who counts as a household member. It does not matter who signed the tenancy agreement. A second salary, a small pension or maintenance paid in can shift the result just as a mini-job can.
The legal basis is the Housing Benefit Act. Housing-benefit income is not identical with taxable income for tax purposes, nor with the net amount on the account. Between gross and the countable figure lie deductions and allowances.
Which receipts typically go in
Ongoing and regularly recurring receipts must be stated in the application. They include among others:
- Wages, salary, training pay and taxable special payments
- Pensions of all kinds, including occupational and survivors’ pensions
- Unemployment benefit I and comparable wage-replacement benefits
- Maintenance that flows to the household
- Child benefit, insofar as it is attributed to the household for housing-benefit purposes
- Parental allowance and similar family benefits, unless a statutory deduction applies
- Profit from self-employment or from agriculture and forestry
- Income from capital and from letting, insofar as it belongs to the household
What reduces the annual amount
Under section 16 WoGG, flat-rate deduction amounts are taken off annual income if the corresponding burdens actually arise:
- 10 per cent if income tax is levied
- 10 per cent if compulsory contributions to statutory social insurance are paid
- 10 per cent if contributions to supplementary old-age provision are paid
Deductions, allowances and maintenance to third parties
The three deductions under section 16 WoGG can stand side by side, but at most 30 per cent. Anyone who pays no wage tax does not receive the tax deduction; anyone who is privately health-insured does not automatically meet the social-insurance deduction.
In addition, statutory allowances reduce income – for example for single parents or in the case of a severe disability. Maintenance that a household member pays to people outside the household can also lower countable income if the payment is evidenced. The system is under Allowances.
Which period applies
As a rule the authority looks at income in the last twelve months before the application or – if the situation has changed – the income expected in the award period. A job change, entry into a pension or the end of maintenance therefore belong in the application, not only in a later letter.
Self-employed people typically submit the last tax assessment and current figures (surplus statement or management accounts). Provisional estimates are possible but can be adjusted later. Which evidence is expected is under Documents.
One-off payments, assets and transfer benefits
One-off receipts can be spread over several months or assigned to the period to which they economically belong. Whether a severance payment raises annual income sharply depends on the individual case. Substantial assets are not income, but can exclude the claim independently of the monthly calculation.
Benefits that already include housing costs often lead to exclusion rather than only to an income count. The boundary is explained under Transfer benefits. How remaining income together with rent and household size determines the award is under Calculation and Amount.
Evidence in the application
Without evidence the authority cannot set income. Usual items are payslips, pension notices, bank evidence of maintenance and proof of child benefit. For a first application as for a renewal the rule is: current figures replace old notices.
Changes during the award period can trigger a duty to notify. If you are unsure which receipt counts, terms are in the Glossary and typical situations under Who it is for.
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