Single tax class in Luxembourg: what the reform passed changes for you
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Skimming?
We've prepared the shortcut for you.
This is for you if
You are married or in a civil partnership and wonder whether you would be better off switching to individual taxation.
You are single or a single parent and want to know what the reform would save you.
You plan to marry or enter a civil partnership and want to know what would change from 2028.
You are a resident or a cross-border worker.
Tax together or individually?
For a married couple or registered partners before 2028: between your two incomes, what would cost less.
Roughly your annual gross salary minus your social security contributions
Individually, you would pay €5,037 less per year
Together: €25,978 for the couple
Individually: €15,687 for you, €5,254 for your spouse or partner (€20,941 in total)
trigger calculation based on law 8676, passed on 28 October 2026.
Who this calculation applies to
Married couples or registered partners before 2028, including those in a partnership before 2028 who then marry; registered partners re-apply each year for tax calculated together. Cross-border workers: only if you meet the conditions to be treated as residents each year. Does not apply to a couple where only one spouse lives in Luxembourg, nor to a married couple before 2028 who move to Luxembourg after 2028. Estimate based on taxable income, excluding tax credits and excluding the €4,500 allowance for couples where both work, which you would lose by switching to individual taxation.
What would change
One class, one tax scale. The text would replace classes 1, 1a and 2 with individual taxation: nothing to pay on the first 26 650 euros of taxable income, then rates from 11 % to 42 %, in 10 brackets instead of 23. Couples married before 2028 would stay on joint taxation, which uses the current class 2 scale: the couple's income divided by two, tax calculated on that half and then multiplied by two.
| Your situation | Today | With the bill (from 2028) |
|---|---|---|
| Single, single parent, retiree living alone | Class 1 or 1a | Individual taxation, mandatory. Lower tax for single people; roughly the same tax for class 1a, and single-parent tax credit raised from 3 504 € to 4 008 € (taxable income below 60 000 €) |
| Married before 2028 | Class 2 | Joint taxation until the end of 2052 (only one spouse resident, or arrival in Luxembourg after 2028: see the pitfalls); individual taxation only if you both requested it (final choice) |
| Civil partners before 2028 | Class 2 on joint request | Joint taxation on joint request every year until the end of 2052, otherwise individual taxation, permanently |
| Married or civil partners from 2028 | (not applicable) | Individual taxation, with no option for joint taxation (except civil partners before 2028 who marry later) |
| Widowed, divorced or separated | Class 2 for 3 years | Joint taxation for 5 years, then individual taxation |
| Cross-border worker | Class 1, 1a, or 2 if taxed with their spouse | Individual taxation; joint taxation if married before 2028 and meeting, every year, the conditions to be treated as a resident |
Around the tax scale, the text proposed by the committee provides for:
- A new early childhood allowance (an allowance is an amount deducted from income before tax is calculated): 5 400 € per child under 3 at the start of the year, reserved for individual taxation, split half and half between the two parents; in full for a single parent, or for one of the two if the other has less than 15 000 € of gross income (both cases on request).
- 4 500 € allowance for couples where both partners work (non-professional allowance): only with joint taxation.
- Ceiling on special expenses (what you can deduct for your insurance premiums and the interest on your consumer loans) raised from 672 € to 900 €.
Your current class: tax class in Luxembourg, 1, 1a or 2.
Should I switch to individual taxation?
The question would only arise if you are married or in a civil partnership before 1 January 2028 (or widowed or divorced during your 5 years of joint taxation). For everyone else, individual taxation would apply automatically.
The rule drawn from the committee's report: the closer your incomes, the more individual taxation would pay off. According to the bill's summary, it would do so for a large share of couples whose smaller income is at least 25 % of the couple's income, rather 30 % once the 4 500 € allowance is lost (trigger calculation). With a single income or a very large gap, joint taxation would in principle remain more favourable: changing nothing means keeping your current tax.
Official example, for a couple with 100 000 € of adjusted taxable income (income after deductions and allowances), i.e. 15 709 € of tax today (employment fund contribution included, tax credits excluded):
| Income split | Individual taxation | Effect per year |
|---|---|---|
| 50 % / 50 % | 10 508 € | -5 201 € |
| 75 % / 25 % | 15 687 € | -22 €, almost neutral |
| 100 % / 0 % | 26 119 € | +10 410 € |
These official amounts do not include the 4 500 € allowance for couples where both partners work, which you would lose by switching to individual taxation: with it, the 75 % / 25 % case would become unfavourable by about 1 400 € a year, and the gain in the 50 % / 50 % case would drop to about 3 300 € (trigger calculation). This switch would be one-way: parental leave, part-time work or retirement that lowers one of the two incomes could make it unfavourable later.
The simulator at the top of the page runs the comparison on your income, without the 4 500 € allowance: if you both work, the real gain would be smaller than the one shown (for 50 000 € each, 5 201 € shown, about 3 300 € with the allowance, trigger calculation). Mixed incomes, children, a mortgage, a one-way choice: leave your number just below to have your situation checked before you choose.
An advisor from the agency will call you back.The pitfalls
- The choice would be one-way: no going back to joint taxation, neither for the year of the request nor for the following years.
- The 30 November 2027 deadline: the joint request would have to arrive by that day at the latest for individual taxation to appear from 2028 on your withholding tax card (the document that sets the tax deducted from your salary each month); if made in December 2027, you would be taxed individually from 2028, but your card would only show it in 2029.
- Civil partners before 2028: a request every year; a single year without a joint request for joint taxation, and you would switch permanently to individual taxation.
- Civil partners before 2028 who marry afterwards: you would be treated as a couple married before 2028, if your partnership lasted until the marriage.
- Cross-border workers married before 2028: you would have to meet, every year, the conditions to be treated as a resident (at least 90 % of your taxable income in Luxembourg, or less than 13 000 € of net income not taxable in Luxembourg) and make the request by 31 December of the following year at the latest; one missed year would switch you to individual taxation for good, except for a one-off tolerance for non-professional foreign income.
- Only one spouse resident: a couple married before 2028 would keep joint taxation on request, if the resident spouse earns in Luxembourg at least 90 % of the household's professional income; the request would have to be made again every year, and a year without a request or below that 90 % would switch you permanently to individual taxation.
- Arrival in Luxembourg after 1 January 2028: a couple married before 2028 would be taxed individually, unless they were already taxed jointly in Luxembourg as non-residents since 2028.
- Widowed and divorced: the 5 years of joint taxation would only apply if you were taxed jointly the year before without having switched to individual taxation; no extension if your 3 years end at the end of 2026, and remarrying would switch you to individual taxation.
Where the text stands
Filed on 6 January 2026, the bill received the opinion of the Council of State, which lifted all its blocking objections on 30 June 2026. The Finance Committee adopted its report on 29 September 2026. The deputies passed the text on 28 October 2026 in plenary session, with 37 votes for, 11 against and 12 abstentions. A waiver of the second vote has been requested from the Council of State; the law will then be published. Planned to apply from the 2028 tax year.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. The deputies passed bill 8676 on 28 October 2026, with 37 votes for, 11 against and 12 abstentions. A waiver of the second vote has been requested from the Council of State; the law will then be published, to apply from the 2028 tax year.
Not automatically. If you are married before 1 January 2028, the bill provides that you keep joint taxation, on a tax scale that uses the class 2 one, until the end of the 2052 tax year, unless you both choose to switch to individual taxation. Cross-border workers, couples where only one spouse lives in Luxembourg, or couples who arrived after 1 January 2028: extra conditions apply (see the pitfalls).
No. The text provides that this switch, requested together by both spouses, is final, for the year concerned and the following years.
The bill provides for individual taxation: each person taxed on their own income, with no option for joint taxation. Exception: if you were already in a civil partnership before 2028 and your partnership lasted until the marriage, you would be treated as a couple married before 2028.
Yes, according to the bill, if you are married before 2028, you meet, every year, the conditions to be treated as residents (at least 90 % of your taxable income in Luxembourg, or less than 13 000 € of net income not taxable in Luxembourg) and you make the request by 31 December of the following year at the latest. A year outside these conditions would switch you permanently to individual taxation, except for a one-off tolerance for non-professional foreign income.