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Germany – United States · Source editionArticle 18A Pension Plans

Unreviewed · applicability unverified

(1)

1. Where an individual who is a resident of a Contracting State is a member or beneficiary of, or participant in, a pension plan established in the other Contracting State, income earned by the pension plan may be taxed as income of that individual only when, and, to the extent that, it is paid to, or for the benefit of, that individual from the pension plan (and not transferred to another pension plan in that other Contracting State).

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(2)

2. Where an individual who is a beneficiary of, or participant in, a pension plan established in a Contracting State exercises an employment or self-employment in the other Contracting State: a) contributions paid by or on behalf of that individual to the pension plan during the period or attributable to the period that he exercises an employment or self-employment in the other State shall be deductible (or excludable) in computing his taxable income in that other State; and b) any benefits accrued under the pension plan, or contributions made to the pension plan by or on behalf of the individual’s employer, during that period shall not be treated as part of the employee’s taxable income; any such contributions shall be allowed as a deduction in computing the business profits of his employer in that other State. The relief available under this paragraph shall not exceed the relief that would be allowed by the other State to residents of that State for contributions to, or benefits accrued under, a pension plan or plans established in that State. The competent authorities of the Contracting States shall determine the relief available under this paragraph pursuant to the preceding sentence.

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(3)

3. The provisions of paragraph 2 shall not apply unless: a) contributions by or on behalf of the individual, or by or on behalf of the individual’s employer were made before the individual began to exercise an employment or self-employ- ment in the other State; and b) the pension plan is accepted by the competent authority of that State as generally corresponding to a pension plan recognized as such for tax purposes by that State.

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(4)

4. The term “pension plan” means an arrangement established in a Contracting State which is operated principally to administer or provide pension or retirement benefits or to earn income for the benefit of one or more such arrangements.

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(5)

5. a) Where a citizen of the United States who is a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany exercises an employment in the Federal Republic of Germany the income from which is taxable in the Federal Republic of Germany and is borne by an employer who is a resident of the Federal Republic of Germany or by a permanent establishment situated in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the individual is a beneficiary of, or participant in, a pension plan established in the Federal Republic of Germany, aa) contributions paid by or on behalf of that individual to the pension plan during the period or attributable to the period that he exercises the employment in the Federal Republic of Germany, and that are attributable to the employment, shall be deductible (or excludable) in computing his taxable income in the United States; and bb) any benefits accrued under the pension plan, or contributions made to the pension plan by or on behalf of the individual’s employer, during that period or attributable to that period, and that are attributable to the employment, shall not be treated as part of the employee’s taxable income in computing his taxable income in the United States. This paragraph shall apply only to the extent that the contributions or benefits qualify for tax relief in the Federal Republic of Germany. b) The relief available under this paragraph shall not exceed the relief that would be allowed by the United States to its residents for contributions to, or benefits accrued under, a generally corresponding pension plan established in the United States. c) For purposes of determining an individual’s eligibility to participate in and receive tax benefits with respect to a pension plan established in the United States, contributions made to, or benefits accrued under, a pension plan established in the Federal Republic of Germany shall be treated as contributions or benefits under a generally corresponding pension plan established in the United States to the extent relief is available to the individual under this paragraph. d) This paragraph shall not apply unless the competent authority of the United States has agreed that the pension plan generally corresponds to a pension plan established in the United States.

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Source, edition and limits
Source edition
BGBl. 2008 II S. 611 | Included protocol entered 2007-12-28 (original publication footnote, PDF31); publication 2008-06-23; correction851 unresolved | Signed: 1989-08-29 | Gazette publication: 2008-06-23
Source form
Original official-publication PDF with native text layer; unreviewed language-separated machine transcription of that exact publication
Source scope
Exact officially published consolidation, not a privately synthesized or certified current-law text
Retrieved
2026-09-30
Text and language scope
UNREVIEWED ORIGINAL 611-PUBLICATION ONLY. Correction BGBl.2008 II S.851 is identified but its wording/incorporation is unresolved. NOT a corrected final version or current law. Printed line breaks, hyphens and PDF word spacing retained. Article14 deletion marker and Article18A conserved. Separate preamble, protocol and publication footnotes: /review/de-united-states-2008-consolidated/. No consolidation closing or signatories invented. Page references are not verified paragraph alignment.
Review status
Pending qualified human review; no wording, completeness, legal alignment or indexing approval.
Currentness
Original source edition; not a verified current-law consolidation. No current-law determination, qualified human wording/completeness review, legal alignment, or indexing approval. No exhaustive later-development check. Page links identify source pages, not verified paragraph correspondence. Original 611 publication only; Correction851 unresolved. No corrected-final-version or full-language accuracy claim. Bounded agent triage, no qualified wording/alignment/legal review. No exhaustive verification of all later 2026 developments. Matching digest proves retained source identity, not legal force.
Protocols and later instruments
Includes protocol signed 2006-06-01, entry 2007-12-28 (publication footnote4, PDF31). Separate official correction BGBl.2008 II S.851 is linked in retained BMF metadata; its wording and incorporation remain unresolved. No correction applied. Source-triage warnings: Bounded agent triage, no qualified wording/alignment/legal review. No exhaustive verification of all later 2026 developments. Matching digest proves retained source identity, not legal force.
Text language and status
en · authentic-language-transcription · machine-transcription
Citation
BGBl. 2008 II S. 611
SHA-256
c712844fbd49d928461286efcca93ac57da6ead9def96d0efea940d3ad2333fd

Citation

Copyable citation

BGBl. 2008 II S. 611 | de-united-states-2008-consolidated | BGBl. 2008 II S. 611 | Included protocol entered 2007-12-28 (original publication footnote, PDF31); publication 2008-06-23; correction851 unresolved | Signed: 1989-08-29 | Gazette publication: 2008-06-23 | Article 18a | en | Pending qualified human review; no wording, completeness, legal alignment or indexing approval. | /library/treaties/de-united-states-2008-consolidated/en/articles/article-18a/

Disclaimers

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BGBl. 2008 II S. 611

Unreviewed machine transcription. Not a verified current-law consolidation or legal advice. Later changes may be missing.

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