If your pension was granted retrospectively, you will also receive the first pension payments with a delay. If this exceeds a calendar year, you may ask yourself in which tax return you should declare this pension income.
When declaring income, the tax authorities follow the so-called inflow principle, which also applies in this case. It means that income is always declared in the year in which it was actually received. Income is considered to have been received when it is available for disposal.
You therefore declare your pension income in the tax return for the year in which you actually received it. This also applies to pensions that were granted retroactively. It is irrelevant for which years they were granted retroactively.
💡 Example
In 2022, Jane Doe was retroactively granted a pension from 2021. Michelle therefore only received the pension payments for 2021 in 2022. She accordingly declares this pension income in the tax return for 2022, as it was transferred to her bank account in that year.