Anlage VM – declaring assets, and the allowances

The Anlage VM is a self-declaration of assets, and the form sets its scope in the first line: it reports the assets of the whole Bedarfsgemeinschaft, not the applicant alone.

One sentence in it is easy to miss: assets inside Germany and abroad are both to be declared. Land or an account in another country is not outside the question.

The current version runs to six pages, sections A to E.

The allowances – the 2026 figures

Having assets does not by itself mean a refusal. Each member of the Bedarfsgemeinschaft has an individual allowance that follows their age. The figures as the Bundesagentur für Arbeit publishes them on its own page, read on 23.09.2026:

• up to the completed 30th year of life: 5,000 euro
• from the 31st year: 10,000 euro
• from the 41st year: 12,500 euro
• from the 51st year: 20,000 euro

The allowance is per person, so a household of four has four of them.

And note a second condition in the law: what counts is realisable assets — what can actually be turned into living costs.

What to have ready

• statements for every account of every member of the Bedarfsgemeinschaft, not only your own
• any life insurance contracts
• the deeds and a valuation if there is property
• the vehicle papers: make, model, year of manufacture, mileage

And, as with every Jobcenter annex, copies rather than originals.

B – property

Whether anyone in the Bedarfsgemeinschaft owns a house or flat they live in; property they do not live in; undeveloped land. For each: the share of ownership as a percentage, and the Verkehrswert in euro.

C – vehicles

A table: owner, make and model, year of manufacture, mileage, and value in euro. The question covers a motorcycle and a camper van as much as a car.

D – gifts and transfers over ten years

This one surprises people. Has anyone in the Bedarfsgemeinschaft given away, donated or transferred anything from their assets in the last ten years — money, jewellery? The form wants the person, the kind of transfer and the value.

The purpose is plain enough: money is not to be moved out of sight a few months before an application. Ten years is a long reach, and the truth stated now is better than the same fact surfacing later.

E – accounts, cash and everything else

It opens with cash in the house, then accounts, savings and securities. The official page lists what counts: cash, savings, savings bonds, securities, ETFs, objects such as vehicles or jewellery, capital life insurance, houses, land and owner-occupied flats.

Mistakes that keep happening

• Declaring only what is held in Germany. The form asks for both.
• Declaring only the applicant instead of the whole Bedarfsgemeinschaft.
• Skipping the gifts question as ancient history. The window is ten years.
• Hiding a small account for fear of refusal, when the allowance may well cover it.
• Forgetting a capital life insurance. It is an asset, not only a protection contract.

Watch the video

The video is on the OK+ channel on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXF6s16SoCo

Related

• The main application, HA
• The income annex, Anlage EK
• The housing and heating annex, Anlage KDU
• The continuation application, WBA