Part-time activities in the private sector, for trade unions or political parties are not exempt from tax, as there is no "eligible client".
Voluntary helpers in COVID vaccination centres can benefit from the so-called trainer's or volunteer allowance, whereby remuneration for certain activities is tax-free up to a fixed amount. The tax authorities determined this as early as February 2021. It should now be noted that the relief also applies if the vaccination centre is operated by a private service provider or if the helpers in the central vaccination centres and district vaccination centres are employed by a private personnel service provider (source: Ministry of Finance Baden-Württemberg, press release dated 20.08.2021).
According to tax regulations, it is actually necessary for the trainer's and volunteer allowance that the volunteers are employed by a non-profit or public employer - the state or a municipality - for the allowances to apply. However, the structure of the vaccination centres set up at short notice is very different; not all vaccination centres are, for example, directly operated by a municipality, the state or a non-profit organisation.
Following agreement between the federal and state governments, the trainer's allowance applies to all those directly involved in the vaccination process - i.e. in information sessions or the vaccinations themselves. This regulation applies to income in 2020 and 2021. The trainer's allowance was 2.400 Euro in 2020 and was increased to 3.000 Euro annually in 2021. Income from voluntary work is tax-free up to this amount.
Those involved in the administration and organisation of vaccination centres can claim the volunteer allowance. For 2020, it was up to 720 Euro, and since 2021, up to 840 Euro is tax-free.
Both the trainer's and volunteer allowance only apply to remuneration from part-time activities. This is usually the case if they do not take up more than one-third of the working hours of a comparable full-time position in a year. Part-time work is also possible for helpers who do not have a main occupation, such as students or pensioners. The trainer's allowance and the volunteer allowance are annual amounts granted once per calendar year. For various eligible activities, the income is added together.
