(2022) Which tax-free expense allowances do I need to declare?

If you have received tax-free expense allowances, please enter them here. This includes allowances received from public funds, a federal or state fund.

Employees often receive a tax-free expense allowance from a part-time job. This could be a role as an instructor, educator, trainer in the sports sector or as an artist such as a choir director or musician, and also as a carer for sick, elderly or disabled people. It must be an educational or caregiving role.

Payments for such a privileged part-time role are tax and social security-free up to 3,000 Euro (until 2020: 2,400 Euro). The condition for the tax benefit is that the role is part-time, carried out for a charitable organisation or a legal entity under public law, and serves charitable, benevolent or religious purposes.

The allowance of 3,000 Euro is granted per person only once, even if you have several eligible roles. It is therefore personal and not job-related. The allowance is an annual amount. Therefore, payments up to the maximum amount remain tax-free even if you do not carry out the eligible role for the entire year.

As a supporter of such an organisation, you can receive part or all of your expense allowance tax-free. Any amounts exceeding the allowance of 3,000 Euro must be taxed. If your expense allowance is less than 3,000 Euro, you can only claim the lower amount.

Ms Meier teaches at a music school and receives 2,800 Euro annually for this. She also supervises a gymnastics group at the primary school and receives another 400 Euro per year for this. Both roles are tax-privileged under § 3 No. 26 EStG, but only up to a total of 3,000 Euro. Ms Meier must tax the remaining 200 Euro.