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 part-time work. This could be 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 activity.

Payments for such eligible part-time work are tax and social security-free up to 3.000 Euro. The condition for the tax benefit is that the activity is carried out part-time, 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 only once per person, even if you have several eligible activities. It is therefore personal and not activity-based. 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 activity for the entire year.

As a supporter of such an organisation, you can receive part or all of your expense allowance tax-free. However, 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 activities 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.