Which route is relevant for the distance in kilometres?

For the travel allowance, the shortest usable road route between your home and your primary place of work is decisive. The primary place of work is the fixed workplace permanently assigned to the employee by the employer. This means that the employee works there regularly and permanently.

A longer route can be recognised if it is obviously more convenient in terms of traffic – that is, if you can reach your workplace faster and more punctually.

Criteria for more convenient routes:

• The time saving should be at least 10% of the time required for the shortest route (BFH ruling of 16.11.2011).
• A route can also be more convenient without significant time savings, e.g. due to better roads, fewer traffic lights or less traffic.
• Health reasons, such as fear of heights on high bridges, can also justify choosing a longer route. However, the resulting costs cannot be deducted as extraordinary expenses.

Examples:

• Short route (25 km): 230 days x 20 km x 0.30 Euro + 230 days x 5 km x 0.38 Euro = 1.817 Euro.
• Longer route (42 km): 230 days x 20 km x 0.30 Euro + 230 days x 22 km x 0.38 Euro = 3.202,80 Euro.

The tax office must be convinced of the regular time saving in this case.

Important notes:

• Multiple modes of transport: Even if you combine different modes of transport (e.g. bicycle and public transport), the shortest road route applies.
• Multiple journeys: The allowance can only be used once per day, even for multiple journeys to the workplace.
• Long-distance commuters: From the 21st kilometre, the allowance was increased until 2026:
  • Since 2021: 35 cents
  • Since 2022: 38 cents

Current ruling:

The Lower Saxony Finance Court confirmed in April 2024 that the longer route must be regularly more convenient in terms of traffic. It is not sufficient if it is only faster in the event of extreme traffic jams (ruling of 3.4.2024, 9 K 117/21).