(2024) Tax relief for volunteers in vaccination and test centres

Voluntary helpers in vaccination and test centres were already able to benefit from tax relief in the years 2020 to 2022, and these regulations also apply for 2023.

The regulations are uniform across Germany and concern the trainer's allowance and volunteer allowance. Helpers directly involved in vaccinations or tests can use the trainer's allowance, while the volunteer allowance applies to those working in administration or organisation.

It is important to note that the tax relief only applies if the employer is a charitable organisation or a public employer, not for doctors' surgeries or private test centres.

The trainer's and volunteer allowances only apply to part-time activities, which usually take up less than one third of the working hours of a full-time position or have a weekly working time of a maximum of 14 hours. These allowances are annual amounts and cannot be prorated.

Doctors' surgeries are excluded from these regulations. If doctors pay employees a bonus for the additional work, the trainer's or volunteer allowance cannot be used for this.

The allowances of 3,000 Euro or 840 Euro can also be taken into account by the employer when calculating income tax. In this case, the employee must confirm in writing to the employer that the respective allowance has not already been "used up" elsewhere.