What can be deducted for employees without a primary place of work?

Employees without a fixed primary place of work often need to meet at a collection point to start their work. Examples include truck drivers, coach drivers, bus drivers, tram drivers, taxi drivers, train drivers, and train attendants. These collection points can be car parks or depots.

What is tax-deductible?

• Journeys between home and collection point: These journeys can only be claimed using the commuter allowance.
• Meal allowance: Despite the commuter allowance, employees without a fixed place of work can deduct meal allowances as business expenses. Since no primary place of work is assumed, every journey is considered a business trip – without the three-month limit.
• Overnight allowance for truck drivers: Truck drivers can also claim an overnight allowance of 9 euros per calendar day (until 2023: 8 euros) if they stay overnight during a business trip. This applies to arrival and departure days as well as for 24-hour absences in Germany or abroad.

Court rulings on the primary place of work

• Train drivers and postal workers: According to the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), train drivers of a company railway and postal workers have a primary place of work and not a large-scale work area (BFH rulings of 1.10.2020, VI R 36/18 and 30.9.2020, VI R 10/19, VI R 11/19 and VI R 12/19).
• Refuse collectors: Refuse collectors who only use the depot for tour planning and vehicle collection do not have a primary place of work. They can claim meal allowances of 14 euros per day if they are absent for more than 8 hours (BFH ruling of 2.9.2021, VI R 25/19).