Who receives the allowance for voluntary service?

The so-called voluntary service allowance under § 3 No. 26a EStG of a total of 840 Euro per year is subject to the following conditions:

• The activity must be carried out in the service or on behalf of a legal entity under public law, based in the European Union or the European Economic Area (e.g. federal government, states, municipalities, certain religious communities) or a tax-privileged institution and must be in the charitable, benevolent or ecclesiastical sector.
• The voluntary activity must be part-time. This means that the actual time spent must not exceed one third of the working hours of a comparable full-time job. With a regular weekly working time of up to 14 hours, it can therefore be assumed to be part-time. People who do not have a main occupation, such as housewives and househusbands, students, pensioners or unemployed persons, can also work part-time.

A significant difference from the tax exemption under § 3 No. 26 EStG ("trainer allowance") is that the voluntary service allowance does not limit certain activities. It can be claimed for any type of activity for charitable associations, church or public institutions.

The tax exemption also applies, for example, if you receive income for an activity

• as a treasurer in a club,
• for the parent car service to away games for children, or
• for work as a board member,
• as cleaning staff,
• as a groundskeeper, or
• as a voluntary referee in amateur sports

receive.

A club or corporation must observe the following: Payments to members must not be unreasonably high; that is, they must not be higher than payments to non-members. If the board receives remuneration beyond mere reimbursement of expenses, the articles of association must explicitly permit payment.

 

As early as 2020 to 2022, voluntary helpers in vaccination and test centres could use the so-called trainer or voluntary service allowance.

The Thuringian Ministry of Finance confirms that these reliefs will also apply in 2023. The regulation is nationwide (Thuringian Ministry of Finance of 9.2.2023, 1040-21-S 1901/67-18465/2023).

For those directly involved in vaccinations or tests, the trainer allowance (§ 3 No. 26 EStG) applies. From 2021, it amounts to 3.000 Euro per year. This also includes preparatory and follow-up activities. Those involved in the administration and organisation of vaccination or test centres can claim the voluntary service allowance.

From 2021, it amounts to 840 Euro (§ 3 No. 26a EStG). To use the allowances, the client or employer must be charitable or a public employer. The allowances only apply to part-time activities where the working hours do not exceed certain limits.

The trainer and voluntary service allowances are annual amounts that cannot be divided. If different activities fall within the scope of § 3 No. 26 or 26a EStG, the maximum amount can only be granted once.