(2025) Can I claim union fees for tax purposes?

A trade union is a professional association. The monthly fee can be deducted, as for all other professional associations.

Membership fees to professional associations are therefore tax-deductible as income-related expenses for income from employment. In Lohnsteuer kompakt, you can enter the contributions under "Employees > Expenses > Professional association".

Tip: Ask your professional association for proof of your contributions. Then you only need to transfer the total of your contributions for a year from the certificate to your tax return.

The most important trade unions in Germany:

• IG Metall (IGM)
• Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft (ver.di)
• IG Bergbau, Chemie, Energie (IG BCE)
• IG Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt (IG BAU)
• Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten (NGG)
• Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft (EVG)
• Gewerkschaft Erziehung und Wissenschaft (GEW)
• Gewerkschaft der Polizei (GdP)
• Deutscher Beamtenbund (DBB)
• Christlicher Gewerkschaftsbund (CGB)
• Marburger Bund (MB)
• Vereinigung Cockpit (VC)
• Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (UFO)
• Verband angestellter Akademiker und leitender Angestellter der chemischen Industrie, VAA

A complete list of all trade unions can be found, for example, on Wikipedia.