If you regularly use a longer but obviously more convenient route, the tax office is usually also agreeable. A route is more convenient if you reach your workplace faster and more punctually than via the shortest route.
If you use several means of transport for your commute (bicycle plus public transport), the shortest road connection is always used to calculate the allowance. Additional kilometres driven are not taken into account in this case. Furthermore, only full kilometres are taken into account, unfortunately not partial kilometres.
Even if you have to make several trips to your workplace per day for work reasons, you can only claim the commuting allowance once per day. Trips for lunch are also not deductible, as these trips fall within the realm of private life.
Mr X's workplace is 25 kilometres from his home via the shortest route. However, if he uses the motorway for his commute, he drives 17 kilometres more but saves 45 minutes of travel time.
Commuting allowance for 25-km route: 230 working days x 20 kilometres x 0.30 Euro = 1.380 Euro, plus 230 days x 5 kilometres x 0.35 Euro = 402.50 Euro; total = 1.782.50 Euro.
Commuting allowance for 42-km route: 230 working days x 20 kilometres x 0.30 Euro = 1.380 Euro; plus 230 days x 22 kilometres x 0.35 Euro = 1.771 Euro; total = 3.151 Euro.
In this case, you must explain the circumstances of the "detour" to the tax office and explicitly point out the time saving.
(2021): Which route is relevant for the distance in kilometres?
What is the non-assessment limit?
Many tax officials may deny their existence. And taxpayers cannot rely on benefiting from them, as there is no legal entitlement to the non-consideration limits.
Non-consideration limits are amounts – usually small – in the tax return that tax officials generally do not scrutinise closely and accept without proof.
Here are some examples:
- Working days for travel allowance: For a 5-day week, you can state 230 working days per year and for a 6-day week, 280 days.
- Work-related items: You can usually claim costs up to 110 Euro for the purchase and maintenance of work-related items (purchase and cleaning of work clothing) in your tax return without receipts.
Note
Journeys to work, specifically to the primary workplace, are deductible with the commuter allowance. In principle, every employee is required to state the exact number of days they actually travelled to work in their tax return (Form N), as the allowance is only granted for these days. To check whether the number of declared working days is plausible, holiday and sick days must also be declared. Since 2020, business travel days and home working days have also been queried in Form N.
However, it can be very tedious to determine the exact number of working days. Who keeps a daily tally? And then there are employees who also visit the workplace at weekends, sometimes unexpectedly. Therefore, the tax offices established so-called non-consideration limits decades ago. They generally accepted 220 to 230 journeys for a five-day week and 260 to 280 journeys for a six-day week between home and workplace. It should be noted that these are internal limits of the tax offices, and there is no legal entitlement to their application, even though the Munich Tax Court ruled a few years ago that the tax offices should accept 230 days (FG Munich, 12.12.2008, 13 K 4371/07).
So far, so good. But COVID-19 has changed everything. Countless employees were and still are working from home and do not travel to the office or workplace daily. For these days, they can claim a flat rate of 5 Euro per day as work-related expenses (applies to tax returns for 2020 and 2021) or even the costs for a home office. However, due to the lack of journeys, they may not claim travel expenses.
And this is precisely where the tax offices are increasingly intervening, requiring an employer's certificate of the actual working days and, above all, the days on which the primary workplace was visited. The rule that 220 or 230 journeys per year are accepted no longer applies without exception for the years 2020 and 2021!
(2021): What is the non-assessment limit?
How is the primary place of work defined?
The primary place of work is the fixed business location of the employer, an affiliated company, or a third party designated by the employer to which you are permanently assigned.
The permanent assignment is determined by the service or employment regulations and the agreements or instructions from the employer that supplement them. A permanent assignment is particularly assumed if you are to work indefinitely, for the duration of the employment relationship, or for a period of 48 months.
If there is no permanent assignment or if it is not clear, the primary place of work is the business location where you are typically to work on a daily basis or two full working days per week or at least one third of your agreed regular working hours on a permanent basis. There can be at most one primary place of work per employment relationship.
(2021): How is the primary place of work defined?
What can be deducted for employees without a primary place of work?
Some employees do not have a "primary place of work" and must report to a fixed meeting point (collection point) as instructed by their employer. From there, they begin their work or travel to the work location.
Such meeting points might be a car park or the vehicle depot for professional drivers, coach drivers, bus drivers, tram drivers, taxi drivers, train drivers, train attendants, etc., who always take over their vehicle at the same location.
What is tax-deductible?
- Journeys between home and the "collection point" can only be deducted using the commuter allowance.
- Despite the commuter allowance, you can still deduct meal allowances as business expenses. Since there is no primary place of work, you are working away from home. No primary place of work is assumed here; only the application of the commuter allowance is required. There is no three-month limit, as each journey counts as a new business trip.
As of 01.01.2020, a new travel allowance for professional drivers was introduced: You can claim an overnight allowance of 8 Euro per calendar day as business expenses - in addition to the "normal" meal allowance. This applies to the day of arrival or departure and each calendar day with an absence of 24 hours during a business trip in Germany or abroad (§ 9 Abs. 1 Satz 3 Nr. 5b EStG, introduced by the "Act on Further Tax Promotion of Electric Mobility and Amendment of Other Tax Regulations").
Lohnsteuer kompakt
Currently, the Federal Fiscal Court has ruled that the operational area of a works railway driver constitutes a primary place of work and not an extensive work area (BFH ruling of 01.10.2020, VI R 36/18).
Paramedics and postal workers also do not work in an extensive work area for tax purposes but have a primary place of work (BFH ruling of 30.09.2020, VI R 11/19; BFH rulings of 30.09.2020, VI R 10/19 and VI R 12/19).
(2021): What can be deducted for employees without a primary place of work?
When should I provide evidence of travel by public transport?
When using public transport, such as buses, trains, or trams, you can also claim the travel allowance of 30 cents per kilometre. This is generally beneficial, as the costs are usually lower. However, if the actual costs for public transport over the calendar year are higher than the travel allowance, you can claim these. The total deductible amount is limited to 4,500 Euro.
Beispiel
Mr X travels by train to his workplace on 230 days per year, which is 70 kilometres from his home. Mr X could claim the following costs as work-related expenses using the travel allowance:
- 230 days x 20 km x 0.30 Euro = 2,070 Euro plus
- 230 days x 50 km x 0.35 Euro = 4,025 Euro
- Total = 6,095 Euro.
Without proof and further explanations, only the maximum rate of 4,500 Euro would be recognised. However, with tickets and additional proof, Mr X can verify the actual costs and receive a higher deduction for work-related expenses.
At the same time, you can use the tickets as proof of regular use of public transport if it does not take the shortest route to your workplace but is more convenient and faster. If you use a more convenient but longer route, it must be used regularly. You can prove this with tickets.
(2021): When should I provide evidence of travel by public transport?
What is a collective point?
If there is no primary place of work and the employer requires the employee to be present permanently - typically on a daily basis - at a specified location (e.g. the bus depot, the employer's premises, a car park) to start work or visit work sites from there, the employee's journeys from home to this meeting point are treated as journeys to a primary place of work, i.e. only considered with the travel allowance.
Tip
The Federal Fiscal Court has recently made an interesting decision on the subject of "journeys to the meeting point". According to this, if the meeting point is not typically visited on a daily basis, the journeys there can be deducted at business travel rates and not just with the travel allowance (BFH ruling of 19.4.2021, VI R 6/19).
Even if the journeys can only be deducted with the travel allowance, meal allowances and accommodation costs can still be deducted as business expenses or reimbursed tax-free. This is because you are still working away from a primary place of work.
No primary place of work is assumed here; only the application of the travel allowance is prescribed and tax-free employer reimbursement is excluded (BMF letter of 24.10.2014, BStBl. 2014 I p. 1412, para. 39).
(2021): What is a collective point?
What is an extensive work area?
A large-scale work area exists when the contractually agreed work is to be performed over a defined area and not within a fixed business location of the employer, an affiliated company, or at a third party specified by the employer.
If the employee (e.g. a forestry worker) is typically required to perform their work on a daily basis in a large-scale work area, the employee's journeys from home to the nearest access point of the large-scale work area are treated as journeys to a primary workplace, i.e. considered with the distance allowance. If the large-scale work area is always accessed from different entry points, the distance allowance for these journeys is only applicable for the shortest distance from home to the nearest access point.
Expenses for travel within the large-scale work area and for additional kilometres when travelling from home to a more distant access point should be entered in the "Travel expenses" section. Instead of the actual expenses incurred, the following flat rates per kilometre driven can be claimed:
- 30 cents for cars,
- 20 cents for other motor vehicles (e.g. motorbikes, scooters).
Lohnsteuer kompakt
Currently, the Federal Fiscal Court has ruled that the work area of a works railway driver constitutes a primary workplace and not a large-scale work area (BFH ruling of 01.10.2020, VI R 36/18).
Paramedics and postal workers also do not work in a large-scale work area in the tax sense, but have a primary workplace (BFH ruling of 30.09.2020, VI R 11/19; BFH rulings of 30.09.2020, VI R 10/19 and VI R 12/19).
(2021): What is an extensive work area?
What can be deducted for an extensive work area?
If you work in an extensive work area (e.g. factory, trade fair, barracks, airport, shipyard premises), the question arises whether the entire area is considered your "first place of work" or whether you work at several locations and therefore have an off-site activity.
Since 2014, an extensive work area exists if the contractually agreed work is performed over a specified area and not within a fixed business facility of the employer.
What is tax deductible?
- The nearest deployment site within the extensive work area is considered the "first place of work". Journeys there can be deducted using the distance allowance (30 cents per kilometre of distance).
- All other journeys within the extensive work area can be deducted using the business travel allowance (30 cents per kilometre of distance) or the actual costs, or they can be reimbursed tax-free.
- If you are away for more than 8 hours, meal allowances can also be deducted or reimbursed tax-free - without any time limit. The three-month rule does not apply here!
- If the journeys are made with a company car, a surcharge value must be taxed as wages for journeys to the nearest deployment site (monthly 0.03% of the list price per kilometre of distance). For the other journeys, no taxation of the usage value is required, but no deduction of income-related expenses is possible either.
Lohnsteuer kompakt
Current decision by the Federal Fiscal Court: the work area of a factory train driver constitutes a first place of work and not an extensive work area (BFH ruling of 01.10.2020, VI R 36/18).
Paramedics and postal workers also do not work in an extensive work area for tax purposes, but have a first place of work (BFH ruling of 30.09.2020, VI R 11/19; BFH rulings of 30.09.2020, VI R 10/19 and VI R 12/19).
(2021): What can be deducted for an extensive work area?
What is "collective transport"?
If you were transported free of charge or at a reduced rate by your employer to the first place of work / meeting point / extensive work area (collective transport), you cannot claim a travel allowance for the distance of the collective transport.
However, if you paid a fee to your employer for the collective transport, please enter the expenses under "Other income-related expenses".
(2021): What is "collective transport"?
Can I claim expenses for "collective transport"?
Collective transport is applicable if your employer provides you with a vehicle for commuting between your home and workplace or if, for example, you travel by bus. Whether you can claim travel expenses depends on whether you actually incurred any costs or if the journeys were free of charge for you. If you did not make any contributions, you are not entitled to a travel allowance.
If you had to bear a share of the costs for the collective transport yourself, you can claim this amount with proof. The travel allowance is not applicable in this case.
(2021): Can I claim expenses for "collective transport"?
Can ferry costs be claimed for tax purposes?
For employees who use a ferry connection to travel to work, the ferry route must not be included in the distance. Therefore, the distance allowance cannot be claimed for this route. However, the ferry costs can be fully deducted as additional work-related expenses. Enter these expenses in Form N under "other work-related expenses".
(2021): Can ferry costs be claimed for tax purposes?
How can ferry costs be claimed for tax purposes?
For employees who use a ferry connection to travel to work, the ferry route must not be included in the distance. Therefore, the commuting allowance cannot be claimed for this part of the journey. However, the ferry costs can be fully deducted as business expenses. Enter these expenses in Form N under "other business expenses".
Example
You have a route of 16 kilometres, but cover a partial distance of 1 kilometre by ferry. Then enter 15 kilometres for the calculation of the commuting allowance and enter the total ferry costs incurred for the tax year under ferry expenses.
(2021): How can ferry costs be claimed for tax purposes?
How can flight costs be claimed for tax purposes?
If you commute by plane, you must calculate the travel expenses as follows:
- For the travel allowance, claim the distance between your home and the departure airport plus the distance between the destination airport and your workplace.
- You can also declare the expenses for your flight tickets in your tax return.
Example
You live in Bonn and work in Berlin. It is 9 kilometres from your home to Bonn Airport and 6 kilometres from Berlin Airport to your employer. You can therefore claim 15 kilometres for 230 days as part of the travel allowance.
Additionally, you pay 66 Euro per day for your flight ticket.
In total, you incur 1.035 Euro for 230 days as part of the travel allowance plus 15.180 Euro for the flight tickets.
(2021): How can flight costs be claimed for tax purposes?
Are motorway tolls also deductible?
Journeys between home and workplace are tax-deductible with the commuting allowance. In 2014, the former term "regular workplace" was replaced by "primary workplace". The commuting allowance is available to you regardless of the means of transport used. The commuting allowance covers all expenses incurred for travel between home and primary workplace.
Toll fees for using a motorway or tunnel are also covered by the commuting allowance and cannot be deducted additionally. For the calculation of the commuting allowance, the shortest road connection must be used, even if it is subject to tolls (BFH ruling of 24.9.2013, VI R 20/13).
Example
The shortest road connection is 9 km and goes through a toll tunnel. An employee wants to save the toll and therefore takes a federal road with a distance of 27 km.
Unfortunately, this employee may only claim a commuting allowance for 9 km as income-related expenses.
(2021): Are motorway tolls also deductible?
