Income-related expenses are all the costs directly related to your work. Although expenses, these are necessary for you to carry out your work.
Quick navigation:
If you pay contributions to a professional association, you can deduct these as Werbungskosten from tax. Professional associations include:
If you are involved in educational and training programs that benefit your professional career and maintain your income, they are counted as Werbungskosten. In many professions, you need to update your knowledge base constantly. You can therefore deduct the costs for the advanced training as income-related expenses from the tax.
01.
What are "Werbungskosten"? A definition of income-related expenses
According to Section 9, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 of the Income Tax Act, income-related expenses (Werbungskosten) are ‘expenses for acquiring, securing, and maintaining income’. For instance, you may need a car to drive to work, need your own toolkit on the job, invest in advanced training, or even move to a new city for work. These are expenses that allow you to secure, maintain, and earn your income as an employee. In simple terms, these are your income-related expenses.
The tax office is aware that income-related expenses are necessary for every job. For this reason, it provides each employee with an annual ‘Arbeitnehmerpauschbetrag’ or fixed allowance for employees. A sum of 1,230 Euros are automatically declared as non-taxable income for an employed person. This sum increases to for jointly assessed married couples and registered partners.
To have considerable savings when filing your tax return, you need to claim income-related expenses that exceed the fixed allowance for employees. Lucky for you, there’s plenty to deduct!
Prepare your own tax return
For anyone who wants to file an easy and secure tax return themselves. Free refund calculation, pay only upon submission.
Receive an advance calculation of your refund and pay only when you turn it in
Guided and intuitive process with simple questions
Automatic data retrieval: simply retrieve your income data from the tax office and have it pre-filled
The general deadline applies (September 02)
€59.99 for married couples or registered partnerships looking to file a tax return together
Our Expert Service does it for you
For those who are unsure or can't find the time – hand your taxes to an expert.
Provide a few necessary documents in minutes
An independent tax advisor will prepare and submit your tax return for you
Personalised document upload: Only submit documents that are completely necessary
Detailed check of your information
Benefit from an extended tax deadline (April 30, 2026)
02.
Travel Expenses (Fahrtkosten)
03.
Work Equipment Costs
Any object that you use for work is considered a tool or ‘Arbeitsmittel’. You can deduct these as Werbungskosten from your tax return. Here’s what counts as Arbeitsmittel:
If a piece of work equipment exceeds the amount of 952 Euros (including sales tax), the cost for this item is written off over the specified duration of its use. There are some exceptions, though! One is deducting a computer: Find information around this in our German and updated article on how to deduct a computer.
04.
Moving Costs (Umzugskosten)
If you move for work, you can deduct the costs of your move as Werbungskosten from tax. The condition is that you should have saved at least one hour of daily commuting time because of your move.
The moving costs include:
05.
Travel Expenses on a Business Trip
If you are on a business trip, you can claim your costs for travel, meals, and accommodation as Werbungskosten. Typical business trips include visits to customers or trade fairs.
Get it early! Submit now so the tax office takes care of your tax return early. Simply upload your income tax certificate and answer the simple questions.
Start now for freeTaxes without forms: Answer our easy-to-understand question-answer process, or have your tax done by an independent tax advisor.
The choice is yours: complete the simple question and answer process, or use Expert Service and have your taxes done for you by an independent tax advisor. Either way, you can avoid complicated tax jargon.
Learn moreTaxfix makes your tax return completely digital. Simply photograph or upload your documents. Taxfix then automatically transfers all important information - accurately and stress-free!
Learn moreWe tell you how much you get from the tax office. Not only do we automatically deduct flat rates that you can use to save taxes, we also show you transparently what information you submit.
Learn moreYour data is always transmitted in encrypted form to the Taxfix servers and via ELSTER to the tax office. We use secure encryption technologies that are also used by banks.
Learn more06.
Second Home Costs
If you have a second home at your place of work for professional reasons, you can deduct the expenses for double-housekeeping (doppelte Haushaltsführung) as Werbungskosten. Concrete costs include:
07.
Application Costs (Bewerbungskosten)
If you change your job or are looking for a job, you can deduct the expenses for applications (Bewerbungskosten) as Werbungskosten. These costs include:
However, flat rates are also considered as follows:
08.
Contributions to Professional Associations
If you pay contributions to a professional association, you can deduct these as Werbungskosten from tax. Professional associations include:
09.
Training costs
If you are involved in educational and training programs that benefit your professional career and maintain your income, they are counted as Werbungskosten. In many professions, you need to update your knowledge base constantly. You can therefore deduct the costs for the advanced training as income-related expenses from the tax.
Our experts
Our team of tax experts has years of experience helping people like you with your taxes.