Tax return tips: 18 ingenious tricks to save

Author: Laura McKinney
Date Of Creation: 5 August 2021
Update Date: 1 May 2024
Anonim
Tax return tips: 18 ingenious tricks to save - careers
Tax return tips: 18 ingenious tricks to save - careers

Content

Year after year, you present your income and burdens to the tax office with your tax return. Because the German tax law is so complicated, many people postpone it and miss out on many advantages. You can save taxes completely legally! This is made possible by lump sums, such as advertising expenses. Due to Corona, many tips and tricks of the tax return are so special that you can hardly think of them. We'll show you how you can get even more money out of your tax return ...

Changes in the new year

This year there are some changes in the tax that will benefit the vast majority of taxpayers. For example, after 30 years the solidarity surcharge, “Soli”, does not apply. This applies at least to those who have a taxable income of up to 62,127 euros (married couples: 124,254 euros). For high earners there is a gradual increase up to 5.5 percent. The full solitarian surcharge is only paid if the annual income is over 96,822 euros (or married couples: 193,644 euros).


Deadlines for the tax return

Since 2019, employees can take their time until July 31 of each year to fill out the annexes to the tax return from the previous year - provided that you do the tax return yourself. The tax return for the previous year must be submitted to the responsible tax office by July 31 of the following year at the latest. Anyone who calls in a tax advisor has until February 28 of the following year. And an extension of the deadline is also relatively easy. Anyone who is not obliged to submit a tax return anyway can take four years. You do not have to submit your tax return for 2021 until 2025. The one for the last year 2024.

The tax office now prefers the electronic version Your tax return and provides its own program - Elster - for this purpose. In any case, paper forms are only allowed to be used by employees and pensioners. Anyone who does not make a tax return as an employed taxpayer - i.e. self-employed, freelancers and entrepreneurs - must transmit their data electronically.


Tax return tips: Use lump sums

One of the most important tax return tips is to use lump sums. The big advantage: As a rule, the tax office recognizes the respective information. The lump sums serve to make work easier on both sides and allow you to specify lump sums even if you did not have any expenses. You do not need receipts for these sums. However, if your expenses are higher than the actual lump sums, you will have to keep the receipts. In this way, you can provide evidence in the event of any questions.

The employee lump sum (income-related expenses lump sum) is 1,000 euros. But retirees can save too. The pensioner's lump sum is 102 euros.

1. Use the home office flat rate

Don't have your own office? Never mind. Due to the corona crisis, numerous employees suddenly had to work from home. The new home office flat rate applies to everyone who does not have a separate study and whose boss has arranged to work from home. For every working day you can claim a flat rate of 5 euros as business expenses or business expenses. A maximum of 120 days per year count for the tax return, you can claim up to 600 euros in the future, even for the past year.


2. Deduct moving costs

Another flat rate that you can state on your tax return are work-related moving costs. They also count towards income-related expenses in the tax return. A distinction is made, however, between general moving costs and other moving costs. The search for and inspection of the apartment, trips to the new apartment, moving company, brokerage fees and rent for the previous apartment are among the general relocation costs. Other moving costs include newspaper advertisements, telephone connections and various charges such as changing your car or changing your ID.

For general moving costs, you can see the actual costs drop. To do this, you have to collect and add up all the documents and then enter them in your tax return. You don't even need proof of any other moving costs, you can apply the flat rate moving costs. It is currently 820 euros for singles and 1,639 euros for married couples.

3. Enter additional meal expenses

Anyone who travels a lot for work eats on the go and has additional catering expenses. Depending on how long you are away from home, the following meal allowances apply:

  • 24 hour absence: 24 euros (2019) / 28 euros (2020)
  • 8 hours absence: 12 euros (2019) / 14 euros (2020)
  • Arrival and departure day: 12 euros (2019) / 14 euros (2020)

4. Make use of the flat-rate allowance for the disabled

The flat-rate allowance for the disabled enables people with disabilities to forego individual proofs for expenses that arise due to the disability. New from this year: The flat-rate amounts for the disabled have doubled. In addition, people with a degree of disability of 20 or more now save taxes. Previously, the tax exemption only applied from a degree of disability of 25. The lump sums in detail:

5. Save with the commuter allowance

For example, you can always state the flat-rate commuting allowance, regardless of whether you go to work on foot, by car, bus or bike: you can claim journeys between your home and work as income-related expenses. This year it increases from 0.30 euros to 0.35 per kilometer.

Let's say you commuted to work on 215 days in the past year and traveled 32 kilometers to work. For every kilometer you receive 30 cents, which equates to 9.60 euros per day. With 215 working days you come to a total of 2064 euros, which you can deduct from your taxable annual income. And you don't have to count your working days separately, you can use a flat rate of 230 working days per year for a five-day week and 280 days for a six-day week. The tax office does not usually require any evidence for this.

6. Benefit from application costs

Are you currently looking for a job? Then there are all kinds of costs that you can have reimbursed. For an application, the tax office will charge you the following amounts:

  • 2.50 euros per online application
  • 8.50 euros per postal application

The application costs, which fall under the advertising costs, count far more than the actual application folder. For example, you can deduct all costs that you incur when looking for a job: application materials, writing utensils, textbooks, computer software, travel expenses, newspapers / magazines with a job market (for example the weekend editions of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung or Süddeutsche Zeitung), computer, telephone, Internet (proportionally ) and much more.

7. Deduct the maintenance flat rate

So far, employees who care for relatives could only deduct the lump sum from tax from care level 4. What is new is that care level 2 is now also recognized. And that also applies if you get support from the outpatient care services. Previously, caregivers were entitled to a lump sum of 924 euros, which was also increased this year. For the new lump sums this means:

  • Care level 2: 600 euros
  • Care level 3: 1,100 euros
  • Care level 4, 5, helplessness: 1.800

8. Take into account the lump sum for special expenses

In many ways, married couples and parents benefit from tax returns. But you can also save taxes if you don't have any special expenses: the tax office automatically deducts a flat rate of 36 euros (married couples: 72 euros). Didn't you have higher expenses? You can also claim insurance contributions, childcare costs or donations and thus reduce your tax burden.

9. Save money with volunteering

Volunteering can also be worthwhile. From this year higher flat rates are possible. Instead of the previous 720 euros, 840 euros are now exempt from tax and social security contributions. Incidentally, unemployed people benefit from this regulation as well as students or housewives who do voluntary work.

Other ingenious tricks to save on taxes

1. Submit the tax return

We emphasize this because taxpayers keep forgetting to file their tax returns. And that costs additional money that you could save: For every month or part thereof you have to pay a surcharge of 0.25 percent of the tax back payment, but at least 25 euros per month. By the way, you also have to pay in the event of a tax refund. If you let the deadline pass, you will not only face fines: the tax office will then estimate the taxes. Such a tax estimate is usually significantly higher than your actual tax. In this case, you should file an objection and submit your tax return within one month.

2. Let the deadline be extended

If you notice that you can no longer submit your tax return on time, it is best to submit a written application for an extension of the deadline and justify it: It could be that you are still missing important documents or that you have been out of action for a long time due to an illness. A quick phone call to the responsible tax office is often enough.

3. Work with tax software

Tax software not only saves you money, but also time: once everything has been entered, you can, for example, use the federal tax administration software, Elster, to transfer the data from the previous year with one click. Anyone who does not find their way around the tax office software can fall back on (paid) alternatives. The Wiso tax savings book (one of the most expensive programs at 29.99 euros) is a regular test winner on the “Tax software test and comparison” page. Taxeasy 2020 is 15 euros cheaper and with very good ratings close to the test winner.

4. Enter the study

This is not only interesting for teachers or freelancers: Since Corona at the latest, numerous employees have been working from home. Electricity, heating, water, internet - you provide everything that the company usually does. You can enter up to 1,250 euros annually as income-related expenses or business expenses. Sometimes the tax offices find it difficult to recognize the office in the tax return. Especially when there is a TV or a sofa in the same room. If you want to avoid stress during possible control visits, you shouldn't try to cheat, but give the room a professional look.

Who can prove that he has a pool job shares with other colleagues, will probably be able to separate his office effortlessly. In practice this means: more employees than actual jobs. That works fine as long as some of the colleagues work in the field, for example. But if everyone needs a job at the same time, things get tight. Several rulings by the Federal Fiscal Court come to the conclusion that a home office is necessary (and therefore tax deductible) if the pool workstation is not available to the required extent (Ref .: VI ZR 37/13, IX R 19/14).

5. Change the income tax class

Getting married to save taxes doesn't sound very romantic. But if you were planning on doing it anyway, you shouldn't give away taxes. Especially since you may benefit from switching to a different income tax bracket. Both spouses can be assessed in tax class 4 if they earn roughly the same amount. However, it is often worth dividing into classes 3 and 5 if one spouse earns significantly more than the other. The savings are then highest with the spouse splitting. You must submit an application to the tax office by November 30th for the current year if you want to have your tax class changed.

6. Reduce medical expenses

Gone are the days when glasses were available by prescription. Much has been deleted from the health insurance companies' catalog of services. You can still get your money back here by entering the cost of medical treatment in your tax return. Medical expenses can usually be deducted from taxes as extraordinary burdens. However, it is crucial that they have been prescribed by the doctor beforehand and that you have proof of this. In addition, the reasonable personal burden, which is based on income and marital status, must have been exceeded. For example, can be adopted

  • Medical expenses / physiotherapy / alternative practitioner / psychotherapist
  • Prescription fees / vaccination costs
  • Glasses / hearing aids / wheelchairs / rollators
  • Massages / baths / healing cures
  • Pregnancy costs / birth preparation courses / pregnancy gymnastics

7. Have work clothes cleaned

Whether cook, dentist, bricklayer or police officer: work clothing is worn in many industries. And it has to be washed or cleaned regularly. If you take care of this yourself, you can theoretically state these costs as income-related expenses in your tax return. Flat rates of 0.48 euros per kilogram of 60-degree laundry apply here in a two-person household. The problem then, however, is that you have to calculate the proportion of work, service or protective clothing from the other laundry - quite complicated. It is easier if you keep the individual receipts and receipts for cleaning and submit them.

8. Stop the celebration with colleagues

Sounds too good to be true? Yes, you can also cancel celebrations with colleagues. However, this is not about the after-work party, but about celebrating your absence from work with your colleagues. You can also state this with the income-related expenses in your tax return.

Crucial for the tax office to accept these expenses: There is a clear connection between celebration and job. Like when you change jobs or when someone retires. Also plausible if the celebration takes place on the company premises during working hours. If there are both professional and private guests at your celebration, you must state the costs for colleagues separately (Bundesfinanzhof Az .: VI R 46/14).

9. Enter your parking space

For many workers, the car is not just a luxury, but a necessary means of transportation. This is especially true for employees who travel a lot for work or even have to rent a second apartment and parking space. A parking space for the car falls into the area of ​​double housekeeping and is recognized as a burden in such cases (Ref .: VI R 50/11). For the tax return, enter the expenses for income-related expenses.

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