Tax return Germany

Is a tax return worth it for me?

Example

Estimated refund from the return

€116

Wage tax is withheld as if your work expenses were 1,230 euro a year and nothing else applied. Whatever your real figures add above that comes back with the return.As of 2 October 2026 · 2026 income-tax and deduction rules

Your pay and your working year

One employer, the whole year, taxed alone. Commuting assumes your own car; public transport and the general 4,500 euro cap are not modelled.

Gross pay a month€ Tax class One-way distance to workkm38 ct a kilometre of the one-way distance, from the first kilometre. Days travelled to work Days worked from home€6 a day, at most €1,260 a year.

Other expenses and church tax

Other work expenses a year€Work equipment, training, union fees, account fees. Household services, labour only, a year€Cleaning, gardening, care at home: 20 percent comes off the tax, up to 4,000 euro. Tradesmen's labour a year€Repairs and renovation at home: 20 percent off the tax, up to 1,200 euro. Labour only, paid by transfer. Church tax rate

Estimated refund from the return

€116 Income tax, solidarity surcharge and church tax that the return would bring back, all else as withheld.

Commuting allowance€1,368

Working from home€240

Work expenses in all€1,608the payroll already allowed €1,230

Deducted on top by the return€378

What this answers

What a return brings back on top of the wage tax already withheld

The payroll assumes work expenses of 1,230 euro a year. The return deducts what you really had above that, and takes 20 percent of household services and tradesmen's labour off the tax itself.

What it leaves out

Other reasons a return pays or costs

Insurance, donations, childcare, a second job, Elterngeld or Krankengeld in the year, a change of tax class, and a couple taxed jointly are not part of this estimate. Some of them make a return compulsory; the assessment is the authority.

The law behind it

Statute and authority

§ 9 EStG (work expenses, commuting) · § 4 Abs. 5 Nr. 6c EStG (working from home) · § 35a EStG (household services and tradesmen)