The tax return causes annual beads of sweat on your forehead. You have to enter a lot of things - you can even deduct some things without receipts.
If you submit a tax return without the help of a tax advisor or the Income Tax Assistance Association, August 31, 2024 is the deadline. Since this falls on a Saturday, you have until the following Monday, September 2nd, 2024, to submit your 2023 tax return. If your costs are higher than the estimated flat rate, you can still submit them, but you should have the receipts ready. You can simply deduct a certain amount from your taxes as a flat rate without the tax office wanting to see receipts. The tax office automatically recognizes the flat rate for business expenses. You don't need to take anything into account, because you don't have to tick a box or enter a total. So write down every day you spent in the home office. From 2023, you can claim 1,260 euros annually, which means that 210 home office days can be billed, the federal government says. If you declare 230 trips per year with a five-day week, you better have proof ready. For singles, a flat rate of 36 euros applies; for couples assessed together, 72 euros are deducted. However, simply throwing away all receipts is not a good idea. Sometimes you have more costs than are covered by the lump sum, in which case the tax office could request receipts. Some tax offices are removing the non-complaint limit, reports the Wage Tax Assistance Association. This includes, for example, the account management fee mentioned above. By post this is 8.50 euros, for sending by email it is 2.50 euros. There is also a flat rate for washing work clothes, which falls below the non-collection limit. That's 0.76 euros for a load of laundry at 60 degrees. The non-objection limit is intended to make work easier for officials and citizens alike. The tax assistance association also includes costs for an application, which can be as high as 2,500 euros.