My name is Payal and after finishing my Uni i got a job this January.If anyone could please help me how the tax return is being calculated on Pendlerpauschale its the return which one gets for office to work commute.I know that its 30cent per km but no where online i find a calculation of how much money i get back from Finanzamt.

I am in Tax class 1 and i am earning gross 60,000 per annum.I am communiting everyday to office by train and one way distance from home to office is 70km and i have a yearly train ticket which cost me € 2500.
In this case how much out of this € 2500 i get back from Finanzamt.
I asked some of my German colleagues and they said that i should get full €2500 back and some say i only get €500 back.

Could anyone please help me how to calculate this tax return and how much you think i should get back.

Thanks
Payal

Hi Payal,

Congratulations on your new Job. I'm not an expert but from experience of filing my returns since last 7 years in Germany, here is what it seems like in your case;

70 km x 2 = 140 Km per day

If you worked for lets say 230 days a year than, 230 x 140 = 32,200 km/year.

0,30 €/km ==> 32,200 x 0,30 = 9.660, €

according to my experience the maximum tax benefit on such amount will be around ± 10% i.e. approx  ± 966 €uros (dont know about any specific law or rule though).

In my opinion it will be wise if you look for an accomodation near your work or buy your own car to commute.

Good luck!

P.S: this is not a legal advice.

Thanks for your information Raj.

What i see everywhere is that there is a maximum limi of €4500 and above which one cannot make the claim.So i don't think i can make a claim of €9660 when i only pay for my Jahreskart with Bahn €2500

If i calculate 10% of 2500 then i only get back €250 which is very less

If i stay near the office its going to be very expensive and also if i stay within 15km radius then i have to spend again €500 for yearly card for commuting and the Pendlerpauschale is calculated over 20km so i don't get anything out of this €500 and also i have to compromise living in a small flat paying high rent.

http://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=200856

Writer77 thanks for the link to toytown but after reading all the post i still could not find the simple formula to know how much Tax return one gets from Pendlerpauschale.

I hope someone can give me an idea how much i should expect with my given details of income and travel expenses.

Hi Payal,

I dont have any idea about the maximum limit of 4.500, €uros or 20+ Km. All I can say is they wont consider the amount you spent, they will only calculate how many kilometers you have travelled for work and multiply it with 0,30 €.

If you already know that maximum limit is lets say xxx km x 0,30€ = 4.500, €uros than on such amount you might get 450 euros in tax benefits. So now you already have an idea, I would suggest to plan accordingly and concentrate on your job.

Regards, Raj++

P.S: this is not a legal advice.

Hi,

there is no limit if you can provide a proof when you spend more than €4500. As in your case you were below limit so it is calculated according to the formula which is To and Fro number of km * No of working days 0,30 = 140 * 230 * 0,30 = € 9600 which is more than €4500. So I think € 4500 will be considered and you can get your tax returned on it. Yo if you pay 15% of tax then it should be € 675, which is of course much less than what you paid, but so it is.

Since I live near to office I just get 60 € out of it. The benzine, car-service, winter-summer tyre changing, cleaning of car, insurance etc for the same kilometers is around € 800. That too when I am not calculating depreciation and time that I invest in maintaining.

Just a tipp, you can also file a tax return on your ticket to India (if you are single).

I will really suggest as someone also implied..do not think much about it !!

Ciao
Tony