Number format: this calculator uses German notation throughout — a comma is the decimal separator and a dot groups thousands. “1.234,56” means one thousand two hundred thirty-four euros and fifty-six cents. The figures come from German tax law, so they are shown the way German authorities write them.
Employment expenses (Werbungskosten)
Expenditure incurred to earn, secure and maintain your wage — commuting, training, work equipment and the like.
In plain language
Employment expenses are what your job costs you: the commute, technical books, tools, a training course, a study at home. The state deducts 1.230 € a year automatically, with no receipts required. Only what goes beyond that brings anything extra — and then only the tax share of it, not the full amount. Collecting receipts therefore pays off once you pass that threshold; with a long commute that happens quickly.
In detail
Employment expenses are outlays to acquire, secure and maintain income (§ 9 (1) sentence 1 EStG). They are deducted from income, not from the tax — so the relief equals your marginal tax rate, not the full amount. Without evidence the employee standard deduction of 1.230 € applies (§ 9a sentence 1 no. 1 letter a EStG); it is not granted on top but replaced. Higher actual costs therefore only count with the amount by which they exceed the standard deduction. The commuting allowance (§ 9 (1) sentence 3 no. 4 EStG) counts only the one-way distance per working day.
Worked example
54.000 € annual gross, tax with no unusual expenses: 7.810,00 €. With 1.800 € of documented employment expenses the taxable income falls from 41.880,00 € to 41.310,00 € — by 570 €, not by 1.800 €, because 1.230 € was already covered by the standard deduction. The tax falls to 7.627,00 €. The saving is 183,00 €: roughly 32 cents for every euro above the standard deduction.
In brief
They only count where they exceed the employee standard deduction of 1.230 €; below that the standard deduction applies without proof.
Legal basis: § 9 EStG, standard deduction § 9a sentence 1 no. 1 letter a EStG · as at 2026