column
Carnival time is tax time. In November, you must make the decisions that will help you to save taxes and take grants in the current year. In February, after Ash Wednesday, you should then put together the documents for the tax return, with which you bring back the overpaid tax.
But first things first: Now it's all about controlling the expenses so that you can cleverly divide them up for this and next year - and also be able to take any possible subsidies this year.
First, there are the orders that you have already initiated or anyway want to initiate, but you better still pay this year, thereby now saving taxes.
- These include, for example, bills for craftsmen who have worked in your house and garden. You can claim up to € 6,000 in working hours and travel expenses every year in the tax return - per household. So you can secure up to 1200 Euro tax reduction . Important: The invoice must indicate individual wages and travel costs, because the material costs are not deductible. And you have to transfer the money later this year.
- Similar procedures apply to so-called household services . This category also includes parts of the utility bill of your landlord. Of the reported costs, for example, for the caretaker, gardening, cleaning and winter service, you can get back 20 percent from the tax office .
Ralf Hirschberger / DPA
Other items will be used for cleaning aids in your household, which will write you an invoice and send the money to you. Or for the move - a decent moving company shows the cost so that you can submit the wages for the packer to the tax office. Or write a bill for the neighbors who will revamp your garden in the fall and transfer the money to them. In total, you can spend 20,000 euros each year and get back up to 4000 euros from the tax.- Proper timing is also crucial to the " extraordinary burdens " control, especially on the issue of "reasonable load". Everything that is still reasonable, brings you no tax relief, every euro beyond. And what is reasonable depends on income and marital status. You can determine your respective reasonable burden with a calculator from the Bavarian Financial Administration. Because the tax office is now somewhat different, you can now exceed this "reasonable burden" easier than before.
Nicolas Armer / DPA
- The "extraordinary burdens" category includes all the necessary medical expenses : the 3000 euros for the implant at the dentist, 500 euros for the new progressive prescription glasses, the additional payments for the physiotherapist and the prescribed medications. If you are already above your individual reasonable load with the previous bills, you should settle as many payments as possible before the end of the year. If you are far below, it makes sense to wait until next year to pay and then exceed this limit in 2020.
- Finally, you should also consider whether you have already cracked the 1000-euro employee flat rate with the advertising costs, ie the costs that are directly related to your earning. If so, every euro brings more tax refunds. These include travel to work, union and association contributions, self-sustained training costs, textbooks and professional software. Possibly expenses for the professionally necessary second domicile or a necessary occupation relocation. Even private items that you professionally use at least ten percent of your professional help with tax savings: You can sell the professional share for the desk, the smartphone or the computer. If the computer has cost at most 800 euros net (952 euros including VAT), you can claim it in one fell swoop to the tax. The tax office accepts a 50% occupational benefit if it is plausible. An employer certificate can help with inquiries.
More at SPIEGEL +
Second, you should take care of all the expenses that you did not know about the tax-saving effect, but that exist, and which you should therefore document for this year:
- The list of household services and craftsmanship that you can give at the tax is getting longer each year and is now more than 30 pages long. Also, the purely private move with its wage and travel costs or the use of the neighbor boy at the barbecue in the garden may include. Condition always: ordinary invoice and payment by bank transfer.
DPA
- Advertising costs for non-reimbursed business travel expenses: If you spent more than eight hours on the road for your company and your boss has not reimbursed you for additional meals, then you can instead use your tax declaration to charge meal allowances from the tax office. By the way: These should rise from next year.
- With membership fees and donations to charities, church tax and other special expenses, you can also save a lot of taxes.
Thirdly, be sure to do the tax return and fundraising tasks that you have been pushing.
- What else do you have to do to take the Riester subsidy for 2019 completely? Half of all Riester savers give away money because they pay too little. For the full Riester supplement you have to pay at least four percent of your pensionable gross income from the past year - less your claim to savings supplements. In particular, after a salary increase or the elimination of a child allowance, there is a need for action to increase the own contribution. For higher earners pays the special deduction. You can claim up to 2100 euros in the tax return per year. If you have forgotten: The Riester supplements for 2017 you can still apply until the end of 2019.
- Did you take care of your company pension plan? You can pay 3216 euros yourself without social security; At least tax-free even remain up to 6432 euros, which you can deposit by salary conversion by the end of the year. And your boss will have to top 2019 for new contracts for the first time on top of it, from 2022 on even old contracts. You have the right to a company pension.
- Anyone who has concluded a Rürup or basic pension contract should definitely check which payments are still worthwhile for tax reasons in 2019. For self-employed persons, a total of € 24,305 in pension costs is possible here, and twice that for married couples. This includes the payments into the statutory pension insurance.
- Self-employed persons can in fact pay up to 14,952 euros voluntarily into the statutory pension insurance for the year 2019 and thus acquire pension points.
- In particular, workers should review whether they should seize the last chance to make a voluntary tax return for 2015. If you submit them to the tax office by New Year's Eve, you can secure the tax refund plus interest payment of 0.5 percent per month. After that nothing works.
Fourth, we come to the simpler part: postponing.
- Check what expenses you should spend next year to get a tax-saving effect. Every year, the tax office grants free and lump sum payments. For example, if you go beyond the employee lump sum , further payments lead to tax savings. If the prospects are not good enough to reach the 2019 allowance limit, do not invest in further education until 2020. Or rather pay the dentist in the coming year to exceed the reasonable limit.
- You should not even invest in your house in 2019, for example to save energy, to replace your old heating system or to provide thermal insulation . The Federal Government is currently working on granting homeowners high tax rebates - for measures begun from 2020. Wait for the funding in a relaxed way.
And finally, the fifth tip: a tip that can very quickly improve your liquidity. You can register an individual tax-exempt amount on your electronic income tax card by 30 November at the tax office and then you will already benefit from a higher December salary - which is good during the Christmas season. This is possible if you can prove permanently higher, tax-deductible costs. Then you do not have to wait until you get a tax refund from the tax office next year. However, you must definitely submit a tax return by 31 July 2020.
Last but not least, here are three good news for taxpayers:
- Many people know that those who marry often benefit from spouse splitting - especially when the couple earns very different lives. Especially important is New Year's Eve for gay and lesbian couples. Anyone who converts their partnership into a marriage in 2019 can apply for joint assessment retroactively up to a maximum of 2001 and may recover many thousands of euros from the tax office by the end of 2020 if applications are submitted - plus interest.
- Anyone who gets promoted soon will earn more money in 2020. And saves every tax deductible issue more taxes, so rather pay each scheduled bill until 2020.
- Those who retire next year will generally have less taxable income thereafter. Budding pensioners thus save taxes by paying bills anyway in 2019.
If you have done everything right then, you can rest until Ash Wednesday and then pick up the symbolic Geldkoffer from the tax office with a tax return in 2019. I wish you success.
