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This year the tax offices will get a lot more work.
Millions of employees received short-time work benefits last year due to the corona crisis and therefore have to file a tax return for 2020.
This is what the legislator has provided for.
Last April alone, more than six million people were on short-time work.
And now it is said again and again that these employees have to pay taxes.
That would be uncomfortable, especially if in many cases the corona crisis is not yet over economically.
It is true for many too;
some short-time workers could also get money back.
To the author
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Financial tip
Hermann-Josef Tenhagen
, born in 1963, is editor-in-chief of »Finanztip«.
The money advisor is part of the non-profit Finanztip Foundation.
»Finanztip« is refinanced via so-called affiliate links.
More about it here.
Tenhagen was previously editor-in-chief of the “Finanztest” magazine for 15 years.
After studying politics and economics, he began his journalistic career at the »daily newspaper«.
Today he is an honorary member of the supervisory board of the cooperative.
Tenhagen writes weekly on SPIEGEL.de about how to handle one's own money properly.
The legal situation: Anyone who received more than EUR 410 short-time work allowance in the past year must submit a tax return.
The reason: The short-time work allowance is itself tax-free.
However, it is included in the calculation of the personal tax rate - the tax offices speak of the so-called progression proviso.
The logic: Many people had more money at their disposal in the past year because of the tax-free paid short-time work allowance.
And the tax rate in Germany depends on disposable income: the more income, the higher the tax rate.
And that's why the personal tax rate rises with the short-time work allowance.
This is also the case, for example, when receiving unemployment benefit or parental benefit.
You may have to pay additional taxes because of this.
Possibly.
Because actually most people who file a tax return get money back from the tax office.
Some even despite short-time work benefits.
For example, if you worked full ten months in 2020 and were only on short-time work in March and April because of the first wave of corona, you will likely get your money back after your tax return.
The reason: Your employer deducts the tax directly from your wages.
The amount of the tax payment is calculated as if one received one twelfth of the annual income every month.
So you paid tax on an annual salary pro rata for ten months, but in the end it turned out to be lower: After all, your taxable annual income was lower due to the two months of short-time work allowance.
Married couples should be careful
It is different if you were on 50 percent short-time work every month from March onwards.
Then your employer only transferred taxes to the tax office for half the salary from March onwards.
But you also received short-time work allowance for the other half.
Married couples, some of whom have received short-time work benefits and who use spouse splitting, should also pay particular attention.
The tax office then applies the idea of the progression proviso to the entire joint salary, with the result that the two may have to pay more taxes than necessary.
It would often be better this year to be assessed separately for the tax instead of choosing the joint assessment (splitting tariff).
The choice is yours, consider both options.
You can roughly calculate your result with the progression reservation calculator of the Bavarian tax authorities, but only with one of the good tax programs that you can use to submit your tax return.
It's very easy with them.
But if you ever have to file a tax return, then you should do it right right away.
The many tax programs will help you with this.
The tax office offers you the option of creating a free tax return with the official program »My Elster« in your browser.
However, it is not very user-friendly and does not provide any tax-saving tips.
The external Elster program no longer exists.
In any case, it is better to pick up the 15 to 45 euros and buy a convenient tax program.
My colleagues at »Finanztip« have been testing tax software intensively for months since the beginning of the year - programs for installing on the PC as well as browser solutions and apps.
On the one hand, there are the
"all-rounders"
with which you can handle a complex case with commercial income in full, for example if you rent out a condominium or operate a solar system.
We recommend three programs here, first and foremost the Wiso Tax Savings Book 2021. The specialty of the Wiso solution is that it even works platform-independently.
With one license you could complete a complex tax return on your smartphone (Wiso Steuer: App) or switch between PC, tablet and mobile phone as you wish.
Because this year millions of female employees will have to file a tax return for the first time, »Finanztip« looked for programs that offer particularly simple user guidance.
Some
"simple makers" were
convincing: the Smartsteuer browser solution and the Steuerbot and Taxfix apps.
These apps are particularly suitable for simple employee cases.
My colleagues have described the strengths of the respective programs in detail in the tax software guide.
At the end of the day, such programs create the tax return for you, which you can then send to the tax office.
Nowadays, you usually no longer have to send paper receipts with you.
The program then calculated for you what you should get back from the tax office - or what you have to pay later.
This will allow you to check the tax office's decision later and to file an objection in the event of any errors.
What else do you need to be successful with your tax return at the tax office?
For example,
lots of receipts and verifiable costs.
First, start with the costs associated with your job.
In other
words, travel expenses
for the way to work, 30 cents for every kilometer of distance for every working day on which you actually commuted to work.
You live 30 kilometers from your workplace.
180 working days times 30 kilometers times 30 cents result in costs of 1620 euros.
You worked from home for two months.
In addition, for the remaining 45 working days, there is, for example, the home office flat rate of 5 euros, i.e. another 225 euros.
You have bought a good desk chair for your home office for 400 euros.
You can specify that.
Because of the short-time work in parts of the year, you took part in further training.
You can specify the costs for specialist books and software.
And also the new computer you have bought yourself for your future field work.
There are costs not only for the work, which you can specify.
The state also helps with the financing of
household services
and
handicraft
costs
in one's own household.
Last year you restricted yourself in this area because money was tight.
But at least the household-related services from the rental ancillary costs settlement have been incurred: cleaning, gardening, caretaker services, etc. Your landlord will probably compile the costs for you anyway.
You can specify that.
For house or condominium owners, for example, the chimney sweep and winter service.
And then the dishwasher broke in the middle of the year.
The repair cost 250 euros, the replacement part only 20 euros.
You can claim wages and travel costs for craftsmen up to 6000 euros per household from the tax.
20 percent of these costs are then deducted from the tax liability.
The same is done for household services.
If, despite all your efforts, you have come to the conclusion that you have to pay something up, the time will still be on your side in the coming months.
You don't have to submit your declaration until August 2nd.
Then the tax office calculates and sometime in autumn the tax assessment will come with the request for additional payment for 2020.
Take this time.
And use them for another relief trick.
If you have not had to file a tax return in the past few years, it was probably because the state did not expect any more money from you and you would have been more likely to get money back.
According to their declaration, nine out of ten taxpayers finally get their money back - an average of 1027 euros.
So use the time and simply make up for the explanations from 2017 to 2019.
You can find help here.
You can easily calculate the cost of your way to work for these explanations as well.
You will probably have kept the tradesman's bills for the household and the utility bills for your apartment from the years for reasons of guarantee.
They are also valuable now in terms of taxes.
The implant, which you had to pay dearly to the dentist in 2018, can also be worth money at this point.
The position in the tax return is called extraordinary burdens and helps with expensive medical bills and not too high a salary.
And maybe two years ago you even asked your neighbour's son to help you remodel the garden.
If he has issued an invoice and you have transferred the money and not paid in cash, you can also enter this invoice.
If you still get money back for 2017 or 2018, the tax office will even pay interest: 0.5 percent per month, 6 percent per year.
As you can see, there is no need to worry.
Take advantage of your opportunities at the tax office, even if you were on short-time work.
