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Wage tax reduction procedure - applying for tax allowances

  • Steuern und Abgaben 



    	    

		    
Procedure

            			
  • To apply for an allowance in the income tax deduction procedure, please use the official form "Antrag auf Lohnsteuer-Ermäßigung und zu den Lohnsteuerabzugsmerkmalen" (main form) and the corresponding attachments to the income tax reduction application ("Anlage Werbungskosten zum Lohnsteuer-Ermäßigungsantrag", "Anlage Kinder zum Lohnsteuer-Ermäßigungsantrag", "Anlage Sonderausgaben/außgewöhnliche Belastungen zum Lohnsteuer-Ermäßigungsantrag", "Anlage Haushaltsnahe Aufwendungen / Energetische Maßnahmen zum Lohnsteuer-Ermäßigungsantrag").
  • You can submit the application electronically via my ELSTER, by post or in person to your tax office.
  • The "Instructions for applying for income tax reduction" will help you fill in the forms.
  • If you are only applying for the tax-free amount that was already calculated in the previous year, you only need to complete the main form with the personal details and lines 4 to 6 in the Simplified application/other annex.
  • Employees can submit the application for a tax-free allowance for a maximum period of two calendar years to their local tax office. If the circumstances for the tax-free allowance change to the disadvantage of the employee (e.g. shortening of the journey to the first place of work and thus lower income-related expenses), the employee is obliged to notify the tax office immediately.
  • If the tax office approves your application, you will not receive a separate confirmation of the allowance granted. You will be informed of your tax-free allowance in the payslip issued by your employer. Your tax office will only contact you in the event of a rejection.
  • If an allowance is taken into account in the income tax deduction procedure, you are generally obliged to submit an income tax return. However, this does not apply to, for example
    
 
    • the lump sum for people with disabilities and surviving dependants,
    • the relief amount for single parents,
    • and changes to the number of child allowances.
			
Legal bases