SteuerGo FAQs

(2022) Who receives the allowance for voluntary service?

The so-called voluntary service allowance under § 3 No. 26a EStG of a total of 840 Euro per year is subject to the following conditions:

• The activity must be carried out in the service or on behalf of a legal entity under public law, based in the European Union or the European Economic Area (e.g. federal government, states, municipalities, certain religious communities) or a tax-privileged institution and must be in the charitable, benevolent or ecclesiastical sector.
• The voluntary activity must be part-time. This means that the actual time spent must not exceed one-third of the working hours of a comparable full-time job. With a regular weekly working time of up to 14 hours, it can therefore be assumed to be part-time. People who do not have a main occupation, such as housewives and househusbands, students, pensioners or unemployed persons, can also work part-time.

A significant difference from the tax exemption under § 3 No. 26 EStG ("trainer allowance") is that the voluntary service allowance does not limit certain activities. It can be claimed for any type of activity for charitable associations, church or public institutions.

The tax exemption also applies if you receive income for an activity

• as a treasurer in a club,
• for providing transport for parents to away games for children, or
• for serving as a board member,
• as cleaning staff,
• as a groundskeeper, or
• as a voluntary referee in amateur sports

A club or corporation must observe the following: Payments to members must not be unreasonably high; that is, they must not be higher than payments to non-members. If the board receives remuneration beyond mere reimbursement of expenses, the articles of association must explicitly permit payment.

 

The COVID-19 vaccination is a major task. Therefore, there should be a tax benefit for those who volunteer in vaccination or test centres or mobile vaccination teams. The dedicated helpers make an important contribution to health protection and combating the pandemic.

Already in 2020 and 2021, volunteers in vaccination and test centres could benefit from the so-called trainer or voluntary service allowance. CURRENTLY, the finance ministries of the states and the Federal Ministry of Finance have decided to extend these reliefs for 2022 (source: Ministry of Finance Baden-Württemberg, announcement of 7.2.2022). For the years 2020 to 2022, the following regulations apply:

• For all those directly involved in vaccination or testing - i.e. in information sessions or in the vaccination or testing itself - the trainer allowance applies. In 2020, the trainer allowance was 2,400 Euro, since 2021 it has been 3,000 Euro annually. Those involved in the administration and organisation of vaccination or test centres can claim the voluntary service allowance. This was 720 Euro in 2020 and increased to 840 Euro from 2021. This also applies to mobile vaccination and test centres.
• Due to tax regulations, volunteers in test centres can only claim the trainer or voluntary service allowance if the client or employer is a charitable institution or a public employer, such as the state or a municipality.
• For vaccination centres, the federal and state governments have agreed that the trainer and voluntary service allowance can also be considered if the vaccination centre is operated on behalf of a legal entity under public law with the involvement of private individuals or entirely by private individuals.
• Both the trainer and voluntary service allowances only apply to remuneration for part-time activities. This is usually the case if these activities do not take up more than one-third of the working hours of a comparable full-time position or the regular weekly working time does not exceed 14 hours. Part-time work can also be done by those who do not have a main occupation, such as students or pensioners.
• The allowances are annual amounts granted to volunteers only once per calendar year. For multiple activities for which the trainer allowance applies (e.g. helper in the vaccination area and trainer of a youth team), the income must be added together. The same applies to the voluntary service allowance.
• If volunteers work part-time in both the vaccination/testing area and the administration/organisation of vaccination and test centres, both allowances can be considered. However, this requires that the activities are agreed upon and remunerated separately.

Notes:

Doctors' surgeries are not COVID-19 vaccination centres in this sense. If doctors pay employees a bonus for the additional work, the trainer or voluntary service allowance cannot be claimed.

Part-time helpers are usually considered employees and therefore earn income from employment. The occasionally held view that self-employed income could be involved is not shared by the tax authorities - as far as can be seen. The allowances of 3,000 Euro or 840 Euro can also be taken into account by the employer when calculating income tax. In this case, however, the employee must confirm in writing to the employer that the respective allowance has not already been "used up" elsewhere. The employer must keep the declaration in the payroll account.

If pharmaceutical staff were employed in the vaccination centres and received their remuneration from the pharmacy chamber, no income tax was usually deducted in 2021, as there appear to be special leniency agreements between the tax authorities and pharmacy chambers. The income must then be declared and taxed in the respective employee's tax return. Caution: From 2022, this leniency regulation is no longer to apply, meaning that income tax must also be paid for pharmaceutical staff if the tax-free allowances are exceeded.