Some employees do not have a "main place of work" and must report to a fixed meeting point on the instructions of their employer. From there, they begin their work or travel to the work location.
Lorry drivers can deduct an overnight allowance of 8 Euro per calendar day as business expenses - in addition to the "normal" meal allowance. This applies to the day of arrival or departure and every calendar day with an absence of 24 hours during a business trip in Germany or abroad (§ 9 Abs. 1 Satz 3 Nr. 5b EStG, introduced by the "Act on Further Tax Promotion of Electric Mobility and Amendment of Other Tax Regulations").
The Federal Fiscal Court has recently ruled:
(1) The operational area of a works railway driver is considered the main place of work and not a large-scale work area (BFH ruling of 01.10.2020, VI R 36/18).
(2) Paramedics and postal workers do not work in a large-scale work area for tax purposes but have a main place of work (BFH rulings of 30.09.2020, VI R 11/19; VI R 10/19; VI R 12/19).
(3) A depot is not the main place of work for a refuse collector if they only listen to the tour management announcement, receive the logbook, vehicle documents and keys, and check the vehicle lighting (BFH ruling of 02.09.2021, VI R 25/19). In this case, refuse collectors can claim meal allowances of 14 Euro per day for tax purposes once they are away from home for more than eight hours – regardless of how long they are also away from the depot.
