What can be deducted for work on a vehicle?
If you work on a vehicle, you generally do not have a "primary place of work", so your work is considered off-site work. This applies to:
- Professional drivers
- Coach drivers
- Bus drivers
- Tram drivers
- Refuse collectors
- Taxi drivers
- Train drivers (except works railway drivers)
You often need to report to a pick-up location to take over the vehicle. Here are the main tax-deductible expenses for such work:
1. Journeys between home and pick-up location
For these journeys, you can only claim the commuter allowance:
- 0,30 Euro per kilometre,
- 0,38 Euro from the 21st kilometre.
2. Meal allowances
If you are away from your home and primary place of work for more than 8 hours, you can claim meal allowances in addition to the commuter allowance:
- 14 Euro for 8 to 24 hours absence,
- 28 Euro for 24 hours absence.
3. Overnight allowance for professional drivers
Professional drivers can claim an overnight allowance of 9 Euro per calendar day (until 2023: 8 Euro). This allowance is in addition to the meal allowance and can be claimed for the following days:
- Arrival and departure days,
- every calendar day with a 24-hour absence during off-site work in Germany or abroad.
Current decisions
- Works railway drivers have a primary place of work at the deployment area, but not a large-scale work area (BFH ruling of 01.10.2020, VI R 36/18).
- Refuse collectors do not have a primary place of work at the depot if they only listen to tour announcements and collect vehicle documents there (BFH ruling of 02.09.2021, VI R 25/19).
- Overnight allowance only for actual overnight stay: According to the Thuringia Finance Court, professional drivers are only entitled to the allowance if they sleep in the vehicle (ruling of 18.06.2024, 2 K 534/22). The BFH will make a final decision (Ref. VI R 6/25).
