Change of focus in life
January 8, 2019 | 100,00 EUR | answered by Steuerberater Bernd Thomas
Hello and good day.
I work in Frankfurt/M (police officer) and also have a residence there.
Due to a private change, my center of life has shifted to Austria (distance about 500 km). I am also registered at the residence of my life partner/fiancée there.
Therefore, I commute once a week from Frankfurt/M to Passau by train and then drive another 50 km to Austria with my own car. Occasionally, I also drive the entire distance by car.
Currently, my main residence is in Frankfurt/M. Another residence is in Austria.
How can the commuting costs be claimed for tax purposes?
For example, the distance allowance of 4500.-€.
Additional meal expenses?
Double household management? etc.
Would it make sense to register my partner's residence as my main residence and the apartment in Frankfurt/M as my secondary residence?
Best regards,
Peter Wegmann
Dear inquirer,
I am happy to answer your inquiry based on the information provided in an initial consultation on frag-einen.com. The response is based on the factual information you have provided. Missing or incorrect information can affect the legal outcome.
In principle, a double household management can also be recognized in cases of so-called relocation. A double household management justified for professional reasons exists even if an employee relocates his main residence from the place of employment for private reasons and establishes a second household in an apartment at the place of employment in order to continue his employment from there (R 9.11 Abs. 2 LStR).
However, it is a prerequisite that the center of the individual's life interests lies at the new place of residence.
You can then claim the corresponding expenses within the maximum amounts (1,000 € per month) and the trips home to the family up to once a week for the distance flat rate (30 cents per kilometer shortest road connection, not with a company car) or the costs for public transport up to 4,500 € per year.
If an employee relocates his center of life for private reasons away from the place of employment and establishes a second household in his previous apartment or another accommodation at the place of employment in order to continue his employment from there, necessary additional meal expenses only exist if and to the extent that the employee has not already lived at the place of employment for three months previously; the duration of a stay immediately preceding the establishment of the second household at the place of employment is to be credited towards the three-month period. Therefore, this likely does not apply in your case (R9.11 Abs. 7 LStR).
Best regards,
Bernd Thomas
Tax consultant
Dipl.-Kaufmann (FH) Bernd Thomas, Tax consultant, Neustadtswall 85, 28199 Bremen, Tel. and Fax 0421 70905588, Mobile 0163 9632333, VAT ID No. DE316948369, Member of the Hanseatic Chamber of Tax Consultants Bremen, Registration number 111705, Professional indemnity insurance with R+V Allgemeine Versicherung AG, Mittlerer Pfad 24, 70499 Stuttgart, Insurance sum: 250,000 euros per individual claim; annual maximum benefit: 1,000,000 euros (for all damages in one insurance year), the provisions of the StBerG apply https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stberg/.
