Can I deduct travel expenses for my commute from taxes?
January 25, 2024 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Wolfgang Stricker
Dear tax advisor,
My name is Tatiana Wunderlich and I work in a company that is about 30 kilometers away from my place of residence. Every day, I drive to work and back home by car. Now I am wondering if I can deduct the travel expenses for my commute from my taxes.
I am concerned that I may be giving away money by not including the travel expenses in my tax return. With the rising fuel prices in recent years, significant amounts are adding up. I would like to know if it is worth claiming the travel expenses for tax purposes and how exactly to do it.
Are there specific requirements that I need to meet in order to deduct the travel expenses? For example, do I need to keep a mileage log, or is it sufficient to provide the number of kilometers and the number of days worked? And what is the amount that I can claim per kilometer?
I hope you can help me with these questions and show me possible solutions. Thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
Tatiana Wunderlich
Dear Mrs. Wunderlich,
Thank you for your inquiry regarding the possibility of deducting travel expenses for your commute from your taxes. It is understandable that you are concerned about potentially missing out on money. I am happy to explain to you the requirements you need to fulfill in order to claim the travel expenses on your taxes and how you can best do this.
In general, you can report the travel expenses for your commute as business expenses in your tax return. It is important that it is a work-related trip, meaning trips between your home and your workplace. However, there are certain requirements that need to be met for these costs to be tax-deductible.
First and foremost, it is important that you can provide evidence of the costs for the trips. You can either keep a travel log where you record the driven kilometers and the number of workdays, or you can use other traceable documentation such as gas receipts or odometer readings. It is important that the information is credible and can be plausibly traced.
There is also a standard rate for the kilometers that you can claim for each driven kilometer. For the year 2021, this mileage rate is 0.30 euros per kilometer. Simply multiply the number of distance kilometers between your home and your workplace by this rate to determine the amount you can deduct as business expenses.
It is important to note that you can only claim the actual driven kilometers, not the shortest distance between your home and workplace. Additionally, you must subtract the costs for other trips, such as trips to daycare or shopping, from the deductible travel expenses.
Overall, in most cases, it is worthwhile to report the travel expenses for your commute in your tax return, as they are considered business expenses and can reduce your tax burden. I hope this information has been helpful to you and I am happy to answer any further questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Wolfgang Stricker
