Gross salary / month
€4.000
Commute distance (one way)
12 km
Every km counts €0,38 per office day — new flat rate since Jan 2026.
Days you commuted this year
180 days
Home-office days
40 days
€6 per day, up to 210 days (€1,260).
Work equipment bought
€300
Laptop, monitor, desk, chair, work phone — also partly-private items.
Other job costs
€100
Courses, certificates, application costs, professional memberships.
Estimated extra refund
€70 /year
- Commuting (Pendlerpauschale)€821
- Home office€240
- Equipment + other€400
- Total deductions€1.461
- − flat allowance everyone gets−€1.230
- × your marginal tax rate30%
The average German refund is €1,240 (Destatis) — and filing is voluntary for most employees, with up to 4 years to do it retroactively.
Understand your tax classEstimate for single employees, tax class I, no church tax — computed with the shared 2026 §32a tariff engine, the €1,230 Werbungskostenpauschale, the new flat €0.38/km Pendlerpauschale and the €6/day home-office allowance. This is an estimate, not tax advice — a Steuerberater or tax app computes your exact figure.
The forms are in German. You can be too.
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