Short-time work allowance and home office allowance: Tips for the 2020 tax return
Submitting a tax return for the year 2020 presents some employees with particular challenges. Receiving short-time work allowance can impact not only the pension but also the taxes payable.
The circumstances under which a tax payment is due and how much it will be have been calculated by the experts of the tax app Taxando for various scenarios. The following illustrations exemplify the amounts that might be expected for singles or married couples.
| Scenario I | Single person earns 3,000 euros gross per month. Due to the corona crisis and subsequent measures, this person received only 50% of the income for six months. |
| Tax class | 1 |
| Child allowances and child benefit | no |
| Church tax | no |
| Federal state | Berlin |
| Taxable income | 27,000.00 € |
| 6 months 100% salary | 18,000 € |
| 6 months 50% salary | 9,000 € |
| Net salary difference per month | 862.08 €* |
| Benefits with progression clause | 3,275.00 € |
| Short-time work allowance per month 1 to 4 (60%) | 517.25 € |
| Short-time work allowance from 4th month (70%) | 603.46 € |
| “Tax rate” (on tax-free benefits with progression clause) | 13.21 % |
| Additional tax burden | 432.55 € |
| Calculation including additional burden | |
| Total gross salary for 2020 | 30,275.00 € |
| Total net salary for 2020 | 25,316.50 € |
| Scenario II | Single person earns 3,000 euros gross per month. Due to the corona crisis and subsequent measures, this person received only 80% of their income for six months. |
| Tax class | 1 |
| Child allowances and child benefit | no |
| Church tax | no |
| Federal state | Berlin |
| Taxable income | 32,000.00 € |
| 6 months 100% salary | 18,000.00 € |
| 6 months 50% salary | 14,000.00 € |
| Net salary difference | 337.25 € |
| Benefits with progression clause | 1,214.00 € |
| Short-time work allowance per month (60%) | 202.35 € |
| “Tax rate” (on tax-free benefits with progression clause) | 13.64 % |
| Additional tax burden | 165.63 € |
| Calculation including additional burden | |
| Total gross salary for 2020 | 33,614.00 € |
| Total net salary for 2020 | 27,190.55 € |
| Scenario III | Married partners each earn 3,000 euros gross per month. Due to the corona crisis and subsequent measures, one partner received only 50% of the income for six months. |
| Tax class | 4 / Spousal splitting |
| Child allowances and child benefit | no |
| Church tax | no |
| Federal state | Berlin |
| Taxable income | 63,000.00 € |
| 12 or 6 months 100% salary | 54,000.00 € |
| 6 months 50% salary | 9,000.00 € |
| Net salary difference partner | 862.08 € |
| Benefits with progression clause | 3,275.00 € |
| Short-time work allowance per month 1 to 4 (60%) | 517.25 € |
| Short-time work allowance from 4th month (70%) | 603.46 € |
| Tax rate | 13.59 % |
| Additional tax burden | 445.21 € |
| Calculation including additional burden | |
| Total gross salary for 2020 | 66,275.00 € |
| Total net salary for 2020 | 27,190.55 € |
For comparison, here are the corresponding scenarios without short-time work allowance:
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| Scenario IV | Single person earns 3,000 euros gross per month. |
| Tax class | 1 |
| Child allowances and child benefit | no |
| Church tax | no |
| Federal state | Berlin |
| Taxable income (12 months 100% salary) | 36,000 € |
| Gross salary for 2020 | 36,000.00 € |
| Net salary for 2020 | 28,514.77 € |
| Additional tax burden | / |
| Scenario IV | Married partners each earn 3,000 euros gross per month. |
| Tax class | 4 / Spousal splitting |
| Child allowances and child benefit | no |
| Church tax | no |
| Federal state | Berlin |
| Taxable income (12 months 100% salary) | 72,000 € |
| Gross salary for 2020 | 72,000.00 € |
| Net salary for 2020 | 57,029.55 € |
| Additional tax burden | / |
About the calculations:
For calculating net income in the examples above, a flat-rate social security contribution of 20 percent is assumed. The term “tax rate” refers to the fact that the income from short-time work, which is actually tax-free, is taxed indirectly with a percentage due to the increased Additional tax burden inflation-adjusted tax implications.
Maciej Wawrzyniak
In his private life, Maciej enjoys sporting challenges, playing the guitar, and swimming in the lake. He is also the proud father of three sons.
