First place of work for rescue service employees
First place of work
An employee's first place of work is the employer's fixed place of business to which the employee is permanently assigned (Section 9 (4) sentence 1 of the German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz/EStG)). The first place of work is of importance for tax purposes because of the claiming of travel expenses. For journeys between the employee's home and the first place of work, only a distance allowance of € 0.30 or € 0.35 can be claimed for each kilometer of distance. In addition, no additional meal expenses are incurred for stays at the first place of work.
Alternating places of work
The personnel of a rescue service often work at different rescue bases. In the case in question, the rescue personnel drove to the nearest main station of the corresponding district after each deployment and remained there until the next deployment. Only at the end of the shift did the personnel return to the original main station. One rescue service employee claimed additional meal expenses of €12.00 per working day. However, the tax office did not recognize the expenses.
BFH ruling
The Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) followed the opinion of the tax office and rejected the claimed additional meal expenses. The employee in question had not been absent from the main watch for more than eight hours per day. In the opinion of the BFH, the main station is considered to be the first place of work of the paramedic (ruling dated September 30, 2020, VI R 11/19; published on January 7, 2021).
Status: August 30, 2021
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