D. Typology of income-related expenses
Work clothes
Typical working clothes or protective clothing may be claimed under expenses for working clothes. Clothing that is usually worn in private as well cannot be asserted. This includes the cost of a costume or a suit, even if such clothing is required in the workplace. Income-related expenses are, for example:
- Outfits worn by fitters, painters, or assembly workers; asbestos overalls or special jackets/smocks
- Shoes and stockings as leg support for occupations requiring standing
- Cooking outfits, butcher aprons
- Uniforms or duty outfits provided with company logo in the style of a uniform, as well as the accompanying accessories
Note The cost of cleaning your work clothes are deductible only in the event of extraordinary soiling during work (e.g. the work clothes of a car mechanic). Another requirement for deducting the expense is the invoice of the cleaning firm.
Tools and equipment
This includes items that are used mainly in the exercise of one's occupation. Examples:
- Computer
- Motor vehicles for travelling salespersons / field sales staff
- Knives for butchers or cooks
- Motor saws for forestry workers
- Music instruments for musicians and music teachers
Appliances and devices that cost less than €1,000 are low-value assets. They may be written off completely in the calendar year in which they were bought. If the acquisition costs exceed €1,000 for any item that can be used for more than one year, the cost may be written off only over the expected service life (depreciation for wear — known for short in German as "AfA", Absetzung für Abnutzung).
Whenever work equipment or devices are bought after June 30th of a year, only half the depreciation for wear amount may be written off for the first year.
Work room
As a rule, the expenses for a room used for work in one's private premises, including furniture, are not deductible. Expenses are deductible only if the workroom is used (almost) exclusively for one's occupational activities and constitutes the centre of one's entire business and occupational activities.
This applies, in particular, to home workers or accountants working from home, but not to teachers, judges, politicians or travelling sales staff. Expenses for a work room necessary for work-related reasons that is located outside the housing area can be deducted as income-related expenses.
As income-related expenses associated with a workroom, the following pro-rata costs can be considered:
- Rental cost
- Operating costs (heating, electricity, insurance, etc.)
- Depreciation for wear (AfA) of furniture items; in case of owner-occupied houses or apartments also the depreciation for wear (AfA) regarding construction costs
- Cost of financing
Note Furniture and objects used in private premises outside the tax-recognised work room (e.g. desks, chairs, shelves, office cabinets, and cupboards) are not deductible. Only "typical" work equipment — such as, for example, computer equipment (including a computer desk) — is considered to be work equipment to the extent that it is used for one's work.
Cost of basic, further and re-training
When can training measures be claimed under your tax assessment?
Expenses for training measures are deductible as income-related expenses if they are costs for further training, basic training in a related occupation, or comprehensive re-training.
What are basic and further training costs, and when can they be deducted?
We speak of further training when an occupational activity is exercised and the training measure (e.g. occupation-related courses, seminars) serves to improve one's knowledge and skills in exercising that occupation. Basic commercial and office-management training (e.g. computer courses, internet courses, obtaining the European computer license, introductory courses to book-keeping, cost-accounting, payroll accounting or tax regulations) are deductible in the respective occupation.
We speak of basic training if the training measure serves to obtain knowledge that will facilitate the exercise of an occupation in the future. The costs may be deducted if they are related to an occupation that is currently being practised. Related occupations are, for example, hairdresser and chiropodist, butcher and cook, electrical engineer and IT engineer.
Below are some examples of deductible further and basic training expenses:
- Costs involved when an electrician attends an upper-level secondary vocational school for electrical engineering
- Costs involved when a building contractor who has attended upper-level secondary vocational school studies architecture at a technical university
- Costs involved when a trained catering service provider attends a course on tourism management
- Costs involved when a technician wishes to take the examination to become a civil engineer
- Costs involved when a civil servant wishes to take the examination for the higher civil service
What are re-training costs, and when can they be claimed?
We speak of re-training if the measure is so comprehensive that it facilitates access to a new occupational activity that is not related to one's previous activity, and if the goal is to actually exercise another occupation.
Below are examples for deductible re-training measures:
- Training of an employee who previously used to work in the printing industry to become a nurse
- Costs involved in the training of an agricultural worker to become a tool maker
- Costs involved in the training of a seamstress to become a midwife
- Costs involved if a student earns money from occasional menial jobs in order to finance his/her studies
Example
A person begins to study medicine in October 2023 and begins to work as a taxi driver in February 2024. From the year 2024 on, the costs of the university study may be claimed as re-training costs.
Which costs for training measures may specifically be claimed as income-related expenses?
The following, in particular, may be claimed:
- Actual costs of courses (course fee)
- Costs of course material, specialised literature
- Costs of "working tools" (e.g. pro-rata costs of a PC)
- Travel costs
- Any per-diem allowances — for the first five days, if the course is held away from one's domicile or place of work
- Overnight accommodation costs
Tax-exempt promotional funding (e.g. grants) must be subtracted when deducting expenses for training in the course of an employee tax assessment — claim only the remaining amount.
Works council contribution
The works council contribution is deducted when calculating wage tax; however, it does not reduce tax on current wage-tax settlements. It may be claimed in the course of an employee tax assessment.
Computer
Expenses for computers and their accessories (e.g. printers or scanners) are income-related expenses, to the extent that they are used for occupational purposes. If the computer is set up in one's lodging, the employee must prove or substantiate to what extent he/she uses the computer for job-related purposes.
Without specific proof — if essential use as work equipment has been credibly substantiated — 40% are assumed to be for private use. The purchase cost of a computer may be written off by way of a depreciation for wear (AfA) on the basis of a minimum period of use of three years.
Example
Purchase of a personal computer, including monitor and keyboard, set up at home and used for one's occupation, for a total of €1,200 on 11 August 2024. Assuming a three-year service life:
Year Total 40% private use Deduction AfA 2024 (6 months) €200 €80 €120 AfA 2025 €400 €160 €240 AfA 2026 €400 €160 €240 AfA 2027 (6 months) €200 €80 €120
Double budgeting and family home trips
If you need lodging near your work place because your family domicile is too far away (in any event in case of a distance more than 80 km or journey more than one hour), the expenses for such lodging are deductible as income-related expenses. The rent and overhead costs, but also furniture items or hotel costs up to a monthly amount of €2,200 are deductible.
In addition, expenses for journeys home may be deducted as income-related expenses, up to a monthly maximum amount of €306. The travel costs are the expenses for the means of transport used (e.g. railway tickets, mileage allowance).
Married couples or persons living in a registered partnership or a marriage-like cohabitation (with or without a child) may deduct these income-related expenses on an ongoing basis, if both partners have fiscally relevant income (more than €6,937 per year, or more than one tenth of the taxpayer's income).
If the partner is not gainfully employed, the costs of two households may generally be claimed for a period of two years. Single persons may claim the costs for a limited period of six months. In exceptional cases (e.g. in occupations with typically high turnover, such as the building trade; in the case of temporary employment contracts; in the case of a parent requiring nursing care at the family domicile; in the case of a family domicile abroad), even a longer period may be justified.
Specialised literature
Expenses for technical text books (or corresponding electronic media) may be claimed as income-related expenses. The receipt must give the precise title of the book. It is not enough to refer to "miscellaneous specialised literature". Literature that is also of general interest to persons not working in your profession, such as encyclopaedias or references, is not regarded as specialist literature. As a rule, expenses for newspapers are considered private expenses.
Bicycle
Work-related journeys (does not apply to journeys between home and place of work) with a private bicycle can be taken into account as income-related expenses in the form of the mileage allowance totalling €0.38 per kilometre (maximum for 1,500 kilometres = up to €570 per year). From 2025, the mileage allowance will be €0.50 per kilometre and can be taken into account for a maximum of 3,000 kilometres (up to €1,500) per year.
Risk money
Till shortages that the employee must refund to the employer are income-related expenses.
Trade union dues
Union dues may be deducted as income-related expenses only if the employer has not withheld them and if they were not recognised when determining wage tax.
Internet
The costs for using an internet connection for job-related reasons may be claimed in keeping with the occupational use. If a distinction is not possible, the allocation of the costs must be estimated. Provider fees, line costs (online fees) or the costs of lump-sum solutions (e.g. packages for Internet access, telephone charges) may be claimed on a pro-rata basis depending on the occupational use. These income-related expenses will be reduced by the home office flat rate.
Motor vehicles
Costs due to the job-related use of a private motor vehicle may be claimed as income-related expenses either in the form of a mileage allowance or to the actually established amounts. The mileage allowance for passenger cars amounts to €0.42 (€0.50 from 2025).
The mileage allowance covers: depreciation for wear, fuels and oil, service and repair costs, additional accessories (winter tires, car radio, navigation set, etc.), taxes, parking fees, toll fees and highway sticker, insurances, membership fees in motorists' clubs, and financing costs.
Mileage allowances may be deducted for a maximum of 30,000 km that are travelled on business every year. A travel log should be kept to evidence the business trips, listing: the date, the mileage reading, the point of departure and destination, the purpose of the individual trip, and the kilometres travelled per day on business.
Note In addition to the mileage allowance, damage due to force majeure (especially costs of repair after a no-fault accident, stone chipping) that occurs in the course of an occupational assignment using the motor vehicle may also be claimed as income-related expenses.
Travel costs
The Austrian Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz) defines a business trip as being an activity of the employee away from his/her place of work, upon order by the employer. Travel expense reimbursements paid by the employer are tax-exempt within certain limits.
If the employee receives from the employer no or only parts of the travel expense reimbursements that are admissible under tax law, he/she may claim all or parts of these expenses as income-related expenses.
What is a job-related trip?
We speak of a job-related trip if an employee travels over a longer distance (a route with a minimum length of 25 km in one direction) for reasons related to his/her job. The trip must last more than three hours when travelling in Austria. Moreover, this must not create an additional centre of the activity. Travel costs may be claimed also when travelling shorter distances and shorter times.
Per-diem allowances
If a job-related trip in Austria takes more than three hours, €2.20 may be claimed per commenced hour (maximum €26.40 per day). From 2025: €2.50 per hour, maximum €30 per day. When travelling abroad, special rates apply. Per-diem allowances cannot be claimed if a new centre of the activity is established.
Overnight accommodation costs
If one must spend the night away from home while on a job-related trip, either the costs including breakfast according to receipt, or the lump sum for overnight stays of €15 per overnight stay may be asserted (€17 from 2025). When staying overnight abroad, the relevant maximum rate for Federal employees is deductible per overnight stay.
Language courses
The costs for obtaining foreign language skills are deductible if the foreign language is required for occupational purposes (e.g. as a secretary, telephone operator, waiter, hotel staff or employee in an export department). When attending a language course abroad, only the tuition fee, but not the accommodation and travel costs may be claimed.
Study trips
Expenses for study trips are considered to be costs for further vocational training if they can be clearly distinguished from private trips and meet the following requirements:
- The trip is planned and carried out either in the context of a training course, or in another manner that clearly reflects the occupational purpose.
- It must be possible to apply to one's job, to some extent, the knowledge to be obtained.
- The programme must be tailor-made specifically for the professional group concerned.
- The programme must cover an average of eight hours per day, similar to normal working hours.
If these requirements are met, all costs incurred in this context (e.g. travel costs, accommodation costs, tuition fees, congress materials) may be claimed as income-related expenses.
Telephone, mobile phone
The total amount of the actual costs for job-related telephone calls may be claimed as income-related expenses. Regarding private phones (mobile phones), the job-related part of the purchase cost of the telephone as well as of basic and call charges are deductible, if evidenced or credibly established.
Teleworker
The workplace of a teleworker who works exclusively at home and has no place of work at his/her employer's is his/her lodging. As a rule, travels to the company office are regarded as business trips.
Telephone charges, expenses for an Internet connection, and — if there is a workroom — the pro-rated costs for rental, electricity and heating may be claimed as income-related expenses in the employee tax assessment. Lump-sum reimbursements for expenses by the employer are classified as taxable income.