Calculate the 2026 commuter allowance—in seconds.

The distance allowance (commonly known as the commuter allowance) is a tax deduction for the commute between your home and your primary place of work. For the 2025 tax year, the rate is €0.30 per kilometer for the first 20 kilometers and €0.38 per kilometer starting at the 21st kilometer—this increased rate has been in effect since 2022. Outlook: Starting with the 2026 tax year, the tiered rate will be eliminated; the rate will then be €0.38 starting from the first kilometer.

No. You cannot claim the commuter allowance for a day on which you worked from home. Instead, the work-from-home allowance of 6 € per day (max. 1,260 €/year) applies. taxtastic automatically calculates which option is more advantageous for each day.

Only the one-way distance (home → work). The law refers to the shortest road route. The return trip is already included in the allowance—so you don’t enter double the distance.

You can only include the days on which you actually drove to work. Vacation days, sick days, holidays, and days worked from home do not count. For full-time employees, this is typically 200–220 days. You don’t need to know this number down to the cent—a reasonable estimate is sufficient, and taxtastic automatically checks for plausibility.

No—the commuter allowance is a flat-rate deduction that is recognized without receipts. You don’t need to submit gas receipts, train tickets, or logbooks. Only the distance and the number of workdays must be realistic and verifiable.

Yes. The mode of transportation doesn’t matter—the distance allowance applies regardless of whether you travel by car, train, bicycle, or on foot. Only the shortest road route between your home and work is relevant.

The tax office automatically grants every employee a flat-rate allowance of €1,230 for income-related expenses. Only when your actual income-related expenses (i.e., the commuter allowance plus all other items such as work equipment, continuing education, and union dues) exceed this amount will you save additional taxes. That’s why it’s worth adding up all your income-related expenses—taxtastic does this automatically.

The increased flat rate of €0.38/km applies to the portion of your commute that exceeds 20 kilometers. If you only drive 15 km to work, you don’t benefit from this—the €0.30/km rate still applies to you. Starting at kilometer 21, the €0.38 rate applies regardless of your mode of transportation.