Tax return for trainees: This is how you deduct your costs as an Auszubildender

If you're in vocational training, you can deduct many of your expenses from your taxes. This article explains whether you can claim them as special expenses or business expenses—and how to enter everything correctly in the Taxfix app.

🚀 Your Guide 

• First or second education?
• When is vocational training considered a second education?
• What training expenses can be deducted?
• How to enter your training expenses in the Taxfix app

First or Second Education?

Whether your expenses are deductible as business expenses or only as special expenses depends on your individual situation:

• First education: If you haven’t completed any prior vocational training or university studies after finishing school, you can deduct up to €6,000 per year as special expenses.
• Second education: If you’ve already completed a prior degree or training, all expenses are fully deductible as income-related expenses. You can even carry losses forward to future years via a loss carryforward.

When Is Vocational Training Considered a Second Education?

There’s an important exception for trainees:

• Dual training: If you're receiving a salary and are officially employed by a company, you can deduct all your expenses as business expenses. This applies to most apprenticeships in Germany.
• School-based training: If you’re only attending school and not earning income, your expenses are only deductible as special expenses.

The Taxfix app uses your entries to automatically determine which rules apply to you.

What Training Expenses Are Deductible?

You can include the following expenses in your tax return:

• Admission, course, and exam fees
• Commuting costs to the training company and vocational school
• Costs for a second home near the training location
• Moving expenses
• Work equipment (e.g. laptop, textbooks, stationery)
• Application-related costs

How to Enter Your Training Expenses in the Taxfix App

To enter your training-related expenses correctly, it depends on whether you are a trainee or a student. Here's a step-by-step guide for both paths:

For Trainees (e.g. dual training with salary)

1. Section “About You”: Indicate that you were “Studying / In training”. For the income question, select “Training salary”.
2. Section “Job”: Enter your training salary. You can also add any costs related to your work at the training company, such as:
   • Commuting costs to the company
   • Work equipment (e.g. laptop, tools)
   • Application costs
3. Section “Education & Studies”: Enter expenses related to vocational school here, including:
   • Commute to the school
   • School supplies
   • Exam and course fees

For Students

1. Section “About You”: Also select “Studying / In training”.
2. Section “Education & Studies”: Enter all study-related expenses, such as:
   • Tuition or semester fees
   • Transportation to university
   • Textbooks and other materials
   • Moving costs (if you relocated for your studies)

The app guides you step by step and automatically detects whether your expenses qualify as business expenses or special expenses when calculating your refund.

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