Business expenses and receipts: the basics for self-employed people in Germany
Business expenses in Germany (Betriebsausgaben) need a receipt for every item: which proof the tax office accepts, special rules for meals, cars, home office.
In short: Business expenses in Germany (Betriebsausgaben) are all costs caused by your business (§ 4 (4) EStG), and every one needs a receipt: an invoice with the mandatory details under § 14 UStG, or up to 250 euros a small-amount invoice or till slip. Without a receipt the tax office strikes out the expense and the input VAT deduction. Since 2025 you keep receipts for eight years; digital storage is allowed under the GoBD rules.
Anyone self-employed in Germany knows the rule "no booking without a receipt" (keine Buchung ohne Beleg). Every deducted euro lowers your profit and thus income tax, trade tax and often VAT, so the tax office (Finanzamt) wants proof for every item in an audit.
This article explains what counts, which receipts you need, where special rules apply, and how to organise collection so it runs on the side. It reflects 2026 rules.
What are business expenses and what does not count?
Business expenses are costs caused by the business. That is all § 4 (4) of the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG) says. What matters is the link to your activity, not whether the expense was necessary or wise.
Typical business expenses:
- Materials, goods, packaging
- Rent for an office or workshop, electricity, internet
- Software, laptop, tools, office supplies
- Travel costs, trips, meal allowances
- Business insurance, chamber and association fees
- Tax advisor, lawyer, training
- Advertising, website, postage
Not deductible, or only partly, are private costs (§ 12 EStG) and the items in § 4 (5) EStG: gifts above 50 euros per person and year, 30 percent of entertainment costs, fines. Mixed expenses such as a phone or car are split by business share, which you must be able to justify.
Which receipts do you need for business expenses?
Every business expense needs a receipt showing who delivered what, when and at what price. For the input VAT deduction it must also be an invoice with all mandatory details under § 14 of the VAT Act (Umsatzsteuergesetz, UStG).
| Receipt | When it is enough | What it must show |
|---|---|---|
| Invoice under § 14 UStG | Always, mandatory above 250 euros | Both parties' name and address, tax number or VAT ID, invoice number, date, service, net amount, VAT rate and amount |
| Small-amount invoice, till slip | Up to 250 euros gross (§ 33 UStDV) | Name and address of the issuer, date, service, gross amount, VAT rate |
| Eigenbeleg (self-made receipt) | Exception, small amounts, no original | Date, amount, purpose, recipient, reason, signature |
| Bank statement | Only as proof of payment, not as an invoice | Recipient, amount, date |
Details are in the article on small-amount invoices up to 250 euros. The Eigenbeleg is the fallback when no receipt exists, for example for tips or parking meters; how to write one is in the article on the Eigenbeleg. It rescues the expense, never the input VAT.
Small businesses under § 19 UStG (Kleinunternehmer) deduct no input VAT, so VAT does not matter to them, but the receipt duty remains in full, because it comes from income tax law.
Which business expenses have special rules?
Five types of expense have their own proof rules and regularly get struck out in audits.
Entertainment: 70 percent of reasonable costs are deductible. You need a machine-generated restaurant receipt, completed with occasion and participants' names and signed by you (§ 4 (5) no. 2 EStG). A handwritten note from the waiter is not enough.
Gifts to business partners: deductible up to 50 euros per person and year, with a receipt and the recipient's name. Above that, the whole expense is lost, not just the excess.
Trips in your private car: a flat 0.30 euros per business kilometre, proven with a list (date, destination, purpose, kilometres). For a company car: logbook or one-percent rule.
Home office: the daily allowance of 6 euros, up to 1,260 euros per year, needs a list of days. A dedicated office as the centre of your work: annual flat rate or documented costs.
Low-value assets: purchases up to 800 euros net are written off at once, more expensive ones over their useful life. The invoice matters for years, because depreciation reappears in the income statement (EÜR) every year.
How long do you have to keep receipts as a self-employed person?
Accounting vouchers (invoices, receipts, till slips) are kept for eight years, since 1 January 2025 under § 147 (3) of the Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung, AO) and § 14b UStG (Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act). Books, annual accounts and the EÜR itself are kept for ten years, business letters for six.
The period starts at the end of the calendar year of the receipt, so an invoice from March 2026 can be thrown away on 1 January 2035 at the earliest. Details, including extensions during audits and transitional rules, are in the article on retention periods for receipts in Germany.
Digital receipts are allowed, and you may destroy paper after scanning if you meet the GoBD rules (complete, readable scan, unalterable storage, a short process document), as covered in the article on GoBD and replacement scanning.
How do you organise receipts without losing track?
The only method that works long term is immediate capture: receipt, photo, category, done.
- Photograph the receipt right away, wherever you are. With Belego the photo is cropped and saved as a PDF, and amount, date and merchant are read out. Anything not read with certainty stays empty for you to fill in.
- Choose the category along the EÜR lines: purchases, travel, entertainment, office, vehicle. For entertainment, note occasion and participants.
- Keep the paper original in a monthly folder until replacement scanning is set up.
- Monthly or quarterly, export the period as a ZIP: PDFs named by date, merchant and amount, plus a CSV list with category and note, for your tax advisor or accounting tool.
An example month: printer paper 24.90 euros, train to a client 89 euros, lunch with a client 64.50 euros, software subscription 29 euros, technical book 42 euros. Five receipts, five photos, under two minutes. Freelancers with few receipts find the minimum in the article on receipts for freelancers.
Which mistakes cost money in a tax audit?
Auditors keep finding the same five gaps:
- Bank statement instead of invoice: the payment is proven, the service is not.
- Invoice in the wrong name, private instead of business: a problem for input VAT from 250 euros.
- Entertainment receipt without participants and occasion.
- Faded till slips that are white paper after three years.
- Private shares estimated without any record.
The solution for all five: secure the receipt digitally at once, check details at purchase, and write notes while you remember.
Note: this article is general guidance, not tax advice. The law, the official tax return instructions and your tax office or tax advisor are what count.
Frequently asked questions
Can I estimate business expenses without a receipt?
In principle, no. The tax office may strike out business expenses without proof, and in audits it does. For a few small, plausible expenses an Eigenbeleg helps. Anyone who systematically works without receipts risks the tax office estimating the entire profit, almost always to their disadvantage.
Does my business name have to be on the receipt?
Not up to 250 euros gross: small-amount invoices and till slips need no recipient. Above 250 euros the invoice must show your name and address as recipient, otherwise the input VAT deduction is at risk. For larger shop purchases, ask at the till for an invoice made out to the business.
Are photographed receipts acceptable to the tax office?
Yes, if the scan is complete, readable and stored unchanged. The GoBD require that the digital receipt matches the original and cannot be edited later. Until you have a process document for replacement scanning, keep the paper as well; the scan still protects you from fading.
What is the difference between Betriebsausgaben and Werbungskosten?
Betriebsausgaben belong to profit income: self-employed, commercial or agricultural activity. Werbungskosten belong to surplus income, for example from employment or renting. The logic is the same, expenses reduce income, but forms, flat rates and retention duties differ. Self-employed people have no standard allowance but a statutory retention period.