Werbungskosten in Germany: which receipts the tax office wants to see

In short: For Werbungskosten (work-related expenses) you only have to show receipts when the German tax office asks, but then it wants proper ones: an invoice or till receipt for equipment, training and professional literature, and written records for commuting days and home office days. Since 2017 the rule is keep, do not submit: hold every receipt until your tax assessment is final. Flat rates such as the 1,230 euro employee allowance need no receipt at all.

Werbungskosten are all the costs you incur to earn your salary: the commute, the laptop, the training course, the home office. The tax office automatically deducts a flat 1,230 euros (Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag). Anything above that you list item by item in Anlage N of your tax return, and for those items the tax office may want to see evidence.

So the question is not whether you need receipts, but which ones, in what form and for how long. That is what this article covers, as of 2026.

Which Werbungskosten can you deduct without a receipt?

Flat rates need no purchase receipt, but they do need proof of the facts behind them. That is the distinction many people miss. The main flat rates as of 2026:

• Employee allowance: 1,230 euros per year, deducted without any proof (§ 9a EStG).
• Commuting allowance (Entfernungspauschale): 0.38 euros per kilometre of the one-way distance, since 2026 from the first kilometre (§ 9 para. 1 no. 4 EStG). No fuel receipts needed, but the tax office may check the number of working days and the distance, for example with an employer confirmation.
• Home office allowance: 6 euros per day, up to 1,260 euros for 210 days. The proof is a list of the days, confirmed by your employer if in doubt.
• Meal allowance on business trips: 14 euros for more than 8 hours away, 28 euros for a full 24 hours. You document the trip (date, place, purpose), not the meals.
• Bank account fees: 16 euros per year are accepted without proof.
• Work equipment: many tax offices accept up to 110 euros per year without receipts. This is administrative practice, not a legal right.

Everything beyond these flat rates requires individual proof. That is where the receipt collection starts.

Which receipts does the tax office want for Werbungskosten?

For every individually claimed amount, the tax office wants a document showing date, amount, item and seller, plus a recognisable link to your job. A bank statement alone is usually not enough because it does not show what you bought.

Work equipment up to 800 euros net (952 euros gross) can be deducted in full in the year of purchase. More expensive items are depreciated over their useful life, which is why the invoice with the purchase date matters even more.

Telephone and internet costs are a special case. Without individual proof, tax offices usually accept 20 percent of the bill, up to 20 euros per month. If you want to claim more, you need the bills and a record of work use over three months.

Do I have to submit receipts with my tax return?

No. Since 2017 Germany applies the Belegvorhaltepflicht (duty to hold receipts available): you do not submit receipts, on paper or as files, but keep them ready until the tax office requests them. The Elster portal allows uploads but does not require them.

In practice:

1. File the return, keep the receipts at home.
2. If the tax office has questions, you receive a letter asking for evidence, often only for specific items.
3. You then supply the requested documents, by Elster upload or post.
4. Once the assessment is final (one month after receipt if no objection is filed), you may in principle dispose of the receipts.

"In principle", because there are good reasons to keep them longer: warranty, questions about depreciation running over several years, or an assessment issued subject to review. What else applies to private individuals is covered in keeping receipts as a private person. The statutory periods for businesses are a different matter, see how long to keep receipts in Germany.

What if a receipt is missing?

A missing receipt is not the end of the world, but it weakens your position. Replace it in this order:

• Ask the seller or provider for a duplicate. Online shops and course providers almost always still have the invoice.
• Use a bank or credit card statement as proof of payment, combined with a short description of what you bought.
• Write an Eigenbeleg, a self-made receipt with date, amount, item, reason the original is missing and your signature. The tax office accepts these for small amounts with a plausible explanation, not for a new laptop. What a correct one looks like is explained in the Eigenbeleg.

The most common reason for missing receipts is not loss but fading. Thermal paper till receipts are often unreadable after one or two years, exactly when the tax office asks. More options are in lost a receipt?.

How to collect Werbungskosten receipts through the year

The simplest method is to photograph every work-related receipt on the day of purchase and assign it to a category. At year end you have a list instead of a drawer.

This is how it works in practice:

1. Create categories that match the lines of Anlage N: equipment, training, literature, travel, applications, other.
2. Photograph each receipt right away. With Belego it becomes a PDF, the amount, date and seller are read automatically, you pick the category and add a note if needed, such as "monitor, 100 percent work".
3. For items used both privately and for work, write the work share into the note while you can still justify it.
4. In January, open the annual overview per category and transfer the totals to Anlage N.
5. If the tax office asks, export the period as a ZIP: PDFs plus a CSV list, ready to upload. If a Steuerberater (tax advisor) prepares your return, that is exactly the package they want, see handing receipts to your tax advisor.

A worked example shows why this pays off. You drive 18 kilometres to work on 220 days: 220 times 18 times 0.38 euros is 1,505 euros, already above the flat allowance. Add a monitor for 289 euros, a technical book for 49 euros, a training course for 620 euros and 15 home office days for 90 euros. That is 2,553 euros in Werbungskosten. For every euro above 1,230 you may need proof, and at a marginal tax rate of 30 percent the difference is roughly 400 euros of refund.

Note: This article is general guidance, not tax advice. The law, the official instructions for the tax return and the information from your tax office or your Steuerberater are what count.

Frequently asked questions

Is a bank statement enough proof for Werbungskosten?

As proof of payment, yes; as a receipt, usually no. A bank statement shows that you spent money at a seller, not what you bought. To establish the link to your job, the tax office needs the invoice or till receipt naming the item. A bank statement plus a short description works for small amounts when the original is missing.

How long do I have to keep receipts for Werbungskosten?

As an employee, at least until the tax assessment is final, which is one month after receipt if you do not object. If the assessment is issued subject to review or a point is marked provisional, keep them longer. For equipment depreciated over several years, keep the invoice until depreciation ends. Employees have no statutory retention period like businesses do.

Does the tax office accept photographed or scanned receipts?

Yes. When asked, you can upload receipts as PDF or image files through Elster. The scan must be complete and legible, showing date, amount and seller. Keep the paper original anyway until the assessment is final, because in rare cases the tax office asks to see it.

Do I need receipts for Werbungskosten below 1,230 euros?

No. Up to 1,230 euros the employee allowance applies automatically, without proof and without any entries. Collecting receipts only pays off once you exceed that limit. Commuters with more than about 15 kilometres one way reach it through the commuting allowance alone, and from then on every additional receipt counts.