Here’s the deal
- Household-related services are tasks in or around the home that a company or self-employed worker does for you, such as cleaning, window cleaning, garden care, or winter service.
- You deduct 20 % of the costs directly from your tax, up to 4,000 € a year (§ 35a para. 2 EStG).
- The condition is an invoice and payment by bank transfer. Cash payment does not count.
- Only the labour cost, including travel and machine costs, is deductible, not the material.
- To be distinguished are tradesman services (up to 1,200 €) and employing a helper as a mini-job (up to 510 €). The three pots can be combined.
Not every help in the household has to be employed. If you engage a company or a self-employed worker, those are household-related services, and you get a fifth of the costs back through your taxes. What counts, how much is possible, and how you claim it from the tax office is set out here.
What are household-related services?
These are tasks that members of the household would normally do and that you instead hand to a company or a self-employed worker. What matters is that the work takes place in your home or on the property and requires no special trade qualification.
The difference from employing: here you do not employ anyone yourself but engage a service provider who invoices you. The provider takes care of registration and contributions.
How much can I deduct?
20 % of the costs, at most 4,000 € a year. The tax office deducts this amount under § 35a para. 2 directly from your tax liability, not just from your taxable income. So with a 4,000 € reduction, the eligible costs may be up to 20,000 € a year.
Important: only the labour cost is deductible, that is the share for the work done, including travel and machine costs. Material does not count. So make sure the invoice shows the labour share separately.
Which services count?
Everything that belongs to the running household and comes up regularly. Typical examples:
- cleaning the home and window cleaning by a cleaning company
- regular garden care such as mowing the lawn and trimming the hedge
- winter service and gritting in front of the house
- moving services
- outpatient care and support services in the home
Not included are one-off, trade-based jobs. Those run as a tradesman service, more on that in a moment.
What is the difference from tradesman services?
The line runs along the qualification. If the work needs trade expertise, it is a tradesman service under § 35a para. 3, for which a separate maximum of 1,200 € applies. A few examples for the distinction:
- mowing the lawn and trimming the hedge: household-related service
- laying a new garden path or felling a tree: tradesman service
- cleaning the home: household-related service
- painting or wallpapering walls: tradesman service
The two pots do not overlap. So in the same year you can use up to 4,000 € for services and additionally up to 1,200 € for tradesmen, and on top of that up to 510 € for a helper employed as a mini-job.
What do I have to keep in mind for the tax office?
Two things, without which you get nothing: an invoice and payment by bank transfer. The Federal Fiscal Court has confirmed several times that without a transfer receipt there is no tax reduction, even if an invoice exists. So never pay in cash. The exact rules are in § 35a EStG, and the distinction in detail is well documented.
Tenants benefit too: if your service charge statement includes household-related services, such as stairwell cleaning or garden care, you can deduct the relevant share. The landlord shows it in the statement.
What does quitt take care of for me?
Whether engaging or employing is more worthwhile depends on the extent. If the same person comes to you regularly and works on your instructions, that is usually an employment, not a contract for services. Then quitt is the simple route: you enter the key details, quitt takes over registration, payroll, contributions, and insurance.
The tax rebate exists with an employed domestic worker too, for a mini-job up to 510 € a year. How that works exactly is in the post Tax rebate for household help, and a cost overview is given in the article What does a domestic helper cost?.
A regular helper in mind? Work out your costs and the tax rebate with the wage cost calculator. You can see what the service costs on the pricing page.
Work out costs and tax rebate
Employ or not: the wage cost calculator shows you the costs and tax saving, and for an employment quitt takes over registration, pay, and contributions.
