Having your own gardener to tidy up hedges and lawns is too expensive for you? If you do it right, you can deduct these costs from your taxes.
Anyone who can lean back and relax in their own home after work and at the weekend has fulfilled a dream. After all, the house with a garden - preferably in the countryside - is still at the top of the wish list for many families. And so they save over the years, take out a loan for the building money and invest a lot of time in designing their own four walls.
If the homeowner has been able to purchase a larger plot of land for their home, creating a garden with lots of greenery, flowers and shady trees is an obvious step. A lot of time goes by before you can really feel at home in your own park. And at least as much effort must be invested in maintaining your personal green area. Work in the garden begins with the first rays of sunshine in spring.
Planting new flower bulbs, removing last year's withered greenery, pruning trees and cutting the lawn for the first time - gardening takes a lot of time. Anyone who has to raise their children in addition to their job will quickly face a real obstacle here. Theoretically, the garden owner could hand over the work to a company from the field of landscape maintenance - i.e. a gardener. But: Many households shy away from these costs. In tax law, there is the possibility of involving the tax authorities in the maintenance of the garden. What are the regulations in detail? And what requirements does the garden have to meet?
Requirements for tax enforcement
Basically, the gardener falls within the scope of the craftsman's services. According to Section 35a (3) EStG (Income Tax Act), these may be claimed in the income tax return to reduce tax. However, not in unlimited amounts - and only if certain conditions are met.
The legislature prescribes via the Income Tax Act, for example, that expenses neither:
- Operating expense still
- Advertising costs
may be. This means that the approach of a gardener as a craftsman's service falls in the tax return for rented propertiesreal estate, the deduction is only possible in the context of self-use. Especially freelancers and self-employed people who have set up an office in their own home must be particularly careful at this point. In the case of rented properties, the gardener may be charged with income-related expenses.
In addition, the principle applies that only:
- Renovation-
- Conservation and
- Modernization measures
have a tax-reducing effect. If you have the garden landscaper redesign the garden, you have to bear the costs yourself. But the fact is also a flowing course of the border. For example, the erection of a retaining wall in the existing garden can fulfill the stated circumstances - which would make the costs deductible.
Coal back - only with invoice
An important aspect concerns the invoicing and the payment method. Tax debtors must be aware that the tax authorities only recognize invoices for craftsmen that have been properly issued - if they are paid by bank transfer. If you hire a gardener, you should point this out in advance.
Because only labor and wage costs or the use of machines can be taken into account, while material costs have no influence on the tax deduction, the invoice must be structured accordingly.
Deduct gardening costs for tax purposes - How much is allowed?
The fact that the landscaper's bill can be deducted from tax is certainly good news. Unfortunately, the legislator does not allow an unlimited tax deduction within the framework of the EStG. Rather, strict regulations apply to the craftsmen's services according to § 35a EStG with regard to the maximum limits.
If you present your tax office with an annual statement of 10,000 euros, you are unlucky. Only sums up to a maximum of 6,000 euros are recognized as the assessment basis. 20 percent of this has a tax-reducing effect - i.e. 1,200 euros. But: The craftsman's service can be combined with the deduction of other household-related expenses.
For example, Paragraph 1 of Section 35a EStG provides for the deduction of costs resulting from household-related employment. Condition is an arrangement as marginal employment. A maximum deduction of 20 percent of the effort - up to a maximum of 510 euros - would be conceivable here. This means that additional costs of up to 2,550 euros can be included in the income tax return.
What else needs to be considered?
who theIf you want to deduct the gardener's work from your taxes, you must ensure that correct invoices are issued and that these are not simply paid in cash.
Are there other hurdles and obstacles that lead to nasty surprises? Questions and delays in processing tax returns are often caused by errors in filling out the forms.
Small tax trick
It is not a mistake to rely on the support of the appropriate software. If the forms are nevertheless filled out by hand, the sums of the individual invoices must be added up and entered including VAT.
If the maximum limit of 1,200 euros for one year has already been exhausted, the affected households can take advantage of a principle of the tax offices. The date of invoicing is not decisive. Whether the bill from the gardener only affects income tax next year depends only on the time of payment. Against this background, bills that accumulate towards the end of the year for garden maintenance can be postponed to the coming year.
Have the tax office pay for the gardener
In summer, a well-tended garden is an oasis that people are only too happy to retreat to. However, it sometimes takes years for the greenery around your home to be ideal. And even then, the garden needs maintenance. Anyone who has these activities carried out by a specialist company has to dig a little deeper into their wallets, but the legislator allows these households to deduct the tradesmen's services from their income tax.
At 20 percent - based on the assessment basis of 6,000 euros - the deduction is not necessarily generous. Nevertheless, the gardener can help to reduce the tax burden. And in this way it also ensures lush greenery around your own four walls.
However, every homeowner who wants to conjure up this "joker" out of their sleeve must follow a clear line when it comes to questions about billing with or without a bill. Tax offices only recognize the craftsman's service if it is available - and has been transferred.