How much am I allowed to earn as a student? | UE (2024)

Rent, college fees, and going out with friends all cost a lot of money.So that you don’t have to rely on your parents, many students in Germany look for apart-time job to support themselves. Are you working as well as studying and asking yourself how much you areallowed to earnwithout having to pay thosepesky taxes? We’ve got you. We are providing some ideas on the issue ofauxiliary incomeas a student below!

Mini job = tax-free

As a student, you can earn up to 522.50 euros per month without having to pay taxes to the German state (as of January 2024). So if you receive your salary every month on a mini-job basis, you will receive 6,270 euros per year. There is an annual tax-free allowance for students. Since January 2024, this is expected to be 11,604 euros. However, there is a good chance this amount will be adjusted again for this year to 11,784 euros. This option was planned to further provide a financial relief for students in Germany due to the consistently high inflation. You can therefore increase your working hours or work overtime without worrying, because there is still room to earn more throughout this year. Even a paid internship is still possible as long as you do not exceed the above-mentioned allowance. If you earn more than 522.20 euros per month, your employer must pay taxes and social security contributions. However, you can simply reclaim these with your tax return.

Please note! The tax-free allowance is adjusted every year. The permitted tax-free amount of currently €11,604 in 2024 does not have to be the same amount in the coming years. In most cases, the amount will be increased slightly. You should therefore check each year how much you are allowed to earn.

What do you need to be aware of as a student employee?

Do you work as astudent helper in Germany? Then you must keep a fewmore regulationsin mind compared to someone on a mini job.

As a student helper, you arecategorized as a normal employee. In most cases, youearn more than 522.50 euros a month. As such you areautomatically liable for taxes. In addition to taxes, you have topay social security contributions. These are dependent on yourwageand howmany hoursyou’ve worked and are calculated based on them. As a student helper, you maynot work more than 20 hours per weekduring term times. Should you work more than those hours, then you may haveproblems with your student status.

If you work more than 20 hours a week in Germany, then that status may bestripped from you. However, outside your regular semester dates (e.g. during university holidays)you don’t need to worry about this. You canincrease your hoursto earn more money. However, as a student helper you shouldcarefully note the annual exemption threshold. If you cross that amount then you have to pay taxes on it.

How can you get a tax rebate?

No one likes doing it, but it can be very useful. We’re talking about thetax return in Germany. Have youearned beyond the thresholdwith your part-time earnings? No problem!Collect all your payslips and wage statementsso that you cansubmit a proper income tax return. You can do this in thecomfort of your home, using for exampleonline tax portal ELSTER Portal. There are always set deadlines for submittingyour income tax return. Make sure to find out when the next deadline is.

The first tax return can besomewhat tricky.Seek advicefrom your family and friendswho have experiencewith it so that you can receive yourrebate from the tax office.

Do I need to inform BAföG and others?

Many students receiveBAföGfor their studies to pay for their maintenance and other costs. You must be asking yourselfif your BAföG becomes taxable alongside your part-time job earnings. The answer is: No!

BAföG isnot considered incomeand as suchtax-free. However, if youearn toomuch then it’s possible that yourBAföG will be reduced.

Do you work in cateringand receive tips?Tips are tax-freeas long as you receive themdirectly from the patronand godirectly into your pocket. If the tips to all members of the staff arecollected in a “tip pool”and thendistributed by the employerthen such must beofficially declared. Also in case you are self-employed, you will have todeclare the tipsaccording to the law.

During your studies, you may havedifferent part-time jobs. The important thing is that if you do not wish to payunnecessary taxes, then you stay within theannual exemption threshold. If you earnmore than 522.50 Euros a month, but are still under the annual exemption threshold, thensubmitting a tax returnis worthwhile for you. Withspending a bit of timeyou don’t give away your hard-earned money to the state and you canreceive a rebatefrom the tax office.

11th January 2024 | by UE Team | category: students

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