German commuter allowance (Pendlerpauschale) 2026: how much is it?

Short answer: from 1 January 2026, €0.38 for every full kilometre of the one-way distance between home and your first workplace, from the very first kilometre, for each day you actually go there. Until 2025, the first 20 km counted at only €0.30.

General information, not individual tax advice. For your own case, ask your Finanzamt, a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein or a Steuerberater.

The rule in the law

• § 9 (1) sentence 3 no. 4 EStG: for every working day on which you go to your first place of work (erste Tätigkeitsstätte), you get €0.38 per full kilometre of distance, capped at €4,500 per year. The cap does not apply if you drive your own car or a car provided to you.
• The Baden-Württemberg tax offices confirm: "ab dem 01.01.2026 0,38 €" per full kilometre (Finanzämter BW).
• The change comes from the Steueränderungsgesetz 2025, which amended § 9 EStG; the Baden-Württemberg tax offices confirm the new rate (see above).

What changed compared with 2022–2025

Source for 2022–2025: Finanzämter NRW, Entfernungspauschale.

How to calculate it

Full one-way kilometres × €0.38 × days you went to the workplace.

• Count one way only, not the round trip.
• Use the shortest road route. A longer route counts only if it is obviously more convenient and you regularly use it (§ 9 (1) sentence 3 no. 4 EStG).
• Only full kilometres count; a started kilometre is dropped.
• It does not matter how you travel: car, bike, train or on foot.

When it actually raises your refund

Every employee automatically gets the €1,230 employee allowance (Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag, § 9a EStG). Your commute and other work costs only reduce your tax once together they exceed €1,230. In the 15 km example above, the commute alone (€1,254) now just passes that line in 2026. In 2025 it did not (€990).

Other work costs that are added on top include work equipment, training, job-application costs and union fees (Finanzämter NRW, Werbungskosten).

Public transport, home office and second homes

• Public transport: if your actual ticket costs for the year are higher than the allowance, you can claim the actual costs instead (§ 9 (2) EStG).
• Home-office days: the home-office day rate is €6 per day, max. €1,260 per year. It applies on days you work mainly at home and do not go to your first workplace. If you have no other permanent workplace at all, it can also apply on days you went in (§ 4 (5) no. 6c EStG). You cannot claim both the commute and the home-office rate for the same ordinary office day.
• Second household (doppelte Haushaltsführung): one trip home per week is also €0.38 per km from 2026 (§ 9 (1) sentence 3 no. 5 EStG).
• Low incomes: if your taxable income is below the basic allowance, you may be able to get a Mobilitätsprämie of 14 % of part of the allowance (§ 101 EStG).

Where to claim it

• In your 2026 income tax return, in Anlage N (workplace address, days, one-way km). ELSTER calculates the amount.
• If your costs are high, you can ask the Finanzamt to enter an allowance (Freibetrag) in your wage-tax data so less tax is withheld each month (§ 39a EStG). You must then file a return for that year (§ 46 (2) no. 4 EStG).
• Returns for 2026 can be filed from January 2027. If you are not required to file, you can still file voluntarily within the four-year assessment period, i.e. for 2026 until 31 December 2030 (§ 46 (2) no. 8 EStG, § 169 (2) no. 2 and § 170 (1) AO).

FAQ

Is it €0.38 for the round trip? No. It's €0.38 per kilometre of the one-way distance, once per day.

Does the new rate apply to my 2025 return? No. For 2022 to 2025 the first 20 km count at €0.30 and km 21 onwards at €0.38.

I take the Deutschlandticket. Do I still get the allowance? Yes. The allowance doesn't depend on how you travel. If your ticket cost more than the allowance, you can claim the ticket cost instead.

Is there a maximum? €4,500 a year, except when you use your own or a provided car.