Claiming back "Werbungskosten" from income tax

Hello!

I'm in the process of trying to fill in my 1st ever tax return. I wanted to ask for advice/previous experiences of what can be claimed back under "Werbungskosten". A brief summary of my situation:

- worked between Oct and Dec 2007 in Germany
- during this time I relocated from the UK to Germany
- company paid all of my relocation costs (Inbound flight, Maklergebühr, Relocation company etc) but I have receipts for the flight which was booked through Lufthansa UK (paid and taxed in British pounds)
- I have receipts for around 1500€ of furnishings bought in Germany between Oct-Dec 07 for my flat
- In Oct-Dec 07 I flew back to the UK twice at my own expense, I have receipts but again these flights were booked through Lufthansa UK (paid and taxed in British pounds)

Can anyone advise me, what if any, of the above is applicable for claiming back tax? A colleague told me that even though my company paid my relocation costs, I am still able to claim something like 500€ of these relocation costs as income-tax free? Also, as the flights were booked in the UK, is it possible for these to be claimed back as relocation expenses?

Any other advice would be appreciated!
Cheers

Have sent you a P.M. its complex

Hi

I'm doing my taxes for the first time too...and I'm using a software. I read that if one's Werbungskosten are less than 920 Euros, then there's no need to fill out any expenses. Mine come out to be around 400€


How does this work? Does this mean that I claim back 920€ automatically even though I'm entering nothing? Or should I still claim the 400€?

Would appreciate any input.

Thanks

As it says, 920 € are automatically granted as an allowance even if you haven't spent a cent. If you have higher Werbungskosten then you need to enter the full amount.

so how do they know? if I don't enter anything, then the forms that the software generates shows nothing...there's no mention of 920€ or anyother figure in the Werbungskosten area.

Is that normal? so they just give back the 920 automatically? (probably sounds like a dumb question but I have no clue on how tax claims work)

you won't get back 920 eur

920 euros will be treated as expenses and deducted from your income, so basically you'll have to pay taxes on a smaller amount of money.

Thanks for the replies. so I'm just going to submit the forms without filling anything into the Werbungskosten area...hopefully thats correct.