Cleaner, gardener, in-home carer — anything done inside your German household can turn into a small tax bonus: 20 % of labor costs reduce your income tax directly — up to €4,000 per year. That makes §35a Abs. 2 EStG the largest of the three "household-related" tax pots. The household services tax deduction calculator shows exactly what you save.
A tax credit, not a deduction
Unlike special expenses (Sonderausgaben), which only reduce taxable income, §35a directly reduces the assessed tax. A €4,000 credit cuts your final tax bill by €4,000. The same amount as a special expense at a 30 % marginal rate would save only €1,200. The leverage is roughly 3× higher.
What counts as a household service?
Eligible work covers activities normally performed by household members, carried out at your home. Typical examples:
- Cleaning your home, window cleaners
- Gardening, lawn mowing, hedge trimming
- Snow clearing and gritting on private grounds
- In-home care and supervision (outpatient care)
- In-home childcare — to the extent not already deducted as a special expense
- Caretaker services (Hausmeister)
- Moving when you change residence — for private reasons
- Stairwell and communal cleaning (also via service charges as a tenant)
Not eligible: activities outside your home (e.g. restaurant catering), pure material delivery, administrative services, property-management fees.
Two key numbers: rate and cap
§35a Abs. 2 EStG defines:
- Tax credit: 20 % of eligible labor costs
- Annual cap: €4,000 per calendar year
The cap is reached at €20,000 of labor costs. The rule is per household — married couples filing jointly share one cap. Two adults in separate households (e.g. flatmates with independent contracts) each have their own.
Eligible vs. ineligible costs
The invoice must itemise labor, travel and machine costs separately from materials. Otherwise the Finanzamt often rejects the entry entirely.
| Item | Eligible? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Labor hours of cleaner / gardener / carer | ✅ Yes | Core item — including reasonable tips |
| Travel of the cleaning company | ✅ Yes | Standard, no specific cap |
| Machine use (mower, cleaning equipment) | ✅ Yes | Tool wear counts |
| Consumables (cleaning fluids, road grit) | ❌ No | Genuine material, not labor |
| VAT on labor costs | ✅ Yes | Included in the calculation |
Worked example: cleaning + gardening
The Müller family in 2026:
- Cleaning company every two weeks: 12 × €90 = €1,080/year (pure labor)
- Gardener (8 visits): €1,200 labor + €200 materials
- Snow clearing winter 2026: €320 labor
- Total labor: €2,600
Calculation:
- Eligible costs: €2,600
- 20 %: €520
- Below the €4,000 cap → fully deductible
- Tax saving: €520
Effectively, they pay €2,080 net instead of €2,600. With added in-home care the pot fills much faster — a 24-hour carer often hits the cap.
Two hard requirements: invoice and bank transfer
- Written invoice: with labor costs separated from materials
- Non-cash payment: bank transfer, direct debit or card — cash is rejected (§35a Abs. 5 EStG)
Keep invoice and proof of payment (bank statement) for at least two years. Paying a service provider who lives in your household (a relative) does not qualify.
§35a as a tenant
Tenants benefit too — often without knowing. The annual service-charge statement (Nebenkostenabrechnung) itemises caretaker, gardening, stairwell cleaning and snow clearing. These items — insofar as labor costs — are proportionally yours and can be claimed in your tax return. The landlord must issue a certificate on request. A 60 m² flat typically yields €200–400 of labor in service charges → tax saving €40–80.
Three pots: don't confuse them
§35a EStG defines three independent caps that may be used together in full:
| Pot | Examples | Rate | Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Household employment (Minijob) | Cleaner via Minijob, babysitter | 20 % | €510 |
| Household services | Cleaning company, gardening, care | 20 % | €4,000 |
| Craftsman services | Painter, heating, electrician | 20 % | €1,200 |
Combined, that's up to €5,710 in tax credits per year.
Special case: care and assistance
Care expenses are a special case with two routes:
- §35a Abs. 2 EStG: 20 % of care costs, capped at €4,000. Available from the first euro, no care level required.
- §33 EStG (extraordinary expenses): care costs above the reasonable own-burden threshold. No cap, but only the excess counts.
Which route is better depends on income and care costs. You can't claim both for the same item — ELSTER asks explicitly which share to assign.
Common mistakes
- Material and labor on one line — Finanzamt often strikes the entire entry
- Cash to your cleaner — automatic loss, except as a registered Minijob
- Activity outside the household — wedding catering at a restaurant is not "household-related"
- Double-counting — claiming the same item under work-related expenses or special expenses voids §35a
- Forgetting the landlord certificate — tenants must request it actively
- Off-the-books cleaner — no contract, no credit, plus liability risk
Optimisation tips
- Itemised invoice — at first booking, request labor-share split explicitly
- Combine pots — cleaner + heating engineer + garden Minijob stack to €5,710
- Read service charges — tenants capture caretaker, cleaning and gardening shares
- Plan the care route — compare §35a vs. §33 EStG with the German income tax calculator
- Au pair and childcare — up to age 8 first as a special expense (§10 Abs. 1 Nr. 5 EStG, 80 % up to €4,800), beyond that as a household service
Other useful calculators
- Household services calculator — instant tax saving
- Craftsman tax deduction calculator — the second pot, §35a Abs. 3 EStG
- Special expenses calculator — other deductions under §10 EStG
- German income tax calculator — see how the credit affects your bill