Expenses: what it’s all about

All expenses incurred by employees in the performance of their job and in the interests of the employer are expenses. Expenses for meals, travel, flights, accommodation, protective clothing, telephony, representation and postage are typically considered expenses.

Excessive expenses such as first-class flights or luxury hotels are not considered expenses as they are not in the interests of the employer. Compensation for travelling to and from work does not count as expenses. Instead, these expenses constitute income subject to social security contributions. The company must declare the expenses paid for travelling to work on the salary statement, which means that they are subject to income tax for the employee. Caution: Salary statements are documents under criminal law. Deliberately or unknowingly filling out false salary statements can be considered forgery of documents.