What Your Job Search Costs, and What Germany Lets You Deduct

Looking for work in Germany costs money. Not a lot at a time, but it adds up: the tools you use, the printing, the train to an interview. What almost nobody tells job seekers is that German tax law already accounts for this. Those costs are Werbungskosten, income-related expenses, under §9 EStG.

This post is general information, not tax advice. Everything below links to independent German tax publications rather than asking you to take our word for it.

The Rule

Costs incurred while looking for work reduce your taxable income. That covers stationery and postage, travel to interviews, professional photos, and software or subscriptions used for applying, which is where a Kariyan subscription sits. It applies whether you are currently employed, between jobs, or unemployed.

For a digital application sent without a printed folder, the Cologne tax court accepted €2.50 per application as a reasonable estimate (FG Köln, 7 July 2004, Az. 7 K 932/03). Paper applications with a folder were put at €8.50. Every application Kariyan sends is digital, so €2.50 is the figure that applies.

One thing to be clear about: there is no legal entitlement to that flat rate. Tax offices commonly accept it and are generally lenient about proof for application costs, but it is an estimate courts have allowed, not a number you can demand.

A Deduction Is Not a Refund

This is the part that gets misrepresented most often, usually by people selling something. Werbungskosten reduce the income you are taxed on. They do not hand you back what you spent. If you deduct €200, you do not receive €200. You receive whatever €200 of untaxed income is worth at your marginal rate, and that depends entirely on your situation.

There is also a timing gap worth planning around. A German tax return covers the previous calendar year. Applications you send in 2026 are claimed in the 2026 return, which you file from January 2027. Nothing arrives next month.

Who It Actually Helps

If you are employed and already have real work expenses. Every employee automatically receives the Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag, a standard allowance that covers typical expenses. Only what exceeds it changes your bill. A daily commute of any length often uses most of that allowance on its own, so the marginal application cost lands on top and counts.

If you are looking for work with little or no income. This is the case people assume is hopeless, and it is the one where the rule is most useful. With no income to offset, your costs are recorded as a Verlustvortrag, a loss carried forward, and they reduce your tax once you are earning again. There is no time limit. The condition is that you file a return for each year, including the years with no income. Miss the filing and the carry-forward is not recorded.

If you are studying after a first completed degree or apprenticeship. A second qualification is treated as income-related expenses with no upper limit, and the same carry-forward applies.

Who It Does Nothing For

Two groups, stated plainly, because a page that only ever says yes is not worth reading.

If your costs were reimbursed. Anything the Agentur für Arbeit already paid for is not an expense you carried, so it cannot be deducted. If only part was covered, only the remainder counts.

If you are in a first degree or first apprenticeship. Costs of a first qualification are treated as special expenses, capped and with no carry-forward, which is worth nothing without taxable income. Whether job application costs specifically fall under that rule or count separately as expenses toward future employment is genuinely unsettled, and German tax publications do not agree with each other on it. Assume no effect and ask a Steuerberater about your own case.

Keep the Record Now, Because You Cannot Rebuild It

Whatever your situation, the practical advice is the same and it is time-sensitive. The Finanzamt can ask you to substantiate what you claimed. A log of dates, companies, and how you applied is what makes that easy, and you cannot reconstruct it a year later from memory.

The same record solves a second, more immediate problem. If you receive ALG I or II you have to demonstrate your Eigenbemühungen to a caseworker on a recurring deadline. It is the same list of applications, needed months before any tax return.

Kariyan keeps that record as you go and exports it as a spreadsheet with date, company, role, method and status. Only applications you actually sent appear in it, because one still waiting for your approval has not reached an employer and cannot honestly be shown to anyone.

The detailed breakdown by situation, with links to the tax publications behind each part, is on our Bewerbungskosten page.