Remuneration for advertising on the employee's private car

A monthly allowance for displaying advertising for the employer on the employee's private car is generally part of the taxable wages.

A payment made by the employer to its employees for the attachment of a license plate holder bearing advertising is subject to wage tax. Even if there is a separate rental agreement for advertising space on the private car for the payment, the Münster Fiscal Court considers the payment to be wages. When assessing the overall circumstances, the triggering factor was the status of the payment recipients as employees and thus, in the broadest sense, their work activity, because there was no specific contractual arrangement that would have ensured the promotion of the advertising effect, for example, by using the vehicle in an advertising manner or prohibiting advertising for other companies.