Scholarship for pandemic-related loss of income not tax-free

A scholarship that is primarily intended to compensate for loss of income due to the pandemic does not meet the requirements for the tax exemption of scholarships.

An artist must pay tax on the full amount of payments made by the public sector from a special scholarship program to cushion the loss of income caused by the coronavirus pandemic as income. The Berlin-Brandenburg tax court did not accept the reference to the tax exemption of scholarships to promote artistic development. The conditions for tax exemption were not met because the artist in question was not undergoing training or further education in the year in question. The promotion of artistic education presupposes that the measure is aimed at keeping up to date in the profession. Instead, the purpose of the grant was to continue the artistic activity in view of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.