Documentation of Sunday, public holiday and night work

If it is clear that the work was performed on Sundays, public holidays or at night and the other statutory requirements are met, inaccurate documentation of the working hours is not detrimental to the tax exemption of the bonuses.

In order for the tax office to recognize bonuses for Sunday, public holiday or night work as tax-free, it usually requires an exact record of the working hours. Because only a period of time and the number of hours worked was recorded instead of the exact time of the start and end of night work, the tax office therefore refused to grant an employer tax exemption for the bonuses. The Schleswig-Holstein tax court disagreed with this and found that less accurate records are harmless as long as the legal requirements for tax exemption are demonstrably fulfilled. In this case, it was undisputed that night work was performed; the only issue was the extent of the recording obligation.