Voluntary advance payment cannot be taken into account as a craftsman's service

The tax bonus for handyman services is only available if an invoice has already been issued and the service has been provided, which is why advance payments in the previous year are generally not recognized by the tax office.

Tax optimization plans do not always work out the way the taxpayer imagines: Anyone who transfers part of the estimated costs for a commissioned tradesman service in the previous year as a voluntary advance payment cannot claim this part as a tax-privileged tradesman service. The Düsseldorf tax court rejected a corresponding complaint because the plaintiff had not received an advance invoice from the tradesman for the advance payment, but had made the payment on his own initiative. However, an invoice from the tradesman is a prerequisite for the tax bonus.

However, even if the tradesman had issued an invoice on account, the claim might have failed, as the tax bonus is only granted for the use of tradesman services, which have not yet been used in the case of an advance payment. The decisive factor for the deduction is that the service has been provided and an invoice has been issued and paid to the service provider's account. The tax bonus is then granted in the year of payment (outflow principle), even if the service was provided in the previous year. With the voluntary advance payment, the plaintiff presumably wanted to circumvent the annual limit for the tax bonus, which is set at EUR 6,000 for labor costs, on which a maximum tax rebate of EUR 1,200 is then granted.