Treatment of short-time allowance in the wage bill

For inheritance tax purposes, short-time allowances not borne by the company itself are also counted as part of the wage total.

The preferential treatment of business assets for inheritance tax purposes depends on compliance with certain payroll totals within the continuation period. The tax authorities have now clarified how short-time working, which affected or still affects many businesses due to the Corona crisis, affects the wage total and in doing so have made a decision in the interests of businesses. According to this ruling, when determining the payroll total, the expense for wages and salaries reported in the income statement is to be applied without deducting the short-time working allowance paid out by the Federal Employment Agency and recognized in profit or loss.

In cases where the short-time working allowance is treated as a transitory item in the balance sheet, it must be taken into account in addition to the reported wage and salary expenses when determining the payroll total, with the appropriate account statement. Thus, the temporary introduction of short-time work alone does not have any significant impact on the payroll total.