Apply for employee savings allowance 
Savings benefits invested?
Then an employee savings allowance may also be granted under certain conditions.
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Basic information
The employee savings allowance promotes the employee's capital formation through agreed capital-forming benefits (VL). These are funds that the employer invests for the employee in a specific form of investment (e.g. securities savings contract or building society savings contract).
The savings allowance amounts to 9% (in the case of a building society savings contract or direct use of the VL for housing construction) or 20% (in the case of so-called "participation savings") of the amount of the VL.
If two eligible contracts are concluded (e.g. a building society savings contract and a securities savings contract), the allowances are granted in parallel.
Requirements
The VL are eligible for savings allowances up to a maximum of EUR 470 per year (e.g. for a building society savings contract) or up to a maximum of EUR 400 per year (e.g. for an equity fund), provided that the employee's taxable income does not exceed EUR 17,900 (e.g. for a building society savings contract) or EUR 20,000 (e.g. for an equity fund).
In the case of joint taxation of spouses, the joint taxable income of the spouses may not exceed EUR 35,800 (e.g. in the case of a home loan and savings contract) or EUR 40,000 (e.g. in the case of an equity fund). The allowance is then granted at nine percent (42.30 euros) or 20 percent (80 euros).
If both spouses are employed, both can claim the savings allowance.
If your income exceeds the above-mentioned limits, but is within the limits for the granting of a housing construction premium, you have the option of claiming the VL paid into a building society savings contract as your own payments for the granting of the housing construction premium.
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Procedure
The employer pays the VL directly into a specific investment form set up by the employee at an institution on behalf of the employee. At the end of the calendar year, the employee receives a certificate from this institution showing the VL paid in ("Anlage VL"). You must enclose this "Anlage VL" with your application to the tax office for an employee savings allowance, which is submitted using the "Income tax return" form.
Unlike the employee savings allowance, the VL are part of your taxable salary. -
Competent Department
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Finanzamt Bremerhaven
- +49 471 596 99000
- Rickmersstraße 90, 27568 Bremerhaven
- Website
- office
@fa- bhv. bremen. de
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Finanzamt Bremen
- +49 421 361 90909
- Rudolf-Hilferding-Platz 1, 28195 Bremen
- Website
- office
@fa- hb. bremen. de
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Forms
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Income tax return
All forms can be downloaded from the form portal of the Federal Ministry of Finance
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Fees / Costs
gebührenfrei
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Deadlines & processing time
What deadlines must be paid attention to?
The application for an employee savings bonus can be submitted to the competent tax office within the four-year assessment period, just like the application for an income tax assessment. In most cases, the employee savings bonus is only paid out after the blocking periods have expired.
How long does it take to process
Since the application for the assessment of the employee savings bonus must be submitted together with the income tax return, the processing time depends on the processing time of the tax return.
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The official information in German is complete and correct. 25.07.2025