German business-trip mileage — flat rate per km and tax-free reimbursement

Sources and assumptions

• gesetze-im-internet.de — BRKG § 5 Abs. 2 — tax year 2026, verified on September 23, 2026

  Excerpt from the source : « Besteht an der Benutzung eines Kraftwagens ein erhebliches dienstliches Interesse, beträgt die Wegstreckenentschädigung 30 Cent je Kilometer zurückgelegter Strecke. »

• gesetze-im-internet.de — BRKG § 5 Abs. 1 Satz 2 — tax year 2026, verified on September 23, 2026

  Excerpt from the source : « Sie beträgt bei Benutzung eines Kraftfahrzeuges oder eines anderen motorbetriebenen Fahrzeuges 20 Cent je Kilometer zurückgelegter Strecke, höchstens jedoch 130 Euro. »

Calculation assumptions

• The journeys are work-related and are neither trips to the regular place of work nor weekly trips home — those fall under the commuting allowance.
• EStG s. 9(1) sentence 3 no. 4a refers to the per-km rates of the BRKG. The EUR 130 ceiling in BRKG s. 5(1) is not a per-km rate and is not applied here.
• Bicycles are not covered: BRKG s. 5(3) refers to an administrative regulation that the statute itself does not contain.
• The vehicle is the employee's own and the employee bears its costs: EStG s. 9(1) sentence 3 no. 4a sentence 2 applies the per-km rate "instead of the actual expenses incurred by the employee through personal use of a means of transport". With a company car whose costs the employer bears, no such expenses arise — nothing is deductible and no reimbursement is tax-free under EStG s. 3 no. 16; this calculator does not apply to that case.