W.Christmas time is gift time. But at Christmas time, many people also feel the need to give something back to others who are not doing as well as they are. “Christmas time is time for donations. For many people, the cultural tradition of Christmas as a celebration of charity is still deeply rooted, ”says Burkhard Wilke, managing director and scientific director of the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI). “In the months of November and December, on average, twice as much is donated as in the other months of the year.” According to figures from the DZI, 11.7 billion euros were donated in Germany in the pandemic year – and this trend has been rising for years. “We expect a donation volume of around 12.5 billion euros this year,” says Wilke. Of this, 580 million euros went to the victims of the flood disaster in and around the Ahr valley last July. If you pay attention to a few things when donating, you can also get something reimbursed from the tax office in addition to the good feeling.
Donations include voluntary services to promote charitable, church and charitable purposes that are made without consideration. This also applies to donations in kind and certain expenses. Donations can be included in the tax return as special expenses, which reduces the taxable net income and the tax burden. Donations to recognized political parties are also deductible, but in contrast to charitable donations, 50 percent of a maximum of 1650 euros for individually assessed parties are deducted directly from the tax burden. They are therefore a special case and should not be discussed further at this point. According to the DZI, Germans prefer to donate for humanitarian and charitable purposes.