Neustadt ad Weinstrasse – Work less. come to rest. Just do something completely different: After the corona pandemic and the outbreak of the Ukraine war, high inflation and the energy crisis, many employees would like to take a temporary break from work, known in modern German as a sabbatical. In order for the project to succeed, a certain lead time is required. With clever planning, those in need of relaxation can even save taxes, as the Lohnsteuerhilfeverein Vereinigte Lohnsteuerhilfe e. V. (VLH) shows.
“Relax, Germany”. This is how the Techniker Krankenkasse titled its stress study from 2021. The title was chosen with care: after the corona pandemic, two out of three people said they were stressed “at least sometimes”, more than a quarter even frequently. A break from the job seems more tempting than ever. But what is the best way to plan a sabbatical? And how can the break be financed?
Step one: persuade
First the bad news: Unlike civil servants and employees in the public sector, employees are not entitled to a temporary break from their job. So you have to convince your employer of the idea.
However, there are good arguments for this: On the one hand, responsible managers have an interest in not overloading their team members. A longer break can also release unimagined new energies. And it saves the company a lot of money. Because no matter which structure the participants decide on: Employers always pay less salary – and thus less social security contributions.
Step two: secure liquidity – and save on taxes
However, the fact that the boss benefits financially does not mean that employees suffer massive disadvantages or have to finance their sabbatical entirely from their savings. On the contrary: If you negotiate cleverly, you can secure a constant income even during your time off – and even save on taxes.
A popular variant, for example, is a temporary wage cut in the run-up to the sabbatical. The employee continues to work full-time in the months before the planned break, but only receives part of the salary. The employer parks the excess amount in a working-time value account. This creates a credit that the company can use to pay the employee during the time off. The person concerned also receives a part-time salary during the sabbatical, even though he or she is no longer working.
This model has several advantages: On the one hand, the gross salary paid into the working-time account is exempt from social security and tax during the savings phase. Employees therefore only have to pay tax on the payments when they start their sabbatical. But then the deductions are usually lower, since not the full salary but only part of the salary is paid and the tax rate is therefore lower.
Another plus: Anyone who spends their time off in this way remains covered by social insurance without interruption and thus also benefits from their employer’s subsidies for health, nursing care, pension and unemployment insurance during the sabbatical.
Step three: Check alternatives
If the human resources department does not agree to the setting up of a working-time account – there is no legal entitlement to this – those interested must look for other ways of realizing their sabbatical. It is conceivable, for example, to apply for unpaid leave for the desired period. But even if the boss agrees, this variant cannot be recommended unreservedly.
The reason: In such a structure, employees not only have to get by without paying any salary at all. They also lose their social security grants and have to pay their health and long-term care insurance contributions out of their own pockets.
After all, the complete waiver of salary during the sabbatical can also reduce the tax burden here. Because if you earn less, you end up paying less tax.
The VLH: Germany’s largest income tax assistance association
The wage tax assistance association United wage tax assistance e. V. (VLH) is Germany’s largest income tax assistance association with more than a million members and around 3,000 advice centers nationwide. Founded in 1972, VLH also provides the most consultants certified according to DIN 77700.
The VLH prepares the income tax return for its members, applies for all tax reductions, checks the tax assessment notice and much more within the scope of the limited advisory authority according to § 4 No. 11 StBerG.