Working while on DAAD scholarship. on PostgraduateForum.com

GretaA
2 years ago

Hi Everyone,

I am currently doing my master's studies at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. My master's study is financed through a DAAD scholarship which is 10332EURO. The scholarship in Germany is

tax-free

. I would have the chance to work as a student assistant earning 800 Euros/month, which is still tax-free. However, if I combine both of my monthly incomes I would be 1633 Euros, which would lead to a

yearly tax of 969Euros

. I looked also if this falls under the

progression clause (Progressionsvorbehalt)

but I couldn't find it.
My questions would be:
1. Is my scholarship tax-free if I have a mini-job?
2. Is this required to file tax returns in Germany?

Regards,
Greta

G

GretaA
2 years ago

Quote From GretaA:
Hi Everyone,

I am currently doing my master's studies at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. My master's study is financed through a DAAD scholarship which is 10332EURO. The scholarship in Germany is

tax-free

. I would have the chance to work as a student assistant earning 800 Euros/month, which is still tax-free. However, if I combine both of my monthly incomes I would be 1633 Euros, which would lead to a

yearly tax of 969Euros

. I looked also if this falls under the

progression clause (Progressionsvorbehalt)

but I couldn't find it.
My questions would be:
1. Is my scholarship tax-free if I have a mini-job?
2. Is this required to file tax returns in Germany?

Regards,
Greta

Can anybody redirect me to somebody who can help me out here?
Thank you

E

eng77
2 years ago

I am not expert in German tax systems but I would expect a "yes" to both questions. It is more likely that scholarship will not be included in tax calculations and you might not need to file a tax return but the saftest way is to file it anyway. There are some teams who can help with it at a cost of less than 100 Euro (https://www.vlh.de).
If you are going to file a tax return, it will be around April from next year and you can also fill it yourself if you know a bit of German or in English with an online platform for 30 Euro cost (https://www.steuergo.de/).