German accounting fees

Since you usually use your current account to receive salary payments from your employer, you should also use the account professionally in this case.

This means that the costs that you are charged by your bank for managing the account are at least in part, professionally motivated and thus serve to secure and maintain your income. By definition, this means that the account management fees can be claimed as professional expenses. You enter these professional expenses in Appendix N of the tax declaration, where you can enter all information on the non-self-employed activity.

To what extent are account management fees recognized in tax returns?

All tax offices recognize a maximum amount of up to 16 Euros per year as account management fees. This applies to income from employment. A proof of the actual allocation of the use of the account is not necessary with this amount. If you incur account management fee higher than 16 Euro per year, you must provide proof of this to the tax office. However, this is usually unlikely in the case of an employee.

Accounting fees for landlords

If you earn income from renting and leasing, you can deduct an amount of 16 Euros for each account used in this regard as professional expenses. These are also described in the rental and leasing income. The situation is different if the account is used exclusively by you in the context of the lessor activities. In this case, you can also specify the actual accounting fees in your tax return. These can easily go far beyond the flat-rate amount of 16 Euros as a result of paper-based credit transfers and other bookings and you would have a tax disadvantage if you do not claim these tax-deductible costs.
By the way, many common tax programs in the tax return of employees and workers carry the accounting fee of 16 Euros independently, so that you do not have to worry about it anymore. However, if you create your explanation on classic paper forms or via Elster, you will have to consider this entry in Appendix N. 16 Euros is not much, but it is well known that little drops of water make a mighty ocean and you should not give the tax office anything they are not entitled to by law.