First or second training, that is the question! Nwb experts blognwb experts blog

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You can hear politicians of all stripes, should Education is always encouraged. After all, education is the future of the republic. In tax law, however, this looks rather chaotic when it comes to the question of whether there is initial or second training.

First of all, the second training, i.e. further vocational training or a degree, after having already completed vocational training or a Education has been completed, anticipated advertising costs are worth their weight in gold. The reason: in the case of a second education, the child can estimate its training costs as anticipated advertising costs, have a loss carryforward determined and then offset it against income in one fell swoop when the start of working life is there. If the design works, something can really come around.

On the other hand, secondary training is also disadvantageous. Because the legislator has also regulated that after completing initial vocational training or a first degree, child benefit may only flow if the child is not employed. Employment with up to 20 hours of work per week, training contracts and mini jobs are not harmful, but in practice a distinction must be made between first and second training.

This is not as easy as it sounds. The BFH (Az: III R 14/15) recently decided: If a child takes up a course of study after completing a commercial apprenticeship that requires employment, the course of study no longer represents an integral part of a uniform initial training course Sections of training can still be considered as uniform initial training, there must be a close link in the factual and technical as well as in the temporal context.

When can it be given? The BFH has accepted this close connection in various decisions: For example, the completed vocational training as a tax clerk within the framework of a dual bachelor’s degree in tax law is not an independent initial training (Az: III R 52/13). The following also applies (Az: XI R 1/14): A child who is completing a dual course of study (here: bachelor’s degree with a focus on business informatics with parallel training to become a computer scientist) has not yet completed initial training with the successful completion of a course-integrated practical training in one Apprenticeship (here: IT specialist) ended, but the initial training continues in any case until the completion of a parallel Bachelor’s degree.

Finally, the BFH (Az: VI R 9/15) made a decision contrary to the opinion of the financial authorities with regard to bachelor’s and master’s degrees: a master’s degree is in any case part of a uniform initial training if it is coordinated in time and content with the previous bachelor’s degree and only then can the professional goal be achieved.

In practice, you should pick the best out of it.

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2 thoughts on “first or second training, that’s the question! "

Since I want to submit my first tax return this year, I want to do everything right. Thank you, therefore, for the fact that I will probably be able to bill my studies as a second degree. Just as described at the beginning, I hope to have expenses from my Bachelor’s degree deducted as advertising costs.

I never used a tax advisor when I was young, but I am sitting in front of my first tax return. The question of whether my studies are first or second degree is why I’m introducing myself for the first time. As it sounds with you, my aborted training after school was not a first degree and really only the university education counts.