Commuter Allowance 2026 (Pendlerpauschale & Pendlereuro)
Definition
The Pendlerpauschale (commuter allowance) under § 16 (1) Z 6 EStG is a flat amount for the trip between home and the workplace. It lowers the wage tax base, not the tax itself. The small allowance applies from 20 km when public transport is reasonable, the large one from 2 km when it is not. In 2026 it ranges from €372 to €3,672 a year. On top comes the Pendlereuro (§ 33 (5) Z 4 EStG), €6 per km a year, straight off the tax.
Amounts by distance and year
Annual amounts at 11 or more commuting days a month; a twelfth of that per month. The small allowance starts only at 20 km. The Pendlereuro rose from €2 to €6 per km on 1 January 2026. 2027: preview as currently known.
The rules
- Commuting days: From 11 commuting days a month the full allowance applies, from 8 days two thirds, from 4 days one third. Below that there is none.
- Reasonableness: Whether public transport is reasonable depends mainly on travel time. If at least half the distance is not reasonable, the large allowance applies.
- Pendlereuro: Anyone getting a Pendlerpauschale also gets the Pendlereuro: €6 per km of one-way distance a year, as a credit straight off the tax.
- Company car: If the employer provides a car for the commute there is no Pendlerpauschale. A company bicycle does not count against it.
- Claiming it: You give the employer a declaration on the official form and the allowance applies in the monthly wage tax; otherwise through the annual tax return.
Example: gross €4,230/month (Vienna, 2026)
The median full-time salary 2026 (forecast), plus an assumed 30 km commute without reasonable public transport on every working day. The large allowance works at the marginal rate of 40.00%, the Pendlereuro in full.
See also
- Einkommensteuertarif, the marginal rate the allowance works at.
- Gewerkschaftsbeitrag, other Werbungskosten next to the flat allowance.
- •§ 16 Abs 1 Z 6 EStG 1988 (RIS)
- •§ 33 Abs 5 Z 4 EStG 1988 (Pendlereuro)