Saving money as a student? Lynn Bijlsma gives 5 tips!
Did you know that you enjoy many tax benefits as a student? Jan de Belastingman helps you with handy tips to avoid missing out on money unnecessarily.
Tax benefits for students
Are you a student and are you sometimes a bit short on money? Are you eating dirty pasta pesto for the fifth time because you are waiting for your DUO? Do you hear about benefits and savings but don't feel like looking it up? Jan the Taxman helps you! In this article, Jan the Tax Man explains how you can take advantage of one of the many tax breaks the government has for students. Check out these five tips and get smart with your money and your tax return.
Tax tip 1: Apply for care allowance and health care cost deduction
Did you know that you can receive a care allowance from the tax authorities every month to cover the cost of your health insurance? Health insurance is very expensive and mandatory. Every year the tax authorities calculate the amount of your health care benefit by looking at your income and assets. This is very useful if you cannot work (much) because you are studying full-time. Just make sure you apply for your health care benefit for 2021 in the right way. Wondering how this works exactly? Jan de Belastingman can help you via the chat!
In addition, not only can you enjoy reimbursement as a student but your healthcare expenses are also deductible. These are specific healthcare expenses that you may deduct while filing your tax return. Think of medication costs, dental costs or treatment from a physical therapist. Of course, there are certain conditions you must meet. For example, you can only deduct healthcare expenses that do not fall under your deductible excess and that are not reimbursed by your health insurance company. These conditions also apply to healthcare costs incurred abroad. You can save a lot of money during the annual income tax return!
Tax tip 2: Apply for rent allowance.
This is a well-known tip. As a student, you can enjoy a rent allowance. This can reduce your rent by hundreds of euros. Are you now thinking, "I live in Amsterdam and my rent is really high for a very small room, and I could definitely use a relief". Be careful though, it can't just happen! There are several conditions you must meet to receive it. For example, you must have your own living (sleeping) room, your own kitchen with sink, and your own toilet with a water flush. This is what is known as independent housing. You have an independent dwelling if, for example, you rent a shared floor or unfree floor or if you rent part of a split dwelling. And now comes the extra benefit for students, because you can also qualify for rent allowance if you live in a student complex and only rent a small room. So very chill! Lots of rules and lots of exceptions, but do you think you will be eligible for a rent allowance in 2021? Check it out by talking to Jan de Belastingman for one minute!
Tax tip 3: deduct your study costs and travel expenses
Are you working your butt off and need to spend your hard-earned money right back on the latest edition of the Pitlo of Operations Mangement? Then Jan the Taxman has a good tip for you as a working student. You can deduct your study costs from your taxes during the annual tax return. Important here is that you are not entitled (anymore) to study financing. In addition, it is really a study or training that you must follow for your (future) profession.
Finally, you may only deduct necessary costs such as tuition fees and learning materials you cannot do without (books or certain software). You may deduct up to 15,000 euros per year from your taxes. If you are under 30, there is no maximum. This can be a lot of money! Super handy if you want to spend your well-earned salary on a nice lunch, in addition to all those expensive textbooks.
Are not only the cost of your textbooks very high but you also have to travel fat far to work? Don't have a car and do you do this all by public transport? Then you may be able to deduct your travel expenses during your annual tax return. There are a few conditions attached to this: you have to travel further than ten kilometers to work and you do this one day or several days a week. In addition, you need a public transportation statement and a travel statement from your employer. This will make traveling to work a lot more fun if you know you can deduct this during your tax return!
Want to know more about this or need extra help from an expert? Jan de Belastingman is ready and happy to help you with all your tax questions. Start the conversation!
Tax tip 4: municipal tax remission
Did you know that low-income people can apply for remission of municipal taxes? Who would have thought that you have to pay so much tax for water? You can apply for remission of municipal taxes in the municipality where you live. Which taxes and the conditions for remission vary from one municipality to another. For example, you can apply for remission of water taxes, garbage charges, sewer charges and other municipal taxes. A partial remission can save you a lot of money each month, which can amount to hundreds of euros. As a student, you often earn little which makes you more likely to qualify for a remission of municipal taxes. All you have to do is send your income details and details of your bills to the municipality. The municipality often does not take long to process this data, so you will have certainty quickly! Do you think "shit, if only I had known this earlier, I have already paid everything" no worries, you can still apply for the waiver, even if you have already paid! A big saving tip!
Tax tip 5: Payroll taxes for students
The final tip is to save by simply filing a tax return. Some people do not get an invitation to file a tax return even though they can get money back. For example, students with side jobs. During your side job, your employer often pays payroll tax on your salary This can be seen as a kind of advance payment on your income tax return, since the payroll tax is offset against the final amount you have to pay in taxes and therefore often comes to zero and you don't have to pay anything because you have already done so during the year. The problem is that this payroll tax assumes that you are employed for the entire year, when in fact you only do it for a few months. So you can reclaim your miscalculated payroll taxes by simply filing a tax return! Jan de Belastingman is happy to help you through this process, so start the conversation!
So save lots of money with these handy tips from Jan de Belastingman!
Did you get all excited and think I have to check all this out! Make sure you do this the right way and with the help of Jan the Taxman. It was already mentioned in this article that you can also save a lot of money by doing your tax return in the right way. Jan the Taxman prevents people from unnecessarily leaving money on their tax return. In addition, Jan the Taxman can very easily remove your uncertainty that you may experience when filing your tax return through his quick and clear explanations. Save money and follow these tips! For students, all pennies are welcome and this way you have to worry less about money and tax issues and you can focus more on your studies. Win-win in other words!