Collecting bottles has become a source of income for many people in Germany. Whether as a hobby or out of necessity: people collect bottles in order to make money from bottle deposits.

The most important thing about bottle collecting and job centers in brief:

  • Bottle collecting is subject to tax under certain conditions
  • There was a case involving a homeless woman in Düsseldorf
  • She won: her income was not credited

The inconsistent deposit systems in Germany are not understandable to everyone at first glance: there are 8 cents on beer bottles, but sometimes also 15 cents or even 25 cents. 25 cents on PET bottles, but not always, some PET only have a deposit value of 15 cents. Please also note our information article “ Deposit values ​​in Germany ”.

However, precisely because there are so many deposit systems and vessels that have a deposit value, collecting bottles represents a source of income for many people.

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But what about collecting bottles: Is this already considered a taxable source of income? A special case is currently emerging on social media, which is also causing outrage: a homeless person was credited with the income from collecting by the job center.

What may sound crazy at first glance is actually not fake. However, the story is longer.

Fact check bottle collecting

In fact, bottle collecting is taxable in Germany if the basic allowance of 8,472 euros per year (including all income) is exceeded. Exception at this point: This only applies if the income from deposit collection is more than €256 per year ( compare ) and you are above the tax-free amount. At this point we are also talking about income, not about regular deposit returns.

And now there is this case from Düsseldorf in which a deposit bottle collector was credited with the income from collecting bottles. According to various media reports, there were originally inconsistencies in her application, due to which the job center rejected her application for the standard benefit ( see here ).

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Press report from the NRW judiciary

The primary concern was probably whether the 53-year-old was homeless or not and to what extent she was entitled to the standard rate. The issue in this case was whether she could be given credit for collecting bottles. In this case, the Düsseldorf Social Court decided:

After extensive evidence, the chamber was able to convince itself that the plaintiff was homeless and often spent the night on the property of her former partner's mother. However, your need for help is clear in any case. She has neither income nor assets, nor does she live in a community of need with another person. She is therefore entitled to the standard requirement.

Only the child benefit that was generally available to her as a beneficiary of child benefit for her daughter may be taken into account. The income from collecting returnable bottles was so low that in this individual case it had to remain exempt. This is because the plaintiff's situation is not influenced so favorably that benefits from the job center are not justified.

(See also press report from the Justice Department of North Rhine-Westphalia )

As you can see from the press release from the NRW Justice Department, this is a case-by-case decision. This decision does not fundamentally state that bottle collecting cannot be taken into account, but rather that it must be considered in each individual case how much influence the income from bottle collecting has on the situation of the collector.

Article image bottle collecting by Matthias Roehe / Shutterstock.com


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )