Providing tax-deductible expenses

Each year, the Social Security Centre (Centre commun de la sécurité sociale - CCSS) sends farm operations a form which they use to declare their operating expenses.

These expenses will be deducted from the declared farm income to work out the farmer's contribution base.

Persons concerned

Farm managers affiliated at the luxembourgish social security system.

How to proceed

At the beginning of each year, after the Rural Economy Department (Service d'économie rurale - SER) or the Wine Institute (Institut viti-vinicole - IVV) have determined the flat-rate farm income (as a standard gross margin), the CCSS sends farm operations a form called 'Declaration of operating expenses' ('Betriebskostenerklärung'). The data provided on the form refers to the expenses of the previous year.

The form must be completed and signed by the farm manager, and must be returned to the CCSS within the time limit specified on the form, together with the relevant supporting documents.

Operating expenses that may be deducted from farm income include:

• rental expenses for buildings and land ('Pachtausgaben');

Supporting documents for declared lease expenses must be provided to the CCSS.

• interest from agricultural business loans;

A certificate for each of the farm's loans, issued by the financial institution, must be attached to the 'Declaration of operating expenses' form.  

• salaries of employees affiliated with the farm;  

Salaries declared to the CCSS on a monthly basis and employer contributions are automatically deducted from the farm income declared by the SER. No additional declaration is required.

• allowances or compensation paid to casual farm workers (e.g. seasonal grape pickers);

The farm manager must indicate the casual workers from the previous year on a list, which the CCSS attaches to the 'Declaration of operating expenses'. For any seasonal workers who do not have a social security number, the farm manager must provide their name as well as their date of birth, and attach a copy of their identity document to the form. They must also indicate the duration of the occupation and the net compensation of each person occupied.