**Yes, generally.** Partner points earned through your affiliate business are remuneration for your services. Paying you in store credit or goods rather than euros does not make that remuneration exempt from German income tax. The tax authorities likewise treat products received through commercial online activity as income in kind (*Sachzuwendungen*). [Bavarian tax authority guidance, p. 8](https://www.lfst.bayern.de/fileadmin/RESSOURCEN/INFORMATIONEN/Steuerinfos/Zielgruppen/Influencer/FAQ_Influencer_BayLfSt.pdf)

There are two separate issues:

- **When to record the income:** Assuming you use an *Einnahmenüberschussrechnung* (EÜR), receipt—*Zufluss*—generally determines the tax year. Depending on the programme’s terms, that could occur when usable store credit becomes available, rather than only when you receive the guitar. You should not automatically wait until redemption. [§ 11 EStG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__11.html)
- **Whether the guitar’s cost is deductible:** If you buy it for personal use, its cost does not reduce your business profit. If it is used for your website business, an allowable business deduction may apply, potentially through depreciation. Mixed business and personal use requires closer examination. [§ 4 EStG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__4.html), [§ 12 EStG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__12.html)

For example, if you have already recorded €500 of affiliate credit as business income and spend it on a €500 personal guitar, you do **not** record another €500 of income upon redemption. The personal purchase simply provides no business deduction.

Your regular employment does not change that principle: the side business’s taxable profit is included alongside your employment income. [Tax authority guidance, pp. 3–4](https://www.lfst.bayern.de/fileadmin/RESSOURCEN/INFORMATIONEN/Steuerinfos/Zielgruppen/Influencer/FAQ_Influencer_BayLfSt.pdf)

The details needed to settle the **timing and euro valuation** are the points’ redemption rules, whether they are immediately usable or conditional, your accounting method, and whether the guitar is for business or personal use.