What donations are not tax-deductible?

The tax officer does not accept every donation and membership fee as a special expense.

Here are some examples:

The judge orders the defendant to pay a fixed amount to a charitable organisation. The convicted person cannot, of course, deduct this "involuntary" donation from their taxes, as it was not made voluntarily and without consideration.

Membership fees for sports clubs cannot be deducted by the taxpayer.

Contributions to carnival, local heritage, animal breeding or choral societies are also not recognised by the tax office.

However, there is a new development: If you belong to an organisation involved in nature, welfare, gender, animal or monument protection, you may deduct both your donations and membership fees from your taxes.

Membership fees to organisations promoting the following purposes are not deductible: Sport, cultural activities for leisure purposes (e.g. singing, music, theatre clubs), local heritage and folklore, animal and plant breeding, allotment gardening, traditional customs including carnival, soldiers' and reservists' support, amateur radio, model flying and dog sports.

Organisation A promotes science and research, while Organisation B also promotes sport according to its statutes. Donations and membership fees to Organisation A are deductible as special expenses, but for Organisation B, only donations are deductible, not membership fees. The decisive factor is the entry of the organisation's purpose in the statutes, not the actual activities of the organisation.

 

The Federal Fiscal Court has recently ruled that membership fees to organisations primarily serving leisure activities cannot be deducted as special expenses in income tax. This also applies if, for example, a music club promotes another purpose in addition to "cultural activities with self-interest", such as musical training, cultural and church music events, music festivals and music competitions (BFH ruling of 28.9.2022, X R 7/21).