When must I declare maintenance payments in the tax return?

Divorced and permanently separated spouses can deduct maintenance payments to their ex-spouse as special expenses up to 13,805 Euro under income splitting. In return, the recipient must tax the payments as other income.

Income splitting allows the maintenance payer to claim their expenses for tax relief, while the maintenance recipient must declare these as other income. To deduct maintenance payments as special expenses, the payer must apply for the deduction, and the recipient must agree and confirm that they will tax the payments minus any income-related expenses. Consent to income splitting is given by submitting "Anlage U".

The income must be declared in Anlage SO in the line "Maintenance payments, insofar as they were deducted by the maintenance payer as special expenses".

Although maintenance payments are taxable, whether you actually have to pay tax on them depends on the amount of maintenance and other income. If you have little or no other income, the tax allowances and rates mean that not much tax will be due.