How much school fees can I deduct?

If your child attends a private or predominantly privately funded school, you can deduct 30 per cent of the school fees, but no more than 5,000 Euro per child, as special expenses for tax purposes.

This maximum amount applies per child and is granted to each pair of parents only once. The costs are taken into account for the parent who paid them. If the parents paid the school fees jointly, each can claim costs up to half the maximum amount (2.500 Euro). However, you can agree on a different distribution with your spouse.

If you are not (or no longer) married to the other parent or are separated, you should consider the distribution carefully to maximise the deductible amount.

A child attends a private school that meets all the requirements for the school fee deduction. The mother and father are not married. The mother pays 1.000 Euro in school fees per year, the father 10.000 Euro. If both partners do not intervene in the distribution, the following picture emerges:

Mother: 30 per cent of 1.000 Euro = 300 Euro

Father: 30 per cent of 10.000 Euro = 3.000 Euro (maximum 2.500 Euro).

As a result, 500 Euro of the maximum amount is not used.

Here, the mother and father can agree to distribute the maximum amount differently, for example in proportion to their contributions. Then the father could deduct 30 per cent of 10.000 Euro = 3.000 Euro (maximum 4.545 Euro) and the mother 30 per cent of 1.000 Euro = 300 Euro (maximum 455 Euro). The joint maximum amount of 5.000 Euro is not exceeded.