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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 declare 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 declare 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 tax is actually payable depends on the amount of maintenance and other income. If you have little or no other income, the allowances and flat rates of the tax tariff mean that not much tax will be due.

As a maintenance recipient, you should make your consent to income splitting conditional on the maintenance payer compensating you for any financial or non-financial disadvantages resulting from the taxation of maintenance payments.

(2022): When must I declare maintenance payments in the tax return?