How can I claim maintenance payments to a person in need?
If you pay maintenance to a relative, you can claim this as extraordinary expenses for tax purposes, without any deductible being applied. However, the tax office will only consider the support if it is in a reasonable proportion to your net income. After deducting the maintenance payments from your net income, it must still be sufficient to cover your living expenses and those of your partner and children. This is the sacrifice limit, the limit up to which the tax office recognises your maintenance payments. The sacrifice limit does not apply to maintenance payments to your ex-spouse or permanently separated spouse. The same applies if you make maintenance payments to your destitute partner with whom you live in a shared household.
How is the sacrifice limit calculated?
The basis for calculating the sacrifice limit is your net income, i.e., all income (taxable and tax-free). This includes, for example, your salary, child benefit, but also unemployment benefit. Deductions include income tax, church tax, social security contributions, the solidarity surcharge, and the employee allowance or work-related expenses. The sacrifice limit is then one percent for every full 500 Euro of net income. For spouses, the joint income is used for the calculation. However, a maximum of 50 percent of your net income is recognised as the sacrifice limit. The percentage is reduced by five percentage points for each of your children for whom you receive child benefit and also by five percentage points for your spouse, but by no more than 25 percent in total.
Example: You are married, have two children, and support your parents with 9.000 Euro per year. Your annual net income is 24.000 Euro.
Net income: 24.000 Euro
- 1 percent for every full 500 Euro: 48 percent
- Less spouse: -5 percent
- Less 2 children: -10 percent
- Remaining: 33 percent
Your sacrifice limit is therefore 33 percent of 24.000 Euro, i.e., 7.920 Euro. Of your maintenance payments of 9.000 Euro, only 7.920 Euro are recognised. The maximum maintenance amount of 10.908 Euro (2023) also applies here, plus any contributions to health and nursing care insurance if you have paid such contributions for the maintenance recipient.
(2023): How can I claim maintenance payments to a person in need?
When must all persons be specified?
The tax office assumes that all maintenance payments are distributed equally among all household members.
The maintenance payments you have made are therefore divided equally among all supported persons living in the household, even if they are not entitled to maintenance.
Your father lives in a household with your sister. You pay your father 6.000 Euro and your sister nothing.
Your expenses are distributed equally between both people, i.e. since your sister is not entitled to maintenance, you can only claim the 3.000 Euro attributable to your father for tax purposes.
(2023): When must all persons be specified?
