Who can claim funeral expenses on their tax return?
Death certificate, funeral service, obituary and grave all incur costs. If the inheritance is less than the funeral expenses, the bereaved can deduct the costs from their taxes.
Funeral expenses for a close relative can under certain circumstances be claimed as extraordinary expenses for tax purposes.
You can only deduct funeral expenses as extraordinary expenses if you are legally obliged to cover the costs or have voluntarily paid for moral reasons and the estate is insufficient.
If the estate is greater than the funeral expenses, a deduction is not possible. A death benefit insurance payout also reduces the funeral costs.
If all this applies, the proven costs (i.e. submit invoices) can be claimed as extraordinary expenses. However, the reasonable personal burden is deducted.
Tip: The death benefit paid to the heir does not reduce the deductible extraordinary expenses if it is taxable. Otherwise, the bereaved would be disadvantaged twice for tax purposes - according to the Federal Fiscal Court's decision of 15.6.2023 (VI R 33/20).
(2023): Who can claim funeral expenses on their tax return?
Can I claim funeral expenses in an unlimited amount?
No, the tax office only recognises funeral expenses up to a "reasonable amount".
Since 2003, a reasonableness limit of 7.500 Euro has applied. However, this limit should not prevent you from claiming your expenses in full and listing them individually.
If the estate is higher than the funeral costs, a deduction is not possible. Payouts from a funeral benefit insurance also reduce the funeral costs.
Tip: Funeral benefits paid to the heir do not reduce the deductible extraordinary expenses if they are taxable. Otherwise, the bereaved would be doubly disadvantaged for tax purposes - according to the Federal Fiscal Court's decision of 15.6.2023 (VI R 33/20).
(2023): Can I claim funeral expenses in an unlimited amount?
Which costs are tax-deductible in the event of a death?
Deductible funeral expenses include costs for:
- Doctor's fee for post-mortem examination
- Flowers (e.g. decoration of the mourning hall, arrangements, grave decorations, wreaths, bouquets as grave offerings)
- Funeral directors (e.g. handling all formalities, dressing, laying out, bedding, hygienic care, organisation)
- Funeral stationery (e.g. obituaries in daily newspapers, club magazines, etc., letters, cards and thank-you notes)
- Travel expenses (e.g. journeys, funeral, funeral directors, handling formalities)
- Cemetery administration (e.g. fees for burial, funeral service, grave site usage fee)
- Fees (e.g. death certificate, obtaining documents for registration)
- Grave maintenance
- Grave site, grave cross, grave (memorial), gravestone (e.g. costs for erection, edging, initial planting, gravestone inscription, stonemason, border)
- Musical arrangement of the funeral service by organists or other musicians
- Postage (e.g. for obituaries, thank-you notes and correspondence)
- Coffin for burial or cremation (with coffin fittings)
- Pallbearers
- Interest on debts (for loan to pay funeral expenses)
- Shroud
- Funeral service (only expenses for organisation, invitations, etc.)
- Funeral orator
- Transport
- Decorative urns
(2023): Which costs are tax-deductible in the event of a death?
Which costs are not recognised by the tax office?
The following funeral expenses are not recognised by the tax office:
- Costs for catering for funeral guests (funeral meal)
- Purchase of mourning clothes for the mourning period/funeral
- Travel expenses for close relatives to attend a funeral
(2023): Which costs are not recognised by the tax office?
