How can I claim maintenance payments to a person in need?
Maintenance payments to dependants in need can be claimed as extraordinary expenses for tax purposes, without any deductible being applied. It is important to note that the tax office will only recognise these payments if they are proportionate to your net income. After deducting the maintenance payments, your income must be sufficient to support yourself, your partner, and your children. This limit is referred to as the sacrifice limit.
No sacrifice limit for maintenance payments to ex-partners
The sacrifice limit does not apply to maintenance payments to your ex-partner, permanently separated partner, or a dependant with whom you live in a shared household.
Calculation of the sacrifice limit
The sacrifice limit is calculated based on your net income, which includes wages, child benefit, and unemployment benefit, minus taxes, social security contributions, and work-related expenses. For every full 500 Euro of net income, the sacrifice limit is 1 percent. For married couples, the joint income is taken into account. However, a maximum of 50 percent of the net income is recognised. The percentage is reduced by 5 percent per child for whom you receive child benefit, and by 5 percent for the spouse, but by no more than 25 percent.
Example of calculating the sacrifice limit
You are married, have two children, and support your parents with 9.000 Euro per year. Your net income is 24.000 Euro per year.
- Net income: 24.000 Euro
- 1 percent per 500 Euro = 48 percent
- Deduction for spouse: -5 percent
- Deduction for two children: -10 percent
- Remaining sacrifice limit: 33 percent
Your sacrifice limit is therefore 33 percent of 24.000 Euro, i.e. 7.920 Euro. Of the 9.000 Euro maintenance payments, 7.920 Euro are recognised.
Maximum maintenance amount
In 2024, the maximum maintenance amount is 11.784 Euro. This amount can be increased if you also pay health and nursing insurance contributions for the maintenance recipient.
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 allocated to your father for tax purposes.
When must all persons be specified?
