Which costs for pregnancy and childbirth can I claim?
All costs related to pregnancy and childbirth can be claimed as extraordinary expenses for tax purposes. This includes expenses such as medical costs, from which the tax office deducts a reasonable personal contribution. Additionally, amounts reimbursed by health insurance or other insurers must be deducted beforehand.
Recognised costs:
- Midwife, doctor, medication: Costs for midwives, medical treatments or prescribed medications are deductible.
- Travel expenses: Trips to the doctor, hospital or paediatrician are recognised. If you use public transport, the actual costs count; for trips in your own car, a flat rate of 30 cents per kilometre applies.
- Birth preparation and postnatal exercises: These course fees can be deducted if there is a medical necessity.
- Artificial insemination: These expenses are deductible, except after voluntary sterilisation.
- Non-prescription medication: Iron supplements and other non-prescription medications are also deductible if prescribed by a doctor.
Non-deductible costs:
Maternity clothing, initial baby equipment, furniture for the nursery or moving to a larger flat are not deductible.
Special conditions for hospital visits:
Visits to mother and child in hospital are only recognised in special hardship cases.
Hospital daily allowance and sickness benefit insurance:
Benefits from hospital daily allowance insurance must be offset against hospital costs, but not benefits from sickness benefit insurance.
Household help after birth
If you need household help after the birth, you can deduct the costs under "household-related services":
- Minor employment: 20%, maximum 510 Euro.
- Social security employment or service provider: 20%, maximum 4.000 Euro.
Special regulations for short-term employment:
If a household help is employed for a maximum of three months at a monthly salary of up to 538 Euro, this is considered short-term employment. Here too, 20% of the costs, up to a maximum of 4.000 Euro, can be deducted directly from the tax liability. Advantage: No flat-rate contributions to the mini-job centre are payable.
Further information on household-related services can be found in our tax tool.
Which costs for pregnancy and childbirth can I claim?
How should I document expenses for pregnancy and childbirth?
You must provide evidence of expenses for medication, remedies, or special courses, such as antenatal classes. The tax office also requires you to prove the medical necessity of the treatments. For this, you need a medical officer's certificate. It is important that the certificate was issued before the costs were incurred.
As soon as you have a certificate from your doctor recommending a particular measure or medication, collect the receipts. You can deduct expenses for pregnancy and childbirth together with other general extraordinary burdens if they exceed your reasonable personal burden. Only at the end of the year will it be clear how much your expenses for remedies and treatments actually are.
You can then use our overview to calculate whether it is worthwhile to include them in your tax return, as the tax office deducts your reasonable personal burden from the actual expenses. Only the remaining amount will reduce your tax.
How should I document expenses for pregnancy and childbirth?
