What is the care allowance?

Many people care for a relative in need of care, either in their home or in their own home. They are often supported by outpatient care services. This selfless care service deserves the highest recognition. It is also honoured for tax purposes:

• The carer can claim the care allowance (§ 33b para. 6 EStG) and additionally deduct the expenses for the care service as extraordinary expenses, with the tax office applying a reasonable burden (§ 33 EStG).
• Alternatively, the carer can claim all expenses as general extraordinary expenses, subject to a reasonable burden, upon proof (§ 33 EStG).

The allowance is

• for care level 2: 600 Euro
• for care level 3: 1.100 Euro
• for care level 4 or 5 or helplessness: 1.800 Euro

If the care level is determined, changed or ceases for the first time during the calendar year, the care allowance is to be granted according to the highest level determined in the calendar year. The same applies if the person in need of care is "helpless".

The care allowance is based on the personal care and support of persons in need of care who are classified in care levels 2 to 5 in a home environment. Care includes, for example, assistance with daily activities where the person in need of care requires help.

• Activities in this sense include those in the area of personal hygiene (washing, showering, bathing, dental care, combing, shaving, bowel or bladder evacuation), nutrition (preparing food, eating), mobility (getting up and going to bed independently, dressing and undressing, walking, standing, climbing stairs, leaving and returning to the home) and household management (shopping, cooking, cleaning the home, washing up, changing and washing laundry and clothing, heating).
• Supportive or instructive services are also included. As the regulation focuses on personal care, personal care and support in the home of the person in need of care also leads to tax relief.
• The allowance does not exclude the possibility of claiming higher expenses as extraordinary expenses under § 33 EStG with individual proof.
• For the first time, care allowances are also introduced for care levels 2 and 3, without the criterion of "helplessness" being relevant. However, it cannot be ruled out that the legal requirements for "helplessness" may also generally apply to care levels 2 and 3.
• If the person in need of care meets the requirements for "helplessness", there is an entitlement to the highest allowance. However, another allowance cannot be claimed in addition.
• A condition for the granting of the care allowance is the provision of the tax identification number of the person in need of care in the carer's income tax return. This is to ensure that the allowance cannot be claimed in full more than once for the care of the same person in need of care.
• If a person in need of care is cared for by several carers, the care allowance is divided according to the number of carers.
• A condition for the granting of the care allowance is that the carer does not receive any income for their care. Income is generally any payments received by the carer as a result of the care, whether as care remuneration or as reimbursement for the carer's own expenses. BUT: In the case of parents of a disabled child, the care allowance received by the parents for the care of the child is not considered income.

What is the care allowance?

Who can apply for the nursing care allowance?

The care allowance can be claimed by those who look after a person in need of care in their own home or the home of the person being cared for. The allowance is granted to compensate for the burdens of care without the need for individual receipts. However, the conditions must be demonstrably met.

Amount of the care allowance:

• Care level 2: 600 Euro
• Care level 3: 1.100 Euro
• Care level 4 or 5 or helplessness: 1.800 Euro

Conditions:

The care must take place in the home of the person in need of care or in your own home. The person being cared for must be a close relative (e.g. spouse, child, parents, parents-in-law) or someone with a personal relationship such as a partner, friend, or neighbour.

Sharing the allowance

If several people share the care, the care allowance is divided equally. It does not matter who provides more care work. Example: If you and your mother jointly care for your father (care level 4 or 5), both receive 900 Euro each as an allowance.

Additional tax benefits

If you also provide financial support in addition to care, you can deduct up to 11.784 Euro in maintenance costs as extraordinary expenses (2024). However, this only applies if there is no entitlement to child benefit or the child allowance for the person being cared for.

Who can apply for the nursing care allowance?

How can I claim additional care costs?

Costs for a carer or costs related to illness and disability can be claimed as general extraordinary expenses instead of taking the care allowance. In this case, the deduction is not limited to the care allowance but is possible in unlimited amounts, although the tax office will apply a reasonable burden. The reasonable burden depends on your income, marital status, and the number of children you have, and amounts to one to seven percent of your total income.

You can also claim care services as household-related services. This way, you can receive a tax reduction of 20 percent of your costs, up to a maximum of 4.000 Euro, if you pay for a carer for yourself or a relative, or if an outpatient care service assists with the care.

How can I claim additional care costs?

Should I declare the actual costs or use the care allowance?

If you provide unpaid care for a person in need, you can claim the care allowance. The care allowance is

• for care level 2: 600 Euro
• for care level 3: 1.100 Euro
• for care level 4 or 5 or if the person is helpless: 1.800 Euro.

If you do not have higher expenses than a maximum of 1.800 Euro, this is also the best solution for you.

It is different if you have higher expenses, need to co-finance an additional carer or accommodation in a care home. In that case, it is more worthwhile to forgo the care allowance (also the disability allowance) and claim the actual expenses as extraordinary burdens.

These costs are then listed in the "Extraordinary Burdens" section as care costs (expenses due to care needs, expenses for caring for a relative or for accommodation in a care home).

If you have an income of 30.000 Euro per year, your reasonable burden as a married couple with one child is 746 Euro. If your expenses exceed this amount, it is worthwhile to declare them.

This can include various expenses such as food, laundry, cleaning or rent.

In your tax return, you can enter the actual expenses. However, these are not recognised in full. Your reasonable personal burden is deducted from this. This depends on your income, marital status and the number of your children and is calculated by the tax office. The reasonable personal burden is one to seven percent of the total income.

If your expenses are below the reasonable personal burden, it is not worthwhile to declare the costs in the tax return. If you are still above the maximum amount after deducting the personal burden, declare your care expenses as they actually occurred. However, you must then be able to prove the individual expenses. The care allowance can be claimed without individual proof.

Should I declare the actual costs or use the care allowance?

What applies to people with dementia?

Dementia is the most common and consequential psychiatric illness in old age. It is estimated that over 1.1 million people in Germany currently suffer from moderate to severe dementia, about two-thirds of them from Alzheimer's disease. Approximately 11,000 people are newly diagnosed each year. Since a cure for dementia is not yet possible, the focus of care for these individuals is on support and nursing.

About 60 per cent of all people with dementia are cared for at home by their relatives. Families are often supported by home care services. However, family and outpatient care are often overwhelmed, as caring for people with dementia involves special challenges. It requires a great deal of time, attention, and energy.

The diagnosis of dementia is by far the most common reason for admission to a care home. Well over half of the people living in nursing homes suffer from dementia.

The reasons for the need for care do not matter. It is irrelevant whether this is due to an accident, illness, disability, or simply age-related.

What applies to people with dementia?

What special features apply to care and support services?

Household-related services also include home care and support for individuals in need of care by mobile care services or self-employed carers, either in the carer's home or the home of the person in need of care.

Such care and support services can be deducted as household-related services up to 20.000 Euro at 20 percent, a maximum of 4.000 Euro per year, from the tax liability.

Unlike before 2008, it is now not necessary to determine and provide proof of the need for care or to differentiate between care levels or grades. It is sufficient if services for basic care, i.e. direct personal care (body care, nutrition, and mobility) or support, are used.

In 2019, the Federal Fiscal Court unfortunately ruled against the generous stance of the tax authorities, deciding that the tax reduction according to § 35a EStG is only granted for expenses incurred by a taxpayer for their own accommodation in a home or for their own care. However, the tax benefit is excluded for expenses incurred for another person, i.e. if children cover the costs for their parents (BFH ruling of 3.4.2019, VI R 19/17).

A few months after the BFH ruling, the Berlin-Brandenburg Fiscal Court also dealt with the assumption of care costs for a parent. However, this time it was not about covering the costs for residential care, i.e. accommodation in a home, but about covering the costs for outpatient care. The FG ruled as follows: § 35a EStG favours - if at all - only expenses for the outpatient care of relatives in the taxpayer's own household (i.e. the carer's), not for the outpatient care of relatives in their household (BFH ruling of 11.12.2019, 3 K 3210/19). However, a revision was explicitly allowed at that time. And now the positive BFH ruling is available.

Currently, the Federal Fiscal Court has ruled as follows: The tax reduction according to § 35a para. 2 sentence 2 first half-sentence EStG can also be claimed by taxpayers who incur expenses for the outpatient care and support of a third party. Consequently, children can deduct the costs for outpatient care of their parents if they have borne the costs. This also applies if the care and support services are not provided in the taxpayer's own household but in the household of the cared for or supported person (BFH ruling of 12.4.2022, VI R 2/20).             

However, the BFH also adds a complication, as it upholds its above-mentioned ruling from 2019. It distinguishes between covering the costs for residential care (= still not deductible) and covering the costs for outpatient care (= deductible), where in the second case it depends on who signed the care contract. Only if the payer, usually a daughter or son, is contractually obliged, i.e. pays on their own debt, are the costs deductible. If, on the other hand, payment is made on the debt of the cared for person, i.e. father or mother, because they signed the care contract, it is a tax-irrelevant third-party expense.

What special features apply to care and support services?

What is the difference between requiring care and being helpless?

Tax law distinguishes between "in need of care" and "helpless":

a)    In need of care

Persons are considered in need of care if they "require significant or greater assistance for ordinary and regularly recurring activities in daily life due to a physical, mental, or emotional illness or disability, on a long-term basis, expected to last at least six months" (§ 14 SGB XI).

The following persons are considered in need of care:

• Persons classified in one of the three care levels (until 2016) or one of the five care grades (from 2017) according to the Care Insurance Act §§ 14, 15 SGB XI.
• Persons with a significant impairment of everyday competence, so-called dementia patients (according to § 45a SGB XI).
• Persons with a severely disabled pass with the mark "H" or "Bl".
• Other persons receiving outpatient care with care costs invoiced separately by a recognised care service.
• Persons in a retirement or nursing home for whom care services of care rate level 0 are invoiced separately (BFH ruling of 10.5.2007, BStBl. 2007 II p. 764).

Proof is provided by the notice from the social care insurance fund or a private insurance company, the notice from the pension office or comparable authority with the relevant determinations, or the severely disabled pass with the mark "H" or "Bl".

The reasons for the need for care are irrelevant. It does not matter whether it is due to an accident, illness, disability, or simply age-related.

b)    Helplessness
Helpless are "persons who permanently require external help for a number of frequently and regularly recurring activities to secure their personal existence in the course of each day" (§ 33b para. 6 EStG).

Helpless persons possess a severely disabled pass with the mark "H" (helpless) or "Bl" (blind). The mark "H" was equivalent to care level III until 2016. Proof is provided by the severely disabled pass with the marks "H" or "Bl" and the notice from the pension office with the relevant determination or the notice from the social care insurance fund or insurance company (§ 65 para. 2 EStDV).

Since 2017, the classification of care needs has been much more differentiated into five care grades instead of the previous three care levels. The focus is on the actual support needs, measured by the degree of independence, regardless of whether someone has a mental or physical impairment. Physical, mental, and psychological impairments are recorded and included in the assessment of care needs (§ 14 SGB XI).

All persons in need of care who have previously received care insurance benefits will be transferred to the new system from 1.1.2017 without a new assessment. They do not need to apply for classification in a new care grade.

Since 2017, the classification in care grades 4 and 5 is equivalent to the mark "H". Persons in need of care with care grade 4 or 5 are therefore entitled to the increased disability allowance of 7.400 Euro (BMF letter of 19.8.2016, IV C 8-S 2286/07/10004).

Note: The new care grade 4 applies to the previous care level III and care level II with significantly impaired everyday competence. The new care grade 5 applies to the previous care level III with significantly impaired everyday competence and the hardship cases of care level III.

Conclusion: Persons in care level III (until 2016) or from 2017 with care grade 4 or 5 are both "in need of care" and "helpless". Persons in care levels I and II or with care grades 1 to 3 are only "in need of care", not "helpless".

• Expenses due to care needs in care level I, II or 0 are deductible as general extraordinary expenses according to § 33 EStG, insofar as they exceed the care allowance received from statutory or private care insurance. The expenses must be proven and will be reduced by the reasonable burden by the tax office. In this case, the carer cannot receive the care allowance according to § 33b para. 6 EStG.

• Expenses due to helplessness or care needs in care level III are also deductible as general extraordinary expenses according to § 33 EStG, insofar as they exceed the care allowance received. Instead, the increased disability allowance of 7.400 Euro can be claimed. The carer can receive the care allowance according to § 33b para. 6 EStG if they do not receive any income for the care.

What is the difference between requiring care and being helpless?