What tax allowances or considerations apply for children with disabilities?

Child benefit, child allowance and BEA allowance

You can receive child benefit and use the child allowance and the allowance for care, education or training needs (BEA allowance) indefinitely for your disabled child beyond the age of 18 or 25 if your child's disability occurred before the age of 25. At the same time, you are also entitled to further tax benefits linked to child benefit for disabled children, such as the child supplement for pension allowance.

Disability allowance

Depending on the degree of disability, each disabled person is entitled to a disability allowance, which covers all ongoing, typical additional expenses directly related to the disability. This amount ranges from 384 to 7.400 Euro.

Tip: Parents can have the child's allowance transferred to them if their child has no taxable income.

Care allowance

In addition to the disability allowance, you can claim the care allowance. The allowance is granted directly to the caring parents. The allowance amounts to

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

Tip: The care allowance is an annual flat rate. You will receive it in full even if you have not cared for your disabled child for the entire year. This may be the case, for example, if your child is accommodated in a home during the week.

Exceptional expenses

Costs arising from your child's disability, e.g. accommodation in a home or costs for an outpatient care service, can be deducted as exceptional expenses in the tax return.

Tip: This is worthwhile if the costs are much higher than the disability and care allowance, as you must forgo the allowance when deducting the costs as exceptional expenses.

Childcare costs

Parents can deduct up to 80 per cent of their childcare costs, up to a maximum of 4.800 Euro per child, as special expenses. This also applies to non-disabled children up to the age of 14. For disabled children, you can also claim childcare costs beyond this. Proof is usually provided by the disability card, the notice from the pension office, the pension notice or a medical report. The disability must have occurred before the age of 25.

If the family benefits office rejects your application for child benefit, but you believe you are entitled to it, you should lodge an objection within the legally prescribed period. The decision of the family benefits office will then be reviewed again.

What tax allowances or considerations apply for children with disabilities?

Must the child's tax identification number be provided?

Parents can deduct their child's health insurance contributions as special expenses if they are entitled to child benefit or the child allowance. This also applies to children in vocational training.

From 1 January 2023, parents must provide their child's tax identification number in their tax return to claim the contributions as special expenses.

Must the child's tax identification number be provided?

When will I receive child benefit and allowances for my child?

To receive child benefit, the child allowance or the allowance for childcare, education or training needs (BEA), the same conditions as for child benefit must be met. There are two different legal bases for entitlement to child benefit:

• Taxpayers are entitled to child benefit under the Income Tax Act (§ 31 f. and § 62 ff. EStG).
• Persons who are not or only partially subject to tax are entitled under the Federal Child Benefit Act.

Germans with a residence or habitual abode in Germany can apply for child benefit. The same applies to Germans living abroad who are either subject to unlimited income tax in Germany or are treated as such. Foreigners living in Germany can apply for child benefit if they have a permanent residence permit.

Important: Child benefit that has been approved is paid retroactively only for the last six months before the beginning of the month in which the application for child benefit was received. Therefore, even if child benefit is approved retroactively for a whole year, it is actually only paid for the last six months.

When will I receive child benefit and allowances for my child?

Do I receive the same amount of child benefit for all children?

In the past, if you had multiple children, you did not receive the same amount of child benefit for each child. However, since 2023, the rate has been standardised. The entitlement to child benefit is:

Child benefit is paid for children up to the age of 18. The child's income is irrelevant.

The entitlement continues for children over 18 until their 25th birthday, as long as they are in education or doing voluntary service. Child benefit is paid by the family benefits offices of the Federal Employment Agency. Public sector employees or recipients of pension payments receive the money from their employers.

Do I receive the same amount of child benefit for all children?

Who is entitled to child benefit and tax allowances?

Child benefit is not income-dependent and is paid if there is an entitlement. One requirement is the child's age, the other is the so-called child relationship.

A child relationship generally exists for children who are directly related to you. These are primarily your biological children, whether legitimate or illegitimate. Adopted children are also directly related to you. A child relationship also exists for a foster child if they live in your household and you have a permanent supervisory, care, and educational relationship with them. The custody and care relationship with the biological parents must no longer exist. Occasional visits from the biological parents are harmless.

Child benefit is also paid if you have taken in a stepchild or grandchild in your household. In these cases, however, there is no child relationship in the sense of tax law. Therefore, step- or grandparents are not automatically entitled to a child allowance, but only if the biological parents transfer the child allowances to the new guardians.

They can then also benefit from other tax advantages, such as the training allowance. This can be useful if the biological parents pay little or no tax themselves, for example, because they are still studying.

Until the child's 18th birthday, no further requirements need to be met for the entitlement to child benefit and allowances other than the existing child relationship. From the child's 18th birthday, child benefit is only available for children who are in education or doing voluntary service. Child benefit may also be considered for unemployed children.

Who is entitled to child benefit and tax allowances?

What is the child allowance?

Child benefit and child allowance provide tax relief for parents to help offset the financial burdens of having a child. The entitlement to child benefit exists automatically from birth, but must be applied for in writing – usually at the family benefits office.

Important: The entitlement to child benefit or the child allowance is not for the child, but for the parents or guardians.

Child Benefit

Child benefit is paid monthly and is tax-free. The amount depends on the number of children. It is usually transferred by the family benefits office to the parents' account.

Child Allowance

The child allowance is not paid out but deducted from taxable income during income tax assessment. It thus reduces the tax burden.

Child benefit is considered an advance payment on the child allowance. The tax office automatically checks during the tax assessment which is more favourable for the parents – child benefit or allowance (→ favourable assessment).

Child allowances in 2025:

• 6.672 Euro for jointly assessed parents
• 3.336 Euro per parent for individual assessment
• 2.928 Euro BEA allowance (for care, education and training)

Duration of Entitlement

There is an entitlement to child benefit or child allowance:

• until the child's 18th birthday
• until the age of 25 if the child is in education, training or voluntary service
• Indefinitely if the child is disabled and cannot support themselves

What is the child allowance?

What impact does my child's stay abroad have on the child allowance?

Child Allowance During a Stay Abroad

The child allowance and the BEA allowance (for care, education, and training) are also available to parents if their child lives abroad – provided the parents are fully liable to income tax in Germany.

Reduction of Allowances for Permanent Stay Abroad

The child's place of residence affects the amount of the allowances. Depending on the country of residence, they can be reduced by a quarter, half, or three quarters. The basis is the country group classification of the Federal Ministry of Finance, which is based on living costs. It affects:

• Child allowance
• BEA allowance
• Training allowance
• Childcare costs

No reduction

Child Benefit During a Stay Abroad

For children residing in an EU or EEA country, the entitlement to child benefit continues, provided no comparable family benefits are received abroad.

Outside the EU and EEA, child benefit is only possible if the child still has a domestic residence or their usual place of residence in Germany.

Conditions for a Continuing Residence in Germany

A child who lives longer than a year outside the EU or EEA is considered resident in Germany according to the BFH only if:

• appropriate living space is permanently available with the parents,
• they can use it at any time,
• and they use the accommodation regularly during non-term times (holidays).

(BFH ruling of 28.04.2022, III R 12/20)

Practical Advice for Longer Stays Abroad

• Short visits are not sufficient to maintain residence.
• Financial reasons do not excuse missing home visits.
• Parents should keep travel receipts and study documents.

Special Features for Studying Abroad

• For a one-year study abroad, the child benefit entitlement remains – even without a home visit.
• If the stay is extended, stricter requirements apply from that point (majority of time in Germany during holidays).
• Exam preparations abroad do not count as holiday time.

BFH rulings of 21.06.2023 (III R 11/21) and 20.02.2025 (III R 32/23)

Special Regulations for Social Security Agreements

In countries with a social security agreement (e.g. Turkey), special child benefit regulations apply. Please seek individual advice.

What impact does my child's stay abroad have on the child allowance?

Which costs cannot be deducted as school fees?

Not all costs can be claimed for tax purposes. For example, if your child attends a boarding school, the expenses for accommodation, care and meals for your child must be deducted. School clothing and travel to school are also not tax-deductible as school fees.

The same applies to learning materials, as well as school books or computers that you purchase yourself. Costs for additional courses or school trips cannot be included in the tax return either.

Finally, costs for individual private tuition, music schools, sports clubs, holiday courses and tutoring are not deductible.

Which costs cannot be deducted as school fees?