Deduct childcare costs - Christina Cherry

How to claim the expenses for tax purposes

What are childcare costs?

Deductible childcare costs include all costs, the you for the protection of your child pay. It does not matter whether the care is provided at your home or in a kindergarten, day care center or similar institution.

An employment relationship is not required; so is the reimbursement of expenses, e.g. B. Reimbursement of travel expenses, deductible as part of free care.

No childcare costs are costs for meals, for sports Activities and leisure activities and tutoring. However, expenditures on the occasion of childcare in childcare centers can be recognized through playful language skills (judgment of the Federal Finance Court, file number III R 29/11).

You must cover costs that are paid for both childcare and other activities split by estimate. This also applies if children are cared for together who meet and do not meet the personal requirements.

Exception: Parents’ contributions for afternoon childcare at school, which in addition to childcare also includes homework help, tutoring or certain courses, must be divided exactly.

Requirements for tax deduction

You can only use the above-mentioned childcare costs as special editions drop. The prerequisite for the deduction is that

Your child being cared for Has not yet reached the age of 14 or
regardless of age due to a situation before the age of 25 disability (if the person becomes disabled before 2007: before the age of 27) cannot maintain themselves,
on Filial relationship exists to you and
the child in your parental household lives.

When grandma and grandpa take care of the children

Let your child be looked after by relatives (e.g. grandparents) for a fee? Then you can deduct your expenses – but only if the benefits are based on clear and unambiguous agreements.

According to the tax authorities, these must have been effective under civil law, the content must correspond to what is customary between strangers and must actually be carried out in this way. Read more about this here.

The amount of the deductible costs

Childcare costs will be two thirds recognized, but overall up to a maximum of 4,000 euros per child and year.

Even if the requirements for the deduction of costs not all year round have been presented (e.g. when a child is born), the maximum amount must be set in full. However, only the costs that have been incurred in the period in which the requirements are met must be taken into account (day-by-day breakdown).

Whoever pays is allowed to withdraw

In the case of unmarried, permanently separated or divorced parents, the costs may only be deducted by the person who actually paid the costs. If both parents have paid childcare costs, the pro rata maximum amount for each parent is 2,000 euros per child per year.

However, by mutual agreement, you can request a different allocation of the maximum amount. The non-deductible third of the expenses is to be allocated to you according to the share of the total expenses.

Choose the Individual or joint assessment, the name on the invoice and the drain account do not matter. In the case of a joint assessment, the costs borne by the husband and wife are deducted together in one sum. In the case of an individual assessment, half of them are taken into account for both the husband and the wife, if only one of the two has assumed the expenses; If both costs have been borne, each third of his costs may be up to half of the maximum amount of 2,000 euros drop.

Has one illegitimate community only one parent has concluded the care contract and paid the costs, the other parent cannot Deduct childcare costs.

The costs must – however only at the request of the tax office – via an invoice and payment via a bank statement or via a transfer form demonstrated become.