Costs for a second home that is rented and paid for by one spouse cannot be deducted by the other spouse as „income-related expenses“ as part of double housekeeping. The Federal Fiscal Court has ruled that only the spouse who actually paid the costs and was contractually obliged to do so can claim them as income-related expenses. As the rent payments were made by the husband, who alone had concluded the rental agreement, the wife could not claim these as her own „income-related expenses“.
Practical example:
The plaintiff rented a second home and paid the costs of this second home, which would be deductible as income-related expenses for the other spouse as part of a double household. The tax office refused to allow this as income-related expenses. The tax court allowed the deduction of income-related expenses. The tax office lodged an appeal against this with the BFH.
The Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof - BFH) ruled that such costs only from the person can be claimed as income-related expenses, which they and are contractually obliged to do so has. However, as the rental payments were made by the husband, who alone had concluded the rental agreement, the wife could not claim these as her own „income-related expenses“.
In doing so, it confirmed the principle that only personal expenses are deductible. Even within a marriage, spouses cannot claim their costs against each other, unless there is a specific construction such as a shortened payment or contract route, which did not apply in this case. The fact that the spouses were assessed together did not alter the need to consider the costs separately.
The BFH therefore overturned the ruling of the tax court, which had allowed additional consideration of accommodation costs. Only the undisputed additional costs for double housekeeping (such as travel costs) were recognized, while the claim for rental costs was completely rejected.