Special expense deduction for childcare costs

The fact that the special expense deduction for childcare costs requires the child to belong to the household is not unconstitutional, at least within certain limits.

Two thirds of childcare costs can be claimed as special expenses. However, the prerequisite for this is that the child must also belong to the taxpayer's household. The Federal Fiscal Court has therefore rejected the complaint of a father who wanted to claim half of the costs for the day nursery, which he had reimbursed to the mother, as a special expense. The restriction of deductibility to the household affiliation of the child does not violate the tax exemption of the minimum subsistence level and the general principle of equality if the claimed childcare costs are covered by the allowance for care and education or training needs. The judges are convinced that the criterion of household affiliation is based on a constitutionally permissible standardization.