Care costs as household-related services
A reason to breathe a sigh of relief: childcare costs can be taken into account for tax purposes. For children under the age of 14, two thirds of the childcare costs can be claimed for tax purposes. A maximum of 4,000 euros per year and child can be specified.
If only one parent is employed and the partner is at home, the tax advantages only apply to children between the ages of three and six. However, childcare costs in the context of household-related services can also be deducted from tax. The prerequisite for this is that the child is cared for in their own household, for example by a babysitter or an au pair.
20 percent, but not more than 600 euros, can be taken into account. There are also differences in the type of employment: If the person is only marginally employed to look after the children and is not subject to social security contributions, less money can be taken into account for tax purposes than if it is an employment subject to social security contributions.
Voluntary Benefits
Employers can also support parents with voluntary childcare benefits. In order for these to remain tax and social security-free, however, certain conditions must be met. It must be an additional benefit that is paid in addition to the actual wages and is also linked to the fact that it is raised for employees with children who are not of school age in order to accommodate and look after the offspring.
Of course, the parents then have to prove that they actually spent the money on childcare costs and not on something else. The rule of thumb here is: It is best to keep all receipts and invoices.
Incidentally, costs for lunch or leisure activities are not included in the childcare costs that can be deducted. You should therefore always make sure that you identify these separately and that only the deductible services are actually listed on the invoices for the care that you want to deduct.
Editorial office finanzen.net
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