Running costs can only be deducted from taxes by students themselves
In principle, parents cannot deduct tuition fees (unlike tuition fees from private schools) or running costs such as the purchase of work materials such as books from their taxes. As verivox explains, this goes back to a judgment by the Federal Fiscal Court in October 2017. In contrast to the students themselves, the costs of the course itself cannot be claimed by parents as a special expense from the tax office.
Parents can deduct this from their taxes if they receive child benefit
According to verivox, what parents of students can claim for tax purposes depends on the respective situation. Parents of students who still receive child benefit for the child concerned can deduct the training allowance from their taxes. For this, however, four conditions must be met. First, the child must be of legal age and no longer living in the same household. In addition, they must be studying or in vocational training and meet the requirements for entitlement to child benefit. If these four conditions are met, parents can claim 924 euros per year for tax purposes. There is also an entitlement to child benefit if the child is under the age of 25 and has not completed vocational training or a university degree or works less than 20 hours a week. In addition, parents can also deduct the child’s care and health insurance contributions as their own special expenses. Here, too, the condition applies that the child is entitled to child benefit or the allowance.
Extraordinary burden
If the requirements for child support are not met, there are still certain expenses that can be claimed for tax purposes. Support for such children can be deducted as an “extraordinary burden”. For the year 2022, the amount that can be deducted is 9,984 euros. However, the child’s own income may not exceed EUR 624 per year. If the child’s income exceeds this limit, this is deducted from the extraordinary burden.
E. Schmal/Redaktion finanzen.net
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