A disabled child usually needs more support than other children. From a tax perspective, the state takes the additional financial burden into account in several ways. We explain which costs you can deduct and how you can enter them in the Taxfix app.

Content

• Disability lump sum
• General exceptional expenses
• Lump sum for care
• Household-related services
• Child benefit and child allowance
• How to enter the disability lump sum in the Taxfix app

Disability lump sum

The disability lump sum is intended to compensate for current costs that are permanently incurred by people with disabilities. This includes expenses such as medication, aids, increased laundry needs or care.

The amount of the disability lump sum depends on the individually determined degree of disability (Grad der Behinderung - GdB). A medical expert assesses the disability and determines the degree of disability - which is between 20 (previously: 25) and 100. This determines the lump sum that your child may claim.

The following lump sums apply:

Until 2020 assessment period:

From 2021 assessment period:

For people with the characteristic sign "H" for "helpless" or "Bl" for "blind" in their identity card, the lump sum is increased to 7,400 euros (previously 3,700 euros).

Previously, additional conditions had to be fulfilled for a Gdb of less than 50 in order to be entitled to the lump sum. Either the physical ability to move must be restricted, there must be an entitlement to a statutory pension due to the disability, or the disability must be the result of a typical occupational disease. From the 2021 assessment period, these additional requirements will no longer apply.

If your child is affected by a disability, you can have the disability lump sum transferred to you. This is possible for one year at a time and is simply done via the tax return. We explain below how you can transfer the lump sum to yourself using the Taxfix app.

General exceptional expenses

The lump sum can be used to cover regular and permanent costs associated with your child's disability. If there are additional one-off expenses, you can also claim these as a general exceptional expenses (außergewöhnliche Belastungen) for tax purposes.

In contrast to the disability lump sum, general exceptional expenses are always seen in relation to your personal burden limit and only have a tax-reducing effect if they exceed this limit. The tax office determines your individual personal burden as a percentage according to your income, marital status and number of children.

You can claim the following costs as exceptional expenses in addition to the disability lump sum:

• Sickness and cure costs
• Travel costs to the doctor
• Costs for the handicapped-accessible conversion of a car, if you are dependent on its use (characteristics aG, Bl or H)
• Conversion or adaptation work in the flat and house

Lump sum for care (Pflegepauschbetrag)

In addition to the lump-sum disability allowance, you may also be entitled to a lump-sum care allowance. The prerequisite is that your child is being cared for at home and that you do not receive any income for the care.

Until now, you were entitled to the care allowance if your child's severely disabled person's ID card showed the mark H ("helplessness") or care degree 4 or 5. From the assessment period 2021, the criterion "helpless" is no longer necessary and a lump sum is now already available for the care of persons with care degrees 2 and 3.

Household-related services

If you not only care for your child yourself, but also hire a caregiver to help out in your home, for example, you can claim these costs as household-related services for tax purposes. In the case of a full-time employee, you can deduct 20% of the expenses for their salary and a total of up to 4,000 euros per year from your tax obligations.

Child benefit and child allowance

Like all parents, you are entitled to child benefit (Kindergeld) or child allowance (Kinderfreibetrag) as the mother or father of a disabled child. If your child's disability occurred before the age of 25 and he or she is unable to work and earn his or her own living because of the disability, your child can still count on this support in adulthood.

The same rule applies to childcare costs: all parents are allowed to deduct the expenses for the care of their children from their taxes - they fall under the term special expenses (Sonderausgaben) and can be recognised with up to 4,000 euros per year. Normally, this possibility exists until the children have reached the age of 14. However, if your child has a disability, this tax benefit can continue even after that. Here, too, it is important that the disability occurred before the child reached the age of 25.

You can find more information on child benefit and how to enter it in the Taxfix app here. Also check out this article on care costs for children.

How to enter the disability lump sum in the Taxfix app

You can enter information about your child's disability in the "Family" category.

When asked "Have you had any of the following expenses for your child?”, select the option "Costs due to disability". You can then indicate whether you want to transfer your child's disability lump sum to you. If you do, you will be asked for details of your child's disability. The app will then automatically take the applicable lump sum into account.

Other exceptional expenses that you have incurred because of your child's disability can be entered in the category "Health". If some costs are not explicitly listed, you can enter them here as "Other costs".