Under certain circumstances, you can deduct expensive dentist bills, prescribed medication and your glasses from your taxes as extraordinary expenses (außergewöhnliche Belastung). Here we explain what conditions apply and how you can enter the costs in the Taxfix app.

Content

• What are extraordinary expenses?
• Which extraordinary expenses can I select in the app?
• Which medical expenses can be deducted?
• Which costs can not be deducted?
• How do I enter my medical expenses in the Taxfix app?
• How to record travel costs to the doctor

What are extraordinary expenses?

As a rule, costs of private living cannot be deducted for tax purposes. However, if they are recognised as necessary and unavoidable, they can be declared in the income tax return as "extraordinary burdens".

Only the part of these expenses that is deemed "unacceptable" can be deducted. This is based on the idea of a "reasonable personal burden" for each individual. Only if your expenses exceed the limit of the reasonable personal burden can you claim the extra costs as extraordinary burdens for tax purposes.

The tax office takes your annual income, number of children and marital status into account when determining your individual burden limit. The Taxfix app also calculates this limit based on your data and only takes your recorded costs into account in the tax calculation if they exceed the reasonable burden limit.

Which extraordinary expenses can I select in the app?

With Taxfix you can enter the costs for the following extraordinary expenses:

• Medical expenses
• Care costs
• Costs due to disability
• Funeral costs
• Other costs

Which medical expenses can be deducted?

As a rule, medical expenses can be deducted as extraordinary burdens if they are inevitably emerged and medically prescribed.

For example, you can deduct the following costs:

• Medical expenses from a dentist, speech therapist, physiotherapist, or psychotherapist
• Prescription fees
• Necessary aids such as glasses, hearing aids or wheelchairs
• Vaccinations prescribed by a doctor
• Prescribed massages and baths must be documented by a medical certificate. The certificate must have been issued before the start of treatment
• Cures, if they avert an imminent illness
• Costs of pregnancy and childbirth, such as the costs of prescribed pregnancy gymnastics, birth preparation courses and the bill for a midwife
• Costs for journeys to the doctor or to medical treatments

You must be able to prove your expenses. Therefore, it is very important that you keep all invoices and receipts of your expenses. To be on the safe side, you should obtain a medical certificate from a public health officer before you buy medical aids or start medical treatment.

Which costs can not be deducted?

Preventive measures and activities that serve to maintain general health cannot, as a rule, be deducted as extraordinary burdens. Expenses for vitamin preparations, food supplements and dietary products or costs for contraceptives cannot be claimed here. Expenses for purely cosmetic surgery without medical indication are also not deductible.

If costs were partially reimbursed by your health insurance, you can only declare the part of the costs that you paid yourself in your tax return.

How do I enter my medical expenses in the Taxfix app?

Medical expenses can be entered in our app in the "Health" category. Select the costs and treatments incurred in the tax year and enter the annual costs. If you have several bills, you can add up the costs and enter them as a total.

How to record travel costs to the doctor

You can also enter costs for journeys to the doctor or for treatments in "Expenses". First select the option "medical expenses". For the question "What medical expenses would you like to enter that were not work-related?", select the answer option "Travel to doctor/clinic". First enter which doctor or clinic you travelled to and which means of transport you used.

If you travelled to several different doctors in the same tax year, you can enter these later on. To do this, enter the route, the means of transport and the number of journeys in the year separately for each doctor. If you travelled by public transport or plane, you can enter the actual cost of the tickets. Otherwise, the Taxfix app will automatically take the applicable flat rate into account and calculate your travel costs based on the number of kilometres travelled.