(2021) What is the care allowance?

Many people care for a relative in need of care, either in their home or in their own home. They are often supported by outpatient care services. This selfless care service deserves the highest recognition. It is also honoured for tax purposes:

• The carer can claim the care allowance (§ 33b para. 6 EStG) and additionally deduct the expenses for the care service as extraordinary expenses, with the tax office applying a reasonable burden (§ 33 EStG).
• Alternatively, the carer can claim all expenses as general extraordinary expenses, subject to a reasonable burden and proof (§ 33 EStG).

From 2021, the care allowance for home care with care level 4 or 5 will be doubled and a new allowance will be introduced for care levels 2 and 3. The allowance amounts to

• for care level 2: 600 Euro
• for care level 3: 1.100 Euro
• for care level 4 or 5 or helplessness: 1.800 Euro

 

The care allowance is based on the personal care and support of persons in need of care who are classified in care levels 2 to 5 in a home environment. Care includes, for example, assistance with daily activities where the person in need of care requires help.

• Activities in this sense are those in the area of personal hygiene (washing, showering, bathing, dental care, combing, shaving, bowel or bladder evacuation), nutrition (preparing food, eating), mobility (getting up and going to bed independently, dressing and undressing, walking, standing, climbing stairs, leaving and returning to the home) and household management (shopping, cooking, cleaning the home, washing up, changing and washing laundry and clothing, heating).
• Supportive or instructive services are also included. As the regulation focuses on personal care, personal care and support in the home of the person in need of care also leads to tax relief.
• The allowance does not exclude the possibility of claiming higher expenses as extraordinary expenses under § 33 EStG with individual proof.
• For the first time, care allowances are also introduced for care levels 2 and 3, without the criterion of "helplessness" being relevant. However, it cannot be ruled out that the legal requirements for "helplessness" may also generally apply to care levels 2 and 3.
• If the person in need of care meets the requirements for "helplessness", there is an entitlement to the highest allowance. However, another allowance cannot be claimed in addition.
• A condition for the granting of the care allowance is the provision of the tax identification number of the person in need of care in the carer's income tax return. This is to ensure that the allowance cannot be claimed multiple times in full for the care of the same person in need of care.
• If a person in need of care is cared for by several carers, the care allowance is divided according to the number of carers.
• Conditions for the granting of the care allowance are, in addition to home care, that the carer does not receive any income for their care. Income is generally all payments received by the carer as a result of the care, whether as care remuneration or as reimbursement for the carer's own expenses. HOWEVER: For parents of a disabled child, the care allowance received by the parents for the care of the child is not considered income.