(2022)
Is voluntary military service also eligible for tax relief?
Parents receive child benefit until the age of 25 or tax allowances for children over 18 if they are in vocational training or performing social service. Transition periods of up to four months between two training phases or between a training phase and voluntary service are also taken into account.
The following applies to voluntary military service:
- The three-month basic training and subsequent service post training during voluntary military service in accordance with Section 58b of the Military Act are considered vocational training. In principle, at least the first four months of military service can be taken into account without further proof; only the start of service must be credibly demonstrated. If the service post training is longer, the duration must be proven (A 14.2 sentence 2, DA-KG 2015).
- During voluntary military service, training for a civilian occupation can also take place: This includes training as a telecommunications electronics technician, paramedic, or driver with a class CE driving licence. Training as a driver is also considered vocational training if it takes place at the rank of private and includes prior general (military) basic training (BFH ruling of 3.7.2014, III R 53/13).
- The child can be taken into account even before starting voluntary military service - during the waiting period for a training place in accordance with Section 32 (4) No. 2c EStG. A written application for voluntary military service serves as proof (A 16.1 DA-KG 2015).
- The compulsory break between a training phase and voluntary military service in accordance with Section 58b of the Military Act has been considered a favourable transition period since 1.1.2015. A transition period can therefore be established both before the start of voluntary military service and after its end (Section 32 (4) No. 2b EStG).
- The extension period with child benefit entitlement only applies to children who started their service before 1.7.2011, and only until 2018 at the latest (Section 52 (40) sentence 10 EStG). For children who perform voluntary military service from 1.7.2011, there is no longer an extension period beyond the age of 25 or 21.
If the announced start of service is delayed, so that the child has to wait more than four months before starting voluntary military service, parents lose the child benefit and child allowance - even for the first four months of the transition period. Unfortunately, this also applies if the child has no influence on the start of service or is not at fault for exceeding the four-month period (BFH rulings of 22.12.2011, III R 5/07 and III R 41/07).
If your child benefit is cancelled because your child has to wait more than four months for their position, you can claim your maintenance payments to the child as extraordinary expenses in accordance with Section 33a (1) EStG. The deductible maximum maintenance amount in 2022 is 862 Euro per month.
Important: Children must register as job-seeking or looking for a training place if they have to wait more than four months for a training place or if their training is interrupted, and they must do so as soon as possible after the end or interruption of the respective training. A job-seeking child is considered until the age of 21, a child looking for a training place until the age of 25.
If a child, for example, had to wait more than four months due to corona before starting their voluntary social year, the parents lost their child benefit entitlement, and this applies to the entire transition period, not just the period exceeding the four-month limit. The child should not have simply waited for the start of the voluntary social year but should have registered as job-seeking or looking for a training place. Only then would the child benefit entitlement (at least until the age of 21) have been maintained (ruling of 14.6.2022, 13 K 745/21 Kg).
