First degree: What are the chances of a full deduction for income-related expenses?
Expenses for the first vocational training and for the first degree as initial training, which are not completed as part of a training employment relationship (e.g. apprenticeship), are currently only deductible as special expenses up to a limit of 6,000 Euro, while the costs for any educational measures after completing vocational training, including a first degree after an apprenticeship, can be fully considered as business expenses (§ 4 para. 9, § 9 para. 6, § 10 para. 1 no. 7 and § 12 no. 5 EStG).
The Federal Constitutional Court has now ruled: The current legal regulation is constitutional. The fact that expenses for initial vocational training or for a first degree as initial training cannot be deducted as business expenses does not violate the Basic Law (BVerfG decision of 19.11.2019, 2 BvL 22/14, 2 BvL 23/14, 2 BvL 24/14, 2 BvL 25/14, 2 BvL 26/14, 2 BvL 27/14, published on 10.1.2020).
