SteuerGo FAQs

Which pension expenses can I deduct in the tax return?

Pension expenses are expenditures with which you provide for your future. Pension expenses are divided into health and nursing care insurance, retirement provision, and other insurance.

Retirement pension expenses mainly include contributions to the statutory pension insurance, a Riester pension, or a private Rürup pension (funded pension). Contributions to occupational pension schemes are also included if they provide benefits comparable to statutory pension insurance. This mainly applies to employees and self-employed members of professional chambers, e.g. doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists, tax consultants, lawyers, auditors, notaries, architects, engineers.

There is a separate maximum amount for payments into a Riester contract. Therefore, you can claim contributions to the specially subsidised Riester pension separately. For this, there is the "Anlage AV", in which the Riester contributions must be entered. This must then be submitted to the tax office together with the provider's certificate.

Contributions to statutory and private basic health insurance as well as statutory nursing care insurance (i.e. social nursing care insurance and private compulsory nursing care insurance) are deductible as special expenses in their actual amount and unlimited.

Other pension expenses mainly include contributions to unemployment insurance, occupational disability, accident, and liability insurance, term life insurance, private health insurance (beyond basic cover), and private nursing care insurance. Capital life insurance and pension insurance with a capital option (considered at 88%) as well as pension insurance without a capital option concluded before 2005 are also included here.

Insurance that does not serve to provide for the future is not deductible as pension expenses. This includes, for example, property insurance, such as household or legal protection insurance or comprehensive car insurance.

Also not deductible as pension expenses are contributions to direct insurance, a pension fund, or a pension scheme if they are tax-advantaged. Insurance amounts and other pension expenses do not fall under the "special expenses allowance" because they are not unlimited deductible special expenses.

The maximum pension amount is usually already exhausted by health and nursing care insurance and retirement pension expenses. Therefore, other pension expenses (see above) often have no tax effect.

For this reason, it is advisable to claim occupational insurance not covered by the employer as income-related expenses. In practice, a deduction in Anlage N (section "Employees > Income-related expenses") is mainly possible for professional liability insurance and professional legal protection insurance.

Since accident insurance usually covers both private and occupational risks, the contributions are partly deductible as income-related expenses and partly as special expenses. Claim 50% of the contributions as income-related expenses and 50% as special expenses ("other insurance"). However, if you have a hazardous occupation and the occupational risk share is greater than 50%, you should have this certified by the insurance company. Claim the certified share as income-related expenses and attach the certificate to your tax return.