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What can I declare as convalescence costs in the tax return?
Expenses incurred for a medical treatment or rehabilitation can be entered as extraordinary expenses in your tax return. However, the expenses must be medically necessary. You will need a medical certificate. If the Medical Service of your health insurance has already checked the necessity and the treatment is co-financed by the insurance, an additional certificate is not required.
The treatment must be carried out under medical supervision. An exception is a climate treatment, where a positive effect is achieved through the favourable climate, and no supervising doctor is needed. A prerequisite for a children's treatment is usually the child's accommodation in a children's home.
You can deduct all health-related expenses that are not reimbursed by the health insurance as treatment costs.
Treatment costs may include:
- Doctor's fees,
- Fees for medical certificates or attestations,
- Medications or other remedies,
- Baths or other treatments,
- Local spa tax,
- Travel to and from the location, and
- Accommodation and meals.
However, meal costs are not fully recognised and must be reduced by a so-called household saving of 20 percent.
For the accompanying person of a child undergoing treatment, travel and accommodation costs can also be deducted, as well as for a helpless elderly person. The prerequisite here is that the doctor certifies the necessity of the accompaniment. For a severely disabled person with an accompanying requirement noted in their ID, an additional certificate is not required.
As travel expenses for the journey to and from the location, only the costs for public transport are generally recognised. To have the costs for travelling by private car recognised, you must prove that travel by bus or train was not reasonable for health reasons, for example, due to mobility issues.
(2021): What can I declare as convalescence costs in the tax return?
How must I provide evidence of the costs for a health treatment?
You must provide evidence of the expenses for your convalescence or rehabilitation treatment. The tax office also requires you to prove the medical necessity of the treatment. For this, you need a medical certificate from the public health officer or approval for cost coverage from the Medical Service of the Health Insurance Companies. It is important that the certificate is issued before you start the treatment.
Tip
As soon as you have a certificate from the public health officer recommending a particular treatment or medication, collect the receipts, even for other medical expenses. Only at the end of the year will you know the actual amount of your expenses for treatments, remedies, or therapies. The treatment costs are combined with expenses for other general extraordinary burdens such as medical expenses, divorce costs, or funeral expenses.
Any amount exceeding your reasonable personal contribution can be deducted from tax without limit. Depending on income, marital status, and number of children, the reasonable personal contribution is between one and seven percent of the total income.
You can use our overview to determine whether it is worthwhile to include an entry in the tax return, as the tax office automatically deducts your reasonable contribution from the actual expenses. Only the remaining amount has a tax-reducing effect.
(2021): How must I provide evidence of the costs for a health treatment?
