Avoid retroactive payments
Retroactive payments are not possible, i.e. an amount transferred in August can only be intended for maintenance in August or the following months. If the support payments do not relate to the entire calendar year but only to individual months, the maximum amount for support payments will be reduced accordingly.
Avoid retroactive payments
Maintenance payments to relatives abroad: Strict proof requirements apply!
Those who provide financial support to relatives abroad must provide extensive evidence to the tax office. Since 2007, particularly strict requirements have applied, both for documenting the payment and proving the recipients' need.
Example: Case Rejected by the BFH
In a recent case, the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) rejected the tax deduction of 5.000 Euro paid by a son living in Germany to his parents in Indonesia. The proof of need was insufficient: the certificates provided contained no information about previous income or the parents' financial situation. According to the BFH, such documents must contain comprehensive information, such as income before the start of support or existing assets like property ownership.
Requirements for Proof of Need
The tax office only accepts certificates if they are complete and detailed. These include in particular:
- Details of income before the start of payments
- Information on the current financial situation
- Exclusion of all relevant income (not just pensions or salaries)
Missing information regularly leads to the rejection of recognition as an extraordinary burden.
Exception: Evidence Relief in Special Circumstances
However, the BFH emphasises that the evidence requirements must be reasonable and feasible. In exceptional circumstances – such as war or lack of administrative structure in the country of residence of the supported person – relief may be granted.
Special Feature for Family Visits
Cash payments during family visits are subject to relaxed evidence requirements:
- If you hand over cash during a visit (e.g. to your family abroad), you do not need to provide detailed proof of the amount – as long as the amount per visit does not exceed a net monthly wage.
- A maximum amount of four net monthly wages per year, minus other payments, is eligible.
- Important: The journey itself must be proven – e.g. through flight tickets, fuel receipts, or visas.
New Rule from 2025: Only Transfers Allowed
From 01.01.2025, a new legal requirement applies:
Maintenance payments abroad are only deductible if they are transferred to the recipient's account.
This regulation was introduced by the Annual Tax Act 2024 (§ 33a para. 1 sentence 12 EStG) and affects all monetary donations. Cash payments – even during family visits – will no longer be recognised.
Note on Administrative Regulations in Exceptional Situations
In exceptional cases, e.g. in the event of war or humanitarian crises, the tax authorities may allow simplified evidence based on general principles of equity.
Maintenance payments to relatives abroad: Strict proof requirements apply!
How can I claim maintenance payments to a person in need?
Maintenance payments to dependants in need can be claimed as extraordinary expenses for tax purposes, without any deductible being applied. It is important to note that the tax office will only recognise these payments if they are proportionate to your net income. After deducting the maintenance payments, your income must be sufficient to support yourself, your partner, and your children. This limit is referred to as the sacrifice limit.
No sacrifice limit for maintenance payments to ex-partners
The sacrifice limit does not apply to maintenance payments to your ex-partner, permanently separated partner, or a dependant with whom you live in a shared household.
Calculation of the sacrifice limit
The sacrifice limit is calculated based on your net income, which includes wages, child benefit, and unemployment benefit, minus taxes, social security contributions, and work-related expenses. For every full 500 Euro of net income, the sacrifice limit is 1 percent. For married couples, the joint income is considered. However, a maximum of 50 percent of the net income is recognised. The percentage is reduced by 5 percent per child for whom you receive child benefit, and by 5 percent for the spouse, but by no more than 25 percent.
Example of calculating the sacrifice limit
You are married, have two children, and support your parents with 9.000 Euro per year. Your net income is 24.000 Euro per year.
- Net income: 24.000 Euro
- 1 percent per 500 Euro = 48 percent
- Deduction for spouse: -5 percent
- Deduction for two children: -10 percent
- Remaining sacrifice limit: 33 percent
Your sacrifice limit is therefore 33 percent of 24.000 Euro, i.e. 7.920 Euro. Of the 9.000 Euro maintenance payments, 7.920 Euro are recognised.
Maximum maintenance amount
In 2025, the maximum maintenance amount is 12.096 Euro. This amount can be increased if you also pay health and nursing care insurance contributions for the maintenance recipient.
How can I claim maintenance payments to a person in need?
Can I also declare one-off payments?
Occasional or one-off maintenance payments are also tax deductible as part of maintenance payments to dependants.
For a one-off maintenance payment, the tax office always assumes that it is intended to cover maintenance needs until the end of the year. The maximum maintenance amount is then reduced by one twelfth for each preceding month. If you make a payment in September, the maximum maintenance amount will be reduced by 8/12. However, if you make the one-off payment in January, the maximum maintenance amount will not be reduced. A maintenance payment in January thus secures the full maximum maintenance amount for the whole year, provided the supported person is in need for the entire year. The maintenance payment should always cover living expenses until the next payment. It does not matter whether these payments reach the pro rata maximum amount.
Exception
Maintenance payments to a spouse can always be deducted up to the maximum maintenance amount, regardless of when the payment is made.
Can I also declare one-off payments?
Are cash payments to relatives abroad tax-deductible from 2025?
Maintenance payments to dependent relatives abroad can be claimed as special extraordinary expenses in accordance with § 33a para. 1 EStG up to a specified maximum amount. A reasonable personal contribution is not deducted in this case.
Previously: Cash payments during family visits possible
Until 2024, the deduction of cash maintenance payments was also possible if the money was personally delivered during a family visit. A family visit occurs when a taxpayer maintains a family household abroad where the spouse also lives. Visits to children or parents living abroad do not count as family visits (BMF letter dated 06.04.2022, BStBl 2022 I p. 623, para. 18).
For family visits, proof was simplified: cash payments did not have to be individually proven if a maximum of one net monthly salary was handed over per visit. A sum up to four times this monthly salary per year, minus other maintenance payments made and proven, was eligible. However, the trip always had to be documented – e.g. with tickets, fuel receipts, visas or border crossing documents (BFH ruling dated 04.08.1994, BStBl 1995 II p. 114; BMF letter dated 06.04.2022, para. 20).
From 2025: Only bank transfers eligible
Since 01.01.2025, maintenance payments are only deductible if they are made by bank transfer to the recipient's account (§ 33a para. 1 sentence 12 EStG, introduced by the Annual Tax Act 2024). Cash payments – even during a family visit – are no longer recognised for tax purposes.
Exceptions are only possible in special hardship cases, such as war-related restrictions or lack of banking infrastructure in the recipient's country of residence. In such cases, the tax office may exceptionally recognise other payment methods based on an administrative regulation and general principles of equity.
Important: Those affected must credibly demonstrate the special circumstances and contact the relevant tax office at an early stage. An informal application for recognition of the maintenance payment despite the lack of a transfer must be submitted there, accompanied by suitable evidence of the situation in the country of residence (e.g. official confirmations, situation reports, statements from international organisations).
Are cash payments to relatives abroad tax-deductible from 2025?
