Contribution towards the cost of residential youth welfare as an extraordinary burden
December 20, 2013 | 100,00 EUR | answered by Steuerberater Peter Jansen
For our child's stay in a residential youth welfare facility, we as parents must make a significant financial contribution. Although the stay has been over for 10 weeks already, we still have not received a cost assessment notice from the youth welfare office, but only a basic notice of contribution with a reference number, for which we transferred child benefits to the youth welfare office during the stay. Since the cost contribution for a six-month stay is likely to be around €10,000, we would like to claim a portion of this amount as an extraordinary burden for the tax year 2013.
Is this possible, and if so, could we still transfer a realistic advance payment to the youth welfare office in 2013 without a binding assessment notice, indicating the relevant reference number, so that we can still benefit from the tax advantage for 2013? After all, our child's stay was in 2013.
Dear inquirer,
In the context of an initial consultation and your fee contribution, in compliance with the regulations of this forum, I would like to answer your question.
Normal expenses for the maintenance, upbringing, and education of children are generally covered by child, care, and education allowance within the framework of child benefit equalization.
In addition, medical expenses can be considered as extraordinary burdens. If the child is threatened by a mental disability due to psychotic, psychosis-like, or other psychological illness, or is affected by it, then there are indeed medical costs in this sense, which can therefore be considered as extraordinary burdens.
In my opinion, the decisive factor for this is the justifications in the cited assessment notice from the youth welfare office, so that the costs would, in principle, be eligible for consideration as extraordinary burdens.
The tax law determines for which assessment period the taxpayer can claim the tax reduction for extraordinary burdens according to the principle of cash flow. Accordingly, the expenses can only be claimed for the assessment period in which they are incurred.
In this context, an advance payment on the costs in 2013 can still be effectively made. Although the payment is made before the due date, the cash flow principle is based on economically reasonable grounds. The assessment notice preceding the cost notice is already in place. Thus, the advance payment does have an economically reasonable basis.
I hope that I could assist you with this information within the scope of your contribution and this initial consultation.
Kind regards,
Peter Jansen
Tax Advisor
Böblinger Str. 87, 70199 Stuttgart
Tel.: 0711 / 16036573
Email: mail@steuerberater-jansen.com
