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medical expenses

April 8, 2014 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Peter Lipp

Question about "Extraordinary Burdens" for tax year 2013
In the case of extraordinary burdens, I have received a higher amount of refunds (see list) because they stem from costs from the previous year that were not claimed due to falling below the reasonable threshold of self-burden. In the case of my wife, there is a considerable increase in costs (see list as well), which will definitely have tax implications. My tax software (Taxman) now cuts off the refunds that exceed the listed costs when I enter the numbers (see form printout).
Question: will the tax office accept this and deduct the resulting amount minus the self-burden for tax reduction, or will they re-include the amount cut off by Taxman if I submit the lists and receipts? In the latter case, would it be more beneficial to only declare the costs of my wife, since ultimately there are no tax-reducing effects for me due to the higher refunds? Or does the tax office require information from both of us in any case, if we do not request separate assessment?

Peter Lipp

Dear client,

If the refunds exceed the expenses incurred, this refund surplus must be added to the total amount of income, cf. § 10 para. 4b sentence 3 EStG.
Since Taxman apparently does not do this automatically, you should manually record the refund surplus under other income and provide the tax office with an explanation along with the amounts.

I hope this answers your question sufficiently, but I am available for any further inquiries.