Anlage Unterhalt - if you support parents/spouse

[PandaMunich 16,039]

If you are supporting:

 

• 
  
  
• your needy parents or parents-in-law or needy grandparents or grandparents-in-law (who have to be at least 65 years old or have a medical certificate stating that they cannot work), or
  
• your spouse&kids or unmarried parent of your child (no need to be needy; kids only eligible up to the age they finish their first job training, e.g. Bachelors degree, but maximum till age 25)
  

you can claim up to a certain amount per person, per year, for their maintenance.

 

Depending on the country the person lives in, you will only be able to claim for up to a certain amount, no matter if you gave them more than that.

 

The German Finanzamt has put all countries into groups (see here for the groups from 1.1.2012).

 

If the country your relative lives in is in:

 

• group 1 --> you can deduct up to 8,004€ (from 2013: 8,130€)
  
• group 2 --> you can deduct up to 75% of 8,004€, i.e. 6,003€ (from 2013: 6,097.50€)
  
• group 3 --> you can deduct up to 50% of 8,004€, i.e. 4,002€ (from 2013: 4,065€)
  
• group 4 --> you can deduct up to 25% of 8,004€, i.e. 2,001€ (from 2013: 2,032.50€)
  

 

Just to be clear, the above limits are per person, so if, for example, you support both your parents, you will be able to claim for twice the above.

 

Each supported person has to fill in a special form (one per person, e.g. one for your wife's mother, one for your wife's father) called Unterhaltserklärung (= maintenance declaration) which is available in many languages, see here.

 

On that form Unterhaltserklärung a state official has to sign and stamp the first page, certifying that the supported person really lives there, how they are related to you, how many other people live in the house, what their profession is, while the supported person has to certify to their low income by signing on the second page.

There's a special twist here, if the supported persons lies in that form, it is considered as if you had lied to the German tax department and they will come after you with penal charges.

 

So you will need:

 

1. Anlage Unterhalt (instructions below), with which you claim for that support in your tax return, i.e. which you fill in and to which you attach copies of the documents that prove that you actually paid that support to your relatives, and
   
2. an Unterhaltserklärung for each of your needy relatives (= maintenance declaration, no need for instructions since they are bi-lingual), the first part of which some official state department has to fill in, sign and stamp, with you being the one supporting and the second part of which your father/father-in-law/mother/mother-in-law (ditto for grandparents) has to fill in and sign.
   Your spouse and kids and unmarried parent of your child do not need to fill in one of these since they don't have to prove neediness in order to be eligible for maintenance.
   

 

Please here for an article on this whole topic, with examples.

 

******************************************

 

Instructions how to fill in Anlage Unterhalt

 

Please submit a separate Anlage Unterhalt for each supported household.

If you supported more than 3 persons, get additional Anlage Unterhalt for persons no. 4 and above.

 

page 1:

 

line 1: your surname

line 2: your first name

line 3: your tax number, if you don't have one yet, leave empty

 

line 4: address of the household that your relative lives in

line 5: country your relative lives in

line 6: how many people live in your relative's household

 

How much you paid them in total:

line 7: from date, e.g. 1.1.2012 / to date, e.g. 31.12.2012 that you supported your relatives / total amount you gave them

line 8: the date of your first maintenance payment in that calendar year. This should be the 1st of January, e.g. 1.1.2012, for details why please read from post 756 in Filing a tax return.

For spouses, kids and the unmarried parent of your child the rules aren't that strict, to them you can give the money even later without getting penalised by the tax system.

 

lines 11 to 16 are about paying for the health insurance of relatives who live in Germany.

People who have needy relatives living outside Germany, just skip this section.

 

• 
  line 11, first columns: how much health insurance (corresponding to German public health insurance cover) you paid for your needy relative no. 1 who lived in Germany
  line 13, first columns: how much health insurance (corresponding to German public health insurance cover) you paid for your needy relative no. 2 who lived in Germany
  line 15, first columns: how much health insurance (corresponding to German public health insurance cover) you paid for your needy relative no. 3 who lived in Germany
  

 

Amounts paid to relatives who live outside Germany:

line 17: check box if you transferred the maintenance payments by bank transfer (attach all bank slips as proof) / total amount you transferred by bank transfer that calendar year

line 18: check box if you gave needy relatives (not spouse&kids!) the money in cash (attach your bank slip showing that you took out the amount in cash from your German bank account, attach proof of trip (e.g. boarding cards from plane), attach affidavits of needy relatives that they received said amount in cash on ....)

 

• 
  line 19: amount you gave in cash on trip 1: date you entered your home country on that trip / date you gave cash to relative / amount you gave in cash to relatives
  line 20: amount you gave in cash on trip 2: date you entered your home country on that trip / date you gave cash to relative / amount you gave in cash to relatives
  

 

line 21: check box if you gave your spouse&kids or unmarried parent of your child (= upoyc) the money in cash (you have to able to prove that you travelled to your home country then)

 

• 
  line 22: amount you gave in cash on trip 1 to spouse&kids&upoyc: date you entered your home country on that trip / date you gave cash to spouse&kids / amount you gave in cash to spouse&kids&upoyc
  line 23: amount you gave in cash on trip 2 to spouse&kids&upoyc: date you entered your home country on that trip / date you gave cash to spouse&kids / amount you gave in cash to spouse&kids&upoyc
  line 24: amount you gave in cash on trip 3 to spouse&kids&upoyc: date you entered your home country on that trip / date you gave cash to spouse&kids / amount you gave in cash to spouse&kids&upoyc
  line 25: amount you gave in cash on trip 4 to spouse&kids&upoyc: date you entered your home country on that trip / date you gave cash to spouse&kids / amount you gave in cash to spouse&kids&upoyc
  

 

line 26: your monthly net salary

______________________________

 

page 2:

 

line 31: 1 (this is the running number of the supported person, i.e. this is "supported person no. 1" / German Steuer-ID number of that person if he/she has one (unlikely, since most supported relatives on Toytown live outside Germany)

 

line 32: surname, first name of supported person / date of birth of supported person / if he/she died that year: date of death

 

line 33: profession and marital state (single=ledig, married=verheiratet, widow(er)=verwitwet, divorced=geschieden) of that supported person (hint: anything else than "im Ruhestand" = retired for the profession of a needy relative will get your claim rejected. If they have a profession then they are supposed to work to support themselves and not need your money. Kids have no profession or they would need to support themselves. Of course the spouse or unmarried parent of your child is allowed to have a profession.)

 

line 34: Did you attach an Unterhaltserklärung for this supported person: 1=yes, 2=no

So, for spouse&kids&upoyc: 2

For all other relatives: 1 (it's obligatory for them)

 

line 35: surname and first name of the spouse of the supported person, that lives in the same household

 

line 36: the supported person lived in your household in Germany: 1=yes, 2=no / if yes and he/she didn't live with you in Germany the whole year, then put in the dates from/to that he/she lived with you in Germany

 

line 37: did somebody have claim to Kindergeld/Kinderfreibetrag for the supported person (this question is meant as a catch question, if you were eligible Kindergeld/Kinderfreibetrag for the child (for conditions see Kindergeld for foreigners), you can't claim for Unterhalt! So answer 2=no): 1=yes, 2=no / if yes, from date/to date (since you answered 2=no, leave empty)

 

line 38: is that supported person your divorced spouse or the spouse you are legally separated from: 1=yes, 2=no

 

line 39: is that supported person your spouse who did not have unlimited tax liability in Germany (note: if your spouse had had unlimited tax liability in Germany, you wouldn't need Anlage Unterhalt, since you would have gotten 8,004€ - in 2013: 8,130€ - tax-free for your spouse automatically, so no need to jump through hoops with this Anlage Unterhalt): 1=yes, 2=no (so aim for 1 here).

 

line 40: is that supported person the unmarried parent of your child, that you were never married to, and that you are legally obliged to support: 1=yes, 2=no

 

line 41: the supported person is your same sex spouse (you are a man and you are married to a man, or you are a woman and you are married to a woman): 1=yes, 2=no

 

line 42: does not apply to most people, so aim for 2=no here. This is only 1=yes if that supported person got his/her German welfare payments reduced because of the Unterhalt you paid.

 

line 43: total amount with which you supported this "supported person no. 1"

 

line 44: in most cases: leave empty.

Here you put in the name and address of other person(s) who also supported that "supported person no. 1" (this is asked to avoid the situation that 5 kids support their needy parents at the same time, all claiming the maximum maintenance amount in their respective German tax return)

 

• 
  line 45: if you put in something in line 44: in parallel support from date / to date / amount paid by the other supporters
  

 

Income of "supported person no. 1":

 

line 46: from date / to date / gross salary / expenses related to job / leave empty, applies only if supported person is a German Beamter / leave empty / leave empty

 

line 47: leave empty

 

line 48: if "supported person no. 1" is a pensioner who receives a pension:

year he/she first received a pension, e.g. 2005 / received pension in calendar year for which you are doing the tax return from date, e.g. 1.1.2012 / to date, e.g. 31.12.2012 / amount of pension per year, e.g. 500€ / taxable part of pension, e.g. 300€ / expenses related to pension

 

line 49: leave empty

 

line 50: from / to / capital income taxed with income tax of "supported person no. 1" / from / to / other income of "supported person no. 1"

 

line 51: leave empty

 

line 52: from / to / capital income taxed with German Abgeltungsteuer of "supported person no. 1" / from / to / welfare income of "supported person no. 1"

 

line 53: leave empty

 

line 54: from / to / expenses for all income from line 50 / from / to / educational support income (e.g. Bafög) of "supported person no. 1"

 

line 55: leave empty

______________________________

 

page 3:

 

repeat instructions for page 2: for "supported person no. 2"

 

______________________________

 

page 4:

 

repeat instructions for page 2: for "supported person no. 3"

[bbogdanmircea 18]

This is a great article, veru useful for all expats helping their relatives at home.

Should I try to apply for this if my parents are still working?

How do you proof the trip home if you go by car for example?

[PandaMunich 16,039]

Only if your parent is 65 years old or older and her/his income is less than 2,032.50€ (since Romania is in group 4).

 

For a trip home by car, attach the petrol bills from the petrol stations along the way, plus any motorway tax receipts that you had to pay for crossing Austria and Hungary.

[bbogdanmircea 18]

From what I saw Romania is in group 3 ?

And why this age limit? To make sure that my parent is retired?

My parents are younger than that, about 60.

Can I support my grandmother in this way at least?

[PandaMunich 16,039]

Yes, you're right, that would be 4,065€ then.

 

The idea behind the age 65 limit is that up to that age, people are supposed to work to support themselves.

Only if you can bring a medical certificate that they are unable to work would the Finanzamt allow that these persons do not have any other possible source of income than their offspring sending them money.

 

No, supporting your grandmother is not possible, since it is your mother/father is the one responsible for supporting her/his mother, it isn't your legal duty.

Only if your parents had been dead would this legal duty have fallen on you.

[bbogdanmircea 18]

Ok I will support my parents anyway, would have been nice to get to taxes back...

Another question for my girlfriend, her mother is too younger than 65, but she is retired due to health problems.

So do you think that if she is retired so no work, her income is very low and she can proof all this, can my girlfriend apply

for deducting taxes for supporting her?

What documents should her mother send besides that form?

Maybe a document that testifies that her mother is retired due to health problems and that she has a very low pension?

[PandaMunich 16,039]

Please re-read post no. 1:

 

 

(who have to be at least 65 years old or have a medical certificate stating that they cannot work),

 

[miinerva 1,517]

Thank you for a great article PandaMunich.

 

So if i understand it correct, If my mom, who is +65 has an anual income of maximum 8,130 Euro (group 1), then i would be able to claim back the amount on my taxes. If she were to make more than that, then i won't be able to claim anything? I supose this number referes to pension, pension after my father and any other benefits she might receive from the state, i.e. total income for the year? We are still trying to figure out how much she will actually be getting in the end (widdowed in June so all papres are not finalized yet). Since i think she might need support, at least for a while, this post came in perfect time.

 

Kind regards

 

Miinerva

[PandaMunich 16,039]

Correct in all points

 

Example:

 

• 
  Your mother has her own yearly total taxable income from all sources of 6,624€.
  This means that you can claim the difference between 8,130€ and 6,000€ (= 6,6624€ - 624€ free allowance), i.e. for up to 2,130€.
  
  If you also pay her health and nursing insurance, then you can claim for this amount additionally to those 2,130€.
  

 

You should however know that German pensioners only have a part of their pension count as taxable income.

 

For example, if a German pensioner starts receiving a pension in 2013, then only 66% of it are taxable income (if she first got it in 2012, it is 64%, and so on), for details please see post 7 in Tax deductions for pension and health insurance, and the example table under point "4. Bedürftigkeit der unterstützten Person" in here.

 

So it would be to your advantage to argue that the same procedure should also be applied to your mother, i.e. only a part of her pension should be considered taxable income, otherwise she would be disadvantaged compared to a German resident.

Of course there is no guarantee that they would accept this argument, but it can't hurt to try it, maybe you will get lucky and they will wave it through.

[askpriyesh 7]

Great detail provided, I know a lot indians who arrive here are looking for this type of detailed information.

 

I dont know how they calculate this on 2 counts. Firstly, an annual pay of €2000, would not be sufficient enough to live comfortably in a medium sized city, leave the big metros in India and then providing decent education to children, who, when, they grow up and come over to germany to earn (also this number of 2000 would have been substantially lesser, say, when I was growing up, though it really does not cater to the growth patterns and inflation in India), wouls support their parents who are earning less than 2000€ per annum.

 

Total crap and I can definetly assume this like 0.00001% probability or lesser.

 

Secondly, last year (2011 tax declaration), I had claimed for both my parents. My mother is way younger than 65, but has never worked in her life and certainly does not earn interestes etc to to the tune of 2000€ (In india the culture has been that the man controls the finances) and we declared that my dad earned around 5000€ (FX rate in 2011, that amount will be comparitively lower today)and of course he oler than 65 and I got back the amount specified by tax consultant as part of the overall scheme of refunds.

 

This year (2012) I have filed for my In laws as well. My MIL has never worked in her life and my FIL earns just about that amount as he is in retirement period though far younger than 65. We will see what the finanzamt comes back with.

 

But my point is, that these sums are an annual earning is really really low. You really cant equate a number based on just the total population of the country and the average earning etc, it just doesnt make sense.

[ManHam 21]

I have a question regarding paying Unterhalt to my daughter who is studying (first degree) in England. My tax advisor told me there is nothing I can put on my tax form because I get Kindergeld for her. Of course, the Kindergeld is nice to have but in no way covers her accommodation, maintenance, uni fees etc. So far, I've just paid her a monthly sum and not put anything on the tax forms...now after reading the OP's post think there might be something I can set off against tax after all? I'd be grateful for any advice...

[PandaMunich 16,039]

Well, I am sure your Steuerberater is also claiming for the Ausbildungsfreibetrag of 924€ a year in your tax return.

 

But your Steuerberater is right, as long as you get Kindergeld for your daughter:

 

1. 
   
   
2. the Kindergeld (if you are a high earner, you will get a bit extra in your tax return, because they look what applying the Kinderfreibetrag would have brought you in adddition to the Kindergeld, and you get that extra amount) and
   
3. the above Ausbildungsfreibetrag of 924€
   

is all you can get.

 

Since 2012 it no longer matters if she has income of her own, you always get the Kindergeld and Ausbildungsfreibetrag.

 

However, as soon as you no longer get Kindergeld for her, i.e. once she is over 25 and still studies or if she finishes her studies sooner and doesn't immediately find a job and doesn't have income of her own, then you can claim the 8,130€ for supporting her with the above Anlage Unterhalt, but you will have to prove with bank transfers that you pay her at least this amount, so no cash payments.

 

You can read up on this topic here:

 

• 
  
  
• Steuerlinks: Ausbildungsfreibeträge
  
• Steuerliche Vergünstigungen für Kinder in Ausbildung (wasn't updated to include that from 2012 it doesn't matter how much the studying child earns, but the rest is still relevant)
  

 

[ManHam 21]

Thank you very much for your prompt response. He did mention the Ausbildungsfreibetrag but as she had her own earnings of about €2500 in 2011 this took us over some limit or other and then this was no longer applicable. OK - I'm glad the tax advisor was right (although I wish he wasn't)! Thx again.

[ManHam 21]

I have just read the first link...this would seem that if in 2012 things stayed the same (i.e. child with own earnings of approx. €2500) then I could actually claim the €924 Ausbildungsfreibetrag in 2012 as they are no longer taking the child's own earnings into consideration? Can you let me know if I got that wrong? I have the whole tax return thing looming in the next few weeks and need to start getting my act together!

[PandaMunich 16,039]

Yes, you can.

But your Steuerberater will do so automatically anyway.

[bbogdanmircea 18]

Hello Panda.

It seems the link for the Anlage Unterhalt is not working anymore.

Could you please make an update?

[mits 119]

Apparently a quick google search for Anlage Unterhalt download also helps..

[bbogdanmircea 18]

Thanks.

I looked but never found the ones that you can actually edit...

[PandaMunich 16,039]

It's in the TT Elster wiki:

 

 

And here's the link again: You can find all paper tax forms for 013 here.

[playsafe 3]

Hi,

 

Thanks for the very interesting article. I support my mother in India every month. I use the money2india portal from ICICI bank to send the money (http://www.money2india.eu/send_money3.html). The way it works is I transfer the money not directly to her account but first to a local account from ICICI bank and then it automatically gets credited to her account in ICICI bank through a reference number mentioned. The reason I do it it is - very good exchange rates, transfer within a day and no fees or transfer charges!

 

Now, the problem I am facing with the Finanzamt is that how do I prove that the money I transferred to the local bank account of ICICI bank in Germany is actually getting transferred to her account. Moreover they they want all the details in german! how do I prove to the satisfaction of the Finanzamt that the money actually is transferred to her account! My present tax advisor does not seem competent enough to give proper advice on this!