Allowance for care and education or training needs

In addition to the allowance for the material minimum subsistence level of a child (so-called child allowance), an additional allowance for care and education or training needs is granted for each eligible child. Your income is not taxed up to the amount of these allowances.

The allowance for childcare and education or training needs amounts to 1,464.00 euros for each child. This amount applies to each parent, so that for parents who are jointly assessed for income tax, the doubled amount of 2,928.00 euros is applied. You are also entitled to the doubled amount if the other parent is deceased, is not subject to unlimited income tax liability, you have adopted the child alone or the child is only in a foster child relationship with you.

As part of the income tax assessment, the responsible tax office will check whether the tax exemption through the child allowance and the allowance for care and education or training needs is higher overall than the entitlement to child benefit (so-called favorable assessment).

Note: In principle, the allowance for childcare and education or training needs is divided equally between the parents. If the parents do not meet the requirements for joint assessment (e.g. because they are not married, divorced or permanently separated), the parent in whose home the minor child is registered can apply (to the tax office) to have half of the other parent's allowance transferred. However, this transfer is not possible if the parent concerned objects because he or she bears the childcare costs or regularly looks after the child to a not insignificant extent. In the case of adult children, the law does not provide for an isolated, notification-related transfer option.

The allowance to which parents are entitled for childcare and education or training needs can also be transferred to a step-parent or grandparent on application if they have taken the child into their household or are liable to pay maintenance to the child.

If the deduction requirements are not met for the entire year, the allowance is only taken into account pro rata temporis.

Prerequisites

The following are taken into account as children

• children related to you in the first degree and
• foster children with whom you are connected by a family-like bond calculated for a longer period of time,
• up to the age of 18. Beyond that, children can only be taken into account under certain conditions.

In addition, the child's identification number is usually required for the allowance for the child's care and education or training needs to be taken into account.