Hi,

most of this Forum members know that we can claim tax if we support our parents for their expenses.

question:

1. is it also possible to claim tax even if we support wifes Mother and Father??

2. if yes then it will be for 4 persons (my parents and her parents ..will Financeamt accept)??


thanks in advance
Sinu

Hi Sinu,

you can support your in-laws aswell. And Finanzamt will accept it if you provide proper documetns for support.

-Maddy

Hi maddy,

if one of the in-law gets pension then iam allowed to support only one or two?

txs
Sinu

Get him fill the papers saying that his pension doesn't allow him to live decently and you will be able to support him.

Be careful though, the support only goes in *direct* vertical relationship, meaning, going doing and up in your lineage, meaning you can support your mom, dad, kids and grand-parents, but not your in-laws, you got with them a kinda horizontal then vertical relationship.
So the person who can support them is your wife, and that's the reason you can, when submitting your tax declaration, do yours and your wife combined, that's what I do.

D.

Hi Nobody,
Thanks for the info..

what i understood is..
i can support them (Because my wife is not working) while applying tax returns we both should apply (eventhough my wife wont work)..??

pls clarify me..

txs
sinu

You understood correctly.

D.

What is maximum number of person that can be supported?

or

The maximum percentage of the annual income that can be spent to support family? Did anybody send more than 10k/year to support the family without problem?

Any idea? Please share.

>>What is maximum number of person that can be supported?

There is no max, but if the Finanzamt thinks you are abusing the system, thet they may ask for proof that the supported person is really in need of money from you.


>>The maximum percentage of the annual income that can be spent to support family? Did anybody send more than 10k/year to support the family without problem?

Again there is no maximum percentage, but the amount that can be sent to a person is restricted according the country of residence of the supported person. For exg. if you support some one in india you are allowed aprrox 1900/person/year, but if the same person lives in germany it is around 7000/person/year i think.

thank you for the info..

Hi all,
For last 5 years i am sending money to my parrents through bank. Gave all proof to finanzamt but still did not any thing return from unterhalt... This will be the last time i will apply for unterhalt instead i am giving more than 200 € to steurerberator and maximum i get return is 45-50 €. Changed two steureberater but in the end result is same, no money back.

So hope for the best.

Dilbir

Hi Dilbir,

If I were in your condition, I would try taking a second opinion. I mean get in touch with a different auditor.
I remember a friend of mine got almost nothing the first year inspite of providing all the details and documents and he went with a different auditor next time and with the same documents and proofs got back pretty much.

-Maddy

In another thread I read that to claim tax exemption for the money sent for supporting parents, the parent should be atleast 60 years old. Is there any rule like that ? Anyone has experience ?

>>>>>>In another thread I read that to claim tax exemption for the money sent for supporting parents, the parent should be atleast 60 years old. Is there any rule like that ? Anyone has experience ?

Its not 60 but 65 yrs, the actual retirement age in Germany. This has made it nearly impossible to reclaim tax for the supporting expenses.

Yes its 65 years not 60. I heard this from my tax consultant.

I dont think so.. So far i had no problem in claiming returns for my mother who is 55 Years old. It never got rejected or even got enquired.

I am sure if you can provide all the required documents(like bank statements, transfer reciepts, support forms being notarized in india) they will consider the amount in the tax returns.

vamsi.

"I dont think so.. So far i had no problem in claiming returns for my mother who is 55 Years old. It never got rejected or even got enquired."

Hi Vamsi, could you get your tax claim through after "the requirement of age being 65 or more" came into effect? When did the 65 thing came into effect?

Kerwiss

I am not really sure when it came into effect. But i did the tax returns myself this year(in may) and it worked fine.

My father is above 65 and my mother is housewife. Generally it makes sense when we say that we support them. But i am not really sure how Finanzamt interprets that.

vamsi.

@vamsi,

That makes sense. As your father is above 65 and your mother is housewife. And your mother was dependent on your father till his retirement.
Last year i spoke to tax consultant and he said dependent age should not be less than 63 (may be this year it increased).