- As a rule, the requirements for a spouse's assessment are no longer met in the year of the divorce at the latest, because there was no longer a joint life and economic community in this calendar year. Two individual assessments must therefore be carried out for this calendar year.
- The costs of the divorce proceedings, including the subsequent divorce settlements (e.g. costs of settling parental custody of a joint child, costs of deciding on maintenance obligations towards children and the spouse/partner) cannot be deducted as extraordinary expenses.
- Maintenance payments to the divorced spouse/partner can be deducted as special expenses on application up to a maximum amount of EUR 13,805. The maximum amount is increased by the health and long-term care insurance contributions paid for the basic insurance of the divorced or permanently separated spouse/partner. However, the recipient must agree to the application (Annex U) and pay tax on the maintenance payments as other income.
- If the maintenance payments to the divorced spouse/partner are not claimed as special expenses, they can be deducted as extraordinary expenses up to a maximum of the basic tax-free allowance applicable in the respective year (2022: EUR 10,347; 2023: EUR 10,908). The prerequisite is that the dependent person has no or only a small amount of assets. Income and earnings of the dependent person in excess of 624 euros are offset against the maximum amount