Who is eligible?
The taxpayer must be the employer in the case of household-related employment and the client of the services in the case of household-related services. This can also include the tenants of an apartment, a condominium community or home residents who run an independent self-contained household in the home. In the case of nursing and care services, either the person in need of care or their relatives are entitled to the tax reduction if they pay for the nursing or care services.
Which expenses are eligible for tax relief?
The tax reduction for expenses is excluded if they are business expenses, income-related expenses, special expenses or extraordinary burdens.
Only the pure labour or wage costs, including the invoiced machine set-up and travel costs, are eligible for tax relief. Material costs or goods supplied are not taken into account. The share of labour costs must be shown separately in the invoice.
A prerequisite for the deduction is that you have received an invoice for the expenses and that the payment has been made non-cash, e.g. by transfer to the account of the provider. Cash payments are not eligible.
Where must the services be provided?
In order to qualify for the tax reduction, the services must be provided in a domestic household of the taxpayer. Furthermore, households located in the European Union or the European Economic Area are eligible.
Can the tax incentive be claimed twice in the case of spouses?
Household-related services can only be claimed "household-related", i.e. corresponding expenses can only be claimed once for the respective household.
Spouses/partners are each entitled to half of the tax reduction unless they jointly apply for a different division. In the case of a joint assessment, the division is irrelevant. Two single persons living together in the same household can only claim the maximum amounts of the tax reduction once. In this case, the maximum amounts are divided according to who has borne the respective expenses or who is allocated them on the basis of a joint agreement.
With the income tax return (annex household-related expenses) you can claim expenses for household-related employment or for the use of household-related services under "Household-related employment/services". In the income tax assessment, the respective reduction amounts are deducted directly from the standard income tax liability.