Divorce costs: tax deductible?
It hurts to divorce! The tax authorities relieve you of the pain of separation and admits that certain divorce costs are tax-deductible. So you should know where to start.
Not only is divorce a disaster in human terms, it also puts you at a disadvantage for tax purposes purchase have to take. If you, as a married person, were previously declared using the splitting table, you will be assessed individually in future. With a taxable income of € 60,000, you pay € 5778 additional income tax every year. There is no question of maintenance at this point.
Litigation costs are partly tax-relevant
- After all, some of your divorce costs are tax deductible. You can claim attorney and court costs as extraordinary tax expenses (Section 33 EStG).
- However, only those are tax deductible costs the actual divorce proceedings and the pension settlement. All other costs are not deductible.
Not everything is deductible
- You can deduct the legal fees charged by your lawyer for representation in the divorce proceedings and the court fees for the divorce proceedings for tax purposes. The extent to which you can set fees that go beyond the statutory fee framework is a matter of dispute. At least you should try.
- You can also ride costs to the court and to the lawyer (0.30 € per kilometer driven) as well as fees for a detective. Detective costs are only relevant when it comes to assessing the need for maintenance of your spouse for justified reasons.
- Also deductible are costs in the context of an agreement on the consequences of divorce, in which the parental custody of the common children or their maintenance is regulated. If you have to enforce a right of access for your children in court, you can deduct legal and court costs from tax. You should at least include travel expenses to visit your children for tax purposes and refer to the fact that you have a legal obligation to deal with your child.
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The division of assets does not give rise to any tax-relevant divorce costs
- Unfortunately, costs incurred due to the division of the assets are not deductible. These are costs of spousal maintenance proceedings, a lawsuit for profit compensation, sharing of household items, regulation of parental custody or rights of access for your children.
- Maintenance payments are deductible up to a maximum amount of € 7,680 as extraordinary expenses, provided that the dependent person has no income of his own.
- If you forgot to include the divorce costs in your last income tax return, apply for reinstatement in your previous tax return. The reason for your default is that you did not know that divorce costs are tax deductible.
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