What tax breaks are available to disabled and their carers?

[murphaph]

I'll kick this section off if I may. As I posted back on the old forum (long live the new forum!), my father in law became completely blind in June last year and had to move in with us. He spends 6 months a year with us here in Brandenburg and 6 months with his other daughter and her family in Bavaria (not in blocks, we rotate based on school holidays etc. so it kind of works for us all and he flies between the two places usually-thumbs up to Lufthansa's service for the disabled-they are awesome).

He is 70 years old, has diabetes and zero vision (which he lost overnight). The Pflegekasse are assholes if you ask me. They only gave him a Pflegegrad of 2 and this has been appealed. We are waiting for another appointment from the Medizinischen Dienst. They also declined his request for an Orcam Pro (despite 2 doctors writing a letter recommending it for him). The Versorgungsarzt seems to be of a different opinion because his Schwerbehindertenausweis has a Grad der Behinderung of 100 and the Merkzeichen B (allowed to be accompanied on public transport for free), G (Gehbehindert), Bl (blind) and "H" (hilflos). That's most of the Merkzeichen you can have!

So, given that, what tax reliefs are available to him (he had earned income in the first half of last year) and to us (and his other daughter's family)? I plan on doing our tax return in the coming days.

[Alberto]

Sorry I don't have answer - and apologies if I hijack this thread, but...
Orcam Pro - I had no clue such a device existed. My Mum is old, alone, and her eyesight is poor and worsening. Can anyone comment on this device?
Thanks,

And Murpha, all my sympathy to you guys, and big kudos to you and your family for taking care of him!!

[PandaMunich]

So, given that, what tax reliefs are available to him (he had earned income in the first half of last year) and to us (and his other daughter's family)?

In his income tax return:
Sorry, but only he can use his Behindertenpauschbetrag (tax-free allowance for the disabled) of 7,400€ (either the Bl=blind or H=helpless would lead to that amount, see § 33b (3) Satz 3 EStG): https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__33b.html
Please see in this article: https://www-aktuell--verein-de.translat ... r_pto=wapp

• Übertragung der Behinderten-Pauschbeträge von Kindern auf die Eltern, nicht jedoch von den Eltern auf die Kinder möglich

• Transfer of disability lump sums from children to parents possible, but not from parents to children

He is also entitled to the behinderungsbedingte Fahrtkostenpauschale (flat rate for transport costs as a disabled), this is 4,500€ for anybody who has either Bl or H.
It is set down in § 33 (2a) Nr. 2 EStG: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/__33.html
However, with it being in § 33 EStG, these 4,500€ will be reduced by his zumutbare Belastung (bearable burden), which is at least 5% of his pre-tax yearly income: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au%C3%9Fe ... _Belastung
Please have a look at the example in here, so that: https://www.haufe.de/personal/haufe-per ... 43401.html

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In your income tax return:
Then there is the Pflegefreibetrag, that one appears in your tax return.
Only someone who does not get money for taking care of him, i.e. someone who does not get Pflegegeld, is entitled to claim it in the tax return.
--> if your wife gets Pflegegeld, she cannot claim for the Pflegefreibetrag.
But if you take care of him without payment, you can claim for it, it is 600€ for Pflegestufe, see § 33b (6) EStG:
Since he only spends 6 months with you,
Please read these articles:

• https://www-vlh-de.translate.goog/krank ... r_pto=wapp

• https://www-finanztip-de.translate.goog ... r_pto=wapp

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You claim for all of these in Anlage Außergewöhnliche Belastungen: https://www.steuern.de/fileadmin/user_u ... ern.de.pdf

[murphaph]

Thanks a lot Panda. I'll have a read through your linked articles tomorrow. My wife does not take his Pflegegeld off him. His pension is very small so he kind of needs this money.

[murphaph]

Hi Panda,
I have started the tax return for my wife and I. I note on Elster that it says the following:
"Sie pflegen eine pflegebedürftige Person in Ihrer oder deren Wohnung im Inland oder EU‑/EWR‑Ausland und erhalten dafür keine Einnahmen? Dann können Sie für Ihre Aufwendungen einen Pflege-Pauschbetrag beantragen. Der Pflege-Pauschbetrag beträgt:

bei Pflegegrad 2 ........................................................
600 €

bei Pflegegrad 3 ........................................................
1.100 €

bei Pflegegrad 4 oder 5 und/oder Merkzeichen "H"
1.800 €"

my father-in-law has Merkzeichen "H" on his Schwerbehindertenausweis so are we entitled to claim half of 1.800€ ? (the other half being claimed by my sister-in-law on her tax return)

How do we indicate to the Finanzamt that we are only claiming 50% of the Pflege-Pauscbetrag? Is it by entering a 1 in the box titled "Anzahl der weiteren an der Pflege beteiligten Personen"?

[PandaMunich]

bei Pflegegrad 4 oder 5 und/oder Merkzeichen "H"
1.800 €"

my father-in-law has Merkzeichen "H" on his Schwerbehindertenausweis so are we entitled to claim half of 1.800€ ? (the other half being claimed by my sister-in-law on her tax return)

How do we indicate to the Finanzamt that we are only claiming 50% of the Pflege-Pauscbetrag? Is it by entering a 1 in the box titled "Anzahl der weiteren an der Pflege beteiligten Personen"?

Yes.

[murphaph]

Thanks ever so much

[silty2]

I had to go into Reha for about a month a while back while still working. Part of the program was how to deal with officialdom, especially in getting benefits for yourself.

They told me that I would absolutely qualify for a 20% Behinderungsgrad. No discounts or free entry at museums, etc. (one of the perks of a 50% Grad) but they did say putting down the 20% status would make a difference when filing taxes.

They went through the papers one-on-one and... two years later, they're still sitting in a drawer.

Yeah, I'm kinda lazy, but doctor 1 here, 2 there, 3 here, rubber stamp there, testing here, official jump-through hoop there followed by backflip into jacuzzi from 50 feet...

They deliberately make the process of applying for it SO complicated, convoluted, confounding, confusing, I figure... is it really worth my time?

[Auntie Helen]

I have Behinderungsgrad 20 and it gets me a 300+ eur rebate on my tax. Worth the paperwork just for that.