Politics · Germany · 3 hrs ago
German court says child-care tax allowance requires parents’ own contribution
Germany’s Federal Fiscal Court ruled that a parent must contribute to childcare to keep a share of a tax allowance for care, upbringing or education.
The case involved two daughters who lived with their mother, while their father paid child support and had only occasional contact with them.
The father’s parents cared for the girls on some afternoons and during holidays, but their mother arranged that care.
The court said a parent must regularly provide a meaningful amount of care or pay childcare costs; help from others counts only if the parent arranged or organised it.
The father could not keep his half of the allowance, which the mother had asked to have transferred to her.
Child support alone does not qualify as childcare, and parents seeking to keep the allowance should document their own care or childcare costs.
Germany’s Federal Fiscal Court ruled that a parent must make a verifiable contribution to child care to retain a share of the tax allowance for care, upbringing or training.
Care provided by relatives counts only if the parent claiming the allowance arranged or helped organise it.
The case involved a father whose two daughters lived with their mother and whose own contact with them was sporadic.
The girls’ paternal grandparents cared for them on 159 days in a year, but the mother had organised that care.
The father’s child-support payments and his parents’ care did not prevent the allowance from being transferred to the mother.
- Who
- Germany’s Federal Fiscal Court ruled on a dispute between a separated father and mother over a tax allowance for their two daughters.
- What
- The court said a parent must provide regular, significant care or pay child-care costs to retain the allowance. Care by others counts only if the parent arranged or helped organise it.
- When
- The court issued the ruling recently; the articles were published on October 28, 2026.
- Where
- Germany.
- Why
- The father had not made a verifiable contribution to the children’s care or arranged the grandparents’ care.
The father
The mother, supported by the Federal Fiscal Court
BEA allowance
The father
He opposed transferring his half of the allowance to the mother.
The mother, supported by the Federal Fiscal Court
She sought to have his half transferred to her.
Grandparents’ care
The father
A lower court accepted care by the paternal grandparents as a sufficient contribution by the father.
The mother, supported by the Federal Fiscal Court
The Federal Fiscal Court said their care could count for him only if he had arranged or helped organise it.
The two daughters lived with their mother, while their father paid child support and had only sporadic contact with them.
The paternal grandparents cared for the girls on 159 days, but the mother organised the care.
A finance court initially ruled in the father’s favour, treating his parents’ care as a sufficient contribution.
The Federal Fiscal Court ruled that care by others counts for a parent only if that parent arranged or helped organise it.
- Children
- Two minor daughters
- Care by grandparents
- 159 days in one year
- Court
- Federal Fiscal Court of Germany
- Case number
- III R 2/24
- Allowance
- Betreuungs-, Erziehungs- oder Ausbildungsfreibetrag (BEA allowance)
3 sources
What people are saying
Anyone seeking to retain half of the BEA allowance should be able to document their own care services or child-care costs they have covered.
Mere child-support payments or voluntary help from grandparents are not enough.