{"id":2943,"date":"2013-04-27T10:11:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-27T10:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/?p=2943"},"modified":"2025-10-28T07:18:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T07:18:04","slug":"steuerrecht-rechtsanwalts-und-gerichtskosten-der-ehescheidung-sind-als-aussergewoehnliche-belastung-absetzbar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/tax-law-legal-and-court-costs-of-divorce-are-deductible-as-extraordinary-expenses\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax law: Legal and court costs for divorce are deductible as extraordinary expenses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>D\u00fcsseldorf Fiscal Court, 30\/03\/2013, Ref.: 10 K 2392\/12 E<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/en\/income-tax-deductibility-of-parental-maintenance-as-an-extraordinary-burden\/ermittlung_einkommen1\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2877\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-2877\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mth-partner.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ermittlung_EInkommen1.png\" alt=\"Determination_Income(1)\" width=\"310\" height=\"1069\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The background to taxpayers being able to claim certain expenses as so-called extraordinary expenses is the fact that there are expenses that taxpayers cannot defend themselves against and that are greater for them than for a comparable group.<\/p>\n<p>Such expenses include, for example, parental maintenance, medical costs or the costs of artificial insemination.<\/p>\n<p>The question of whether the costs of divorce are deductible as extraordinary expenses in the tax return is a recurring theme.<\/p>\n<p>On this subject, the D\u00fcsseldorf tax court has now ruled in the above-mentioned decision that the court and legal costs associated with the divorce can be claimed in full for tax purposes.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hintergrund_des_Falls\"><\/span>Case Background<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In the dispute before the D\u00fcsseldorf tax court, a divorced spouse had incurred court and legal fees totalling EUR 8,195 for the divorce. These costs included not only the divorce itself, but also expenses in connection with pension equalisation, equalisation of gains and post-marital maintenance. However, the tax office only recognised the costs directly associated with the divorce and the pension equalisation, while the expenses for the property settlement and maintenance claims were not deductible.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Entscheidung_des_Finanzgerichts\"><\/span>Decision of the tax court<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The D\u00fcsseldorf Fiscal Court ruled that all expenses can be claimed as extraordinary expenses for tax purposes. It stated that a divorce necessarily requires the use of lawyers and the organisation of court proceedings. As a rule, arrangements would also have to be made regarding pension equalisation, accrued gains and maintenance. The associated costs were therefore unavoidable and could not be averted by the spouses.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bedeutung_der_Entscheidung\"><\/span>Significance of the decision<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The court pointed out that it makes no difference whether parts of the divorce are settled by a judgement or by a settlement. With this decision, the tax court contradicted the so-called non-application decree issued by the tax authorities on 20 December 2011, which stated that a full deduction of civil proceedings costs was not permitted in the case of divorces. The tax court did not follow this ruling and clarified that the entire cost structure in connection with a divorce must be recognised for tax purposes.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fazit\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The decision of the D\u00fcsseldorf Fiscal Court has far-reaching consequences for divorced spouses who wish to claim costs in connection with a divorce for tax purposes. It shows that all costs associated with divorce, including expenses for pension equalisation and post-marital maintenance, should be recognised as extraordinary expenses. This judgement could also have an impact on future decisions in similar cases, as it takes a clear stance against the previous guidelines of the tax authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Source: D\u00fcsseldorf Fiscal Court<\/p>\n<p><b>Important Note: The content of this article has been prepared to the best of our knowledge and belief. However, due to the complexity and constant evolution of the subject matter, we must exclude liability and warranty.<\/b> Important Notice: The content of this article has been created to the best of our knowledge and understanding. However, due to the complexity and constant changes in the subject matter, we must exclude any liability and warranty.<\/p>\n<p>If you need legal advice, feel free to call us at 0221 \u2013 80187670 or email us at info@mth-partner.de.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When it comes to costly court proceedings, the question often arises as to whether the costs of the proceedings can be deducted from tax as part of the tax return. This depends on the income tax regulations on extraordinary expenses.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[461,2465],"class_list":["post-2943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-steuerrecht-rechtsanwalt","tag-ausergewohnliche-belastung","tag-krankheitskosten-absetzbar"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Steuerrecht: Rechtsanwalts- und Gerichtskosten der Ehescheidung sind als au\u00dfergew\u00f6hnliche Belastung absetzbar.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mit dieser Entscheidung stellt sich das Finanzgericht zugleich gegen einen sogenannten Nichtanwendungserlass der Finanzverwaltung vom 20.12.2011.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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