Deducting treatment costs for tax purposes – what can count as extraordinary expenses

This article is not tax advice. We are specialists in sustainable weight loss, not tax advisers, and can neither guarantee a refund nor assess your individual tax situation. Please discuss your case with your tax adviser or check it with tax software.

• Liable to tax in GermanyIn the year in which you were treated, you were assessed for tax in Germany.
• Correct tax yearThe treatment took place in the calendar year for which you are filing the return. This is also possible retrospectively, even if the return for that year has already been submitted.
• Medical treatmentThe treatment must have been medically necessary. The yardstick is generally BMI – from 35 with related conditions, or from 40.
• Insurance irrelevantWhether statutory, private or with no insurance benefit – what matters is what you paid yourself.
• Above the reasonable-burden thresholdYour treatment costs must be above your personal reasonable-burden threshold. With treatment at the Weight Doctors®, this is the case for most patients.

With each of these treatments it is worth looking at your tax return – often more than patients first suspect.

• “It only pays off for high earners”Not true. The reasonable-burden threshold is graded by percentage. With small and medium incomes in particular, the refund rate can be high, because a larger share of the costs lies above the threshold.
• “If the German health insurer doesn’t pay, there is nothing in it for tax”On the contrary. It is precisely because you pay yourself that extraordinary expenses come into play. Whether you are insured or self-paying has nothing to do with tax recognition.
• “With payment in instalments the tax benefit lapses”Not true. You can also claim financed treatment costs.
• “My tax return has already been submitted – too late”Not necessarily. Retrospective claims are still possible in many cases, even if the return for the year of treatment has already been submitted. If the claim is justified, the money is not lost for several years.

1. 01Collect documentsInvoices for your treatment, receipts for accompanying medication and additional medical services. Every document counts.
2. 02Check the key dataYour taxable income, your marital status and the number of your dependent children in the year of treatment.
3. 03Calculate in advanceThe Weight Doctors® tax benefit calculator gives you, in a few clicks, a first indication of the amount you can expect.
4. 04File the returnEnter the treatment costs as extraordinary expenses – with your tax software or together with your tax adviser. The refund comes with the income tax assessment for the year of treatment.

Whether a noticeable refund results in the end is something we cannot promise – but it is almost always worth checking.