Child benefit for medical training
Child benefit
As a rule, children are entitled to child benefit until they reach the age of 18. In addition, child benefit is paid until the child reaches the age of 25 if the child is being trained for a profession or if there are other reasons specified in the law (Section 32 (4) of the German Income Tax Act/EStG). The child benefit amounts to € 219.00 per month for the first and second child, € 225.00 for the third child and € 250.00 for the fourth and each additional child.
Specialist training
In the dispute which the Lower Saxony Fiscal Court (Niedersächsisches Finanzgericht/FG) had to decide, the question was whether further training as a specialist constitutes professional training. In its ruling of Nov. 17, 2021 (Case No. 9 K 114/21), the Fiscal Court denied the entitlement to child benefits for the parents of a female physician undergoing further training. The further training as a specialist does not constitute part of a uniform professional training of the child, since the further training is only incidental, according to the reasoning of the judgment.
Revision
An appeal was filed against the ruling of the FG. In the pending case III R 40/21, the Federal Fiscal Court (Bundesfinanzhof, BFH) must clarify, among other things, whether a child who is undergoing (university) training to become a doctor can only be taken into account for child benefit payments until he or she passes the medical examination. The answer to this question is likely to depend essentially on whether there is a factual and temporal connection between medical studies and specialist training.
Status: August 29, 2022
Image: PhotographyByMK - stock.adobe.com
