Money sent to parents in India: the German support deduction and its proof rules

The idea in one line

Regular money sent to support parents in India can reduce German income tax as an extraordinary burden, but the limit is cut for India, and since 2025 only transfers to the parent's own bank account count.

Why it matters

German law lets you deduct what you spend supporting a person you or your spouse are legally obliged to support, and under German law that includes parents (§ 33a(1) EStG). The yearly limit is tied to the basic tax-free allowance, the Grundfreibetrag (§ 32a EStG), and it grows by basic health insurance contributions you pay for that person.

For a parent who lives abroad, the law allows only what is necessary and appropriate by the standards of that country. The Federal Ministry of Finance puts countries into four groups for this, and India is in the fourth group, where the limit is cut to one quarter (BMF letter of 2 December 2025, for 2025 onwards). The parent's own income above a small allowance, which is cut the same way, reduces the limit further, and the parent may have no more than modest assets of their own.

Since the 2025 tax year, money given as support counts only if it was paid by transfer into an account of the person supported (§ 33a(1) sentence 12, added by the Jahressteuergesetz 2024). Cash handed over during a visit no longer qualifies. The ministry's guidance adds that payments through a payment service into the recipient's bank account count, while money sent to a mobile wallet without a clear link to a bank account generally does not.

How to check yours

The tax office asks for proof, not a total. For each parent, a year's file usually holds:

• the bank transfer records, each showing the parent as the recipient;
• a maintenance declaration (Unterhaltserklärung): a bilingual form from the federal form server that the parent signs and a local authority in India confirms, with details of the parent's income and assets;
• documents for the parent's own income, such as pension statements, with a German translation where needed.

The deduction itself is claimed on Anlage Unterhalt. The free Indian income checker covers the income side of the same return: interest, funds and rent from India.

What people commonly do

A common rule in the ministry's guidance is about timing: support counts only from the month it is paid, and each payment is treated as covering the months until the next one. The limit shrinks by one twelfth for each full month without support (§ 33a(3) EStG). A single large transfer in December therefore generally counts for December only, while the same amount spread over the year can count for the whole year.

Parents below the German statutory retirement age are generally expected to earn their own living, so support for them counts only with a weighty reason, such as poor health or a disability, backed by a doctor's certificate. When siblings share the support, the deduction is split by each person's share. Individual cases, including how much of the support fits the Indian limit, are a question for a Steuerberater.

Cross-border twist

Two calendars and two currencies meet here. Germany looks at the calendar year of the transfer; the parent's income is converted to euros at the ECB rate published for the end of September of the previous year (§ 33a(1) sentence 8). Indian documents need a German translation by an officially recognised translator, a consulate or another competent office, and the cost of translations, like the cost of replacing lost payment receipts, is not itself part of the support.

Sources

1. Einkommensteuergesetz § 33a (Außergewöhnliche Belastung in besonderen Fällen; Unterhaltsaufwendungen)
2. Bundesministerium der Finanzen: Berücksichtigung von Aufwendungen für den Unterhalt von Personen im Ausland als außergewöhnliche Belastung nach § 33a Absatz 1 EStG (BMF-Schreiben vom 15. Oktober 2025)
3. Bundesministerium der Finanzen: Berücksichtigung ausländischer Verhältnisse; Ländergruppeneinteilung ab 1. Januar 2025 (BMF-Schreiben vom 2. Dezember 2025)
4. Einkommensteuergesetz § 32a (Einkommensteuertarif; Grundfreibetrag)
5. Formular-Management-System der Bundesfinanzverwaltung: Anlage Unterhalt and the bilingual Unterhaltserklärung

60-second video script

Hook: You send money home to your parents every month. Germany may let you deduct part of it.

Point 1: Support for parents counts as an extraordinary burden in Germany. For India, the yearly limit is cut to a quarter.

Point 2: Since 2025, only bank transfers into your parent's own account count. Cash handed over on a visit doesn't.

Point 3: Timing matters: one big transfer in December generally counts for December only. The proof rules are strict, so ask a Steuerberater about your case.

Call to action: Check the income side of your return, interest, funds and rent from India, with the free checker at inwst.com/tools/indian-income.