Cost of pain relief process no extraordinary burden

BFH: civil lawsuits usually not tax deductible
(Jur). If patients sue their doctor for compensation for a treatment error, they can not deduct the resulting legal costs from the tax. Civil procedural costs, especially for claims for pain and fatigue, do not arise "inevitably", so that a tax deduction as an extraordinary burden is not possible in principle, decided the Federal Finance Court (BFH) in Munich in a judgment published on Wednesday, April 6, 2016 (Az .: VI R 7/14).

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The plaintiff from North Rhine-Westphalia, whose wife died of cancer in 2006, accused the attending gynecologist of a treatment error. In court, he asserted unsuccessfully compensation for pain and suffering. The accumulated process costs in the amount of 12,137 euros, he wanted to tax-reducing as an extraordinary burden.

But extraordinary burdens must have arisen "inevitably", decided the BFH in its judgment of 17 December 2015. This included civil process costs usually not. Court costs can only be regarded as "inevitable" and thus tax deductible if "the process touches existentially important areas or the core area of ​​human life and the taxpayer is forced to conduct civil proceedings," said the BFH. (FLE)