Naturopathy cancer therapy deductible

Naturopathy: An alternative cancer therapy can be applied to the tax office even if the treatment is performed by a person who is not admitted to the practice of medicine.

The financial expenditures of an alternative cancer therapy of the naturopathy can with the tax office as „extraordinary burden“ be claimed if conventional medical therapies are no longer available and the life expectancy is greatly reduced by the disease. This also applies to treatments that are not recognized from a conventional perspective. The Federal Finance Court ruled in the file number: VI R 11/09.

Expenses for alternative treatment can be considered an exceptional burden § 33 para. 1 EStG in income tax return. For the first time, the Federal Finance Court has ruled that this also applies to treatments that do not come from the point of view of conventional medicine or scientifically recognized naturopathy.

In the specific case, the husband complained of a patient who underwent surgery for a pancreatic cancer disease. After the medical procedure, the patient underwent a so-called immunobiological cancer treatment with the drug „Ukrain“. However, the drug is not approved as a regular drug in Germany and is therefore not distributed in pharmacies. But the family doctor had advised on this treatment, since due to the weakened constitution of the patients no conventional chemotherapy was available. In the income tax return, the plaintiff claimed the costs of the alternative treatment as an exceptional expenditure. But the tax office did not let the expenses apply. Then the husband complained through several instances and was now awarded by the Federal Finance Court right. (sb, 01.12.2010)