BFG: Assertion of a lump sum for a child's vocational training

Aug 4, 2021 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

In the current case, the Federal Fiscal Court dealt (Bundesfinanzgericht, BFG) with the possibility of claiming extraordinary burdens in the context of a child's education.

The plaintiff's daughter studied at a university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule, FH). By public transport, her journey time was one hour and 19 minutes each way. Based on this, the plaintiff claimed extraordinary expenses in his income tax return in the form of the lump sum for six months. This was not recognized by the tax office, whereupon the plaintiff lodged an appeal.

The BFG stated the following:

The legal basis is Sec. 34 (8) of the Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG), according to which an extraordinary burden is incurred for the education of a child if there is no corresponding educational opportunity in the catchment area of the place of residence. The regulations issued in this regard stipulate that this is the case if the place of education is more than 80 km away from the place of residence. An exception exists if the daily journey can be proven to be more than one hour each way.

The plaintiff was able to prove with ÖBB timetable information that the daily travel time from the home address to the university address takes more than one hour. However, this is contradicted by the case law of the Supreme Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof, VwGH). According to this, travel times within the place of residence and study may not be added to this hour. The same applies to waiting times or walking distances to or from stations. Only the travel time for covering the distance between the two municipalities is decisive.

Within the plaintiff's place of residence, there is another station - where the daughter also had to change trains - from which the journey time to the place of study is just under 40 minutes, and can thus be considered reasonable.

With reference to the forementioned facts, the plaintiff withdrew his petition.

BFG RV/5101411/2017 (12.07.2021)