Gym membership fees are tax-deductible: What the Federal Fiscal Court says

More than 11 million people in Germany are currently members of a gym. The monthly membership fee is often over 50 euros. It is not usually possible to claim these costs against tax. But does this also apply if participation in a fitness course is prescribed by a doctor? Can the costs then be deducted as medical expenses?

The Federal Fiscal Court recently had to deal with this question (BFH, judgment of November 21, 2024, case no. VI R 1/23). The physically impaired claimant was prescribed functional training in the form of water gymnastics by her doctor to relieve pain. She became a member of a fitness studio for this. The costs for the gymnastics were covered by the plaintiff's health insurance. However, the health insurance fund did not pay the membership fees for the gym, which also allowed her to use the sauna, for example. The claimant therefore deducted the membership fees as "extraordinary expenses" in her tax return.

Such expenses are expenses that are inevitably incurred by the taxpayer and arise due to special circumstances, such as illness or a funeral. However, only those costs that exceed a reasonable amount are taken into account for tax purposes. Taxpayers are therefore expected to bear their own share of the costs without tax consideration. The reasonable personal contribution is calculated taking into account the amount of the taxpayer's income. However, whether individual costs are reasonable or too high is not examined.

In the most recent BFH case, the court did not recognize the contributions as extraordinary expenses. The offer of a fitness studio generally serves to promote health and is more of a preventative measure than the treatment of an existing illness. The plaintiff had not been forced to join the gym in order to take part in water gymnastics.  Rather, she voluntarily decided to do the gymnastics within the gym - because the course times and the shorter commute were more compatible with the plaintiff's everyday working life.

In addition, the plaintiff was able to use other areas of the gym in addition to the water gymnastics through her membership. The fact that the plaintiff did not actually use these areas does not change the assessment.

The ruling by the Federal Fiscal Court shows that health-related costs can only be claimed for tax purposes under very specific conditions. This does not include gym membership fees. However, more and more employers are offering their employees free gym memberships. This can be worthwhile: benefits in kind, which also include such memberships, remain tax-free for employees up to a value of 50 euros per month.

The author is a tax consultant at KPMG.