Deduction of self-retention healthcare costs as special expenses under income tax law

The Federal Constitutional Court refused to accept the constitutional complaint for adjudication, thereby upholding the lower court's decision that denied the taxpayer's claim. The dispute concerned whether a voluntary contribution paid by the taxpayer to cover their own share of healthcare costs under a private insurance contract (self-retention) could be deducted as a special expense under German tax law. The constitutional complaint challenged the rejection of this deduction, arguing it violated fundamental rights. The decisive legal basis is the interpretation of special expense provisions in the German Income Tax Act, which requires that expenses be specifically and directly attributable to mitigating income tax burdens; the Court indicated that the constitutional complaint failed to meet the threshold for further review as the lower court's application of these tax norms did not violate fundamental constitutional rights.