Do other European countries have ”Tax relief for domestic service work”?
July 16, 2025
I have never really heard anyone outside of Sweden talking about this personally but I haven’t lived too many years abroad to know perhaps. But do other countries have this concept?
21 comments
Whats that about? In CH I dont think we have that, but then we are like 200 years behind you guys in whatever regards social equality etc
Edit: CH is the country code for Switzerland: Confederatio Helvetica (latin)
If you describe it, that might help people know if they have something similar
if you mean “kotitalousvähennys” (hushållsavdrag or “tax credit for household expenses”), yes
Denmark does, if I understand you correctly.
In order to combat tax fraud, we get a deduction in our taxes for money spent on certain domestic work. Mostly cleaning, but also the salaries for craftsmen depending on what exactly is being done.
We do in France, it covers house cleaning services at least. I don’t have kids but i would not be surprised if it also covers at least some kind of child services (ie : fetching them from school and keeping them until you get back from work etc)
If you’re self-employed and have e.g. someone clean your office, then yes, you can deduct that, just like any business expense.
As a private person? No chance. The list of things that can be deducted is very short in Austria and for most of those that can be deducted, only expenses above a certain threshold (as a percentage of your income) can be deducted.
You get like 630 EUR each month if you don’t put your kids in public or private childcare and don’t work here in Norway.
This is per child, not per parent.
You also get a small amount for having procreated per child not related to workstatus. This is normally payed to the mother directly.
Childcare can be subtracted from your taxes but since tax-subtractions are for the taxedamount it is not a whole lot of money. Adds up over the years tho.
Loads of European countries have something like this, which whilst not directly a tax relief these concepts are still around.
In Finland, yes, there’s something similar called ”tax deduction for household expenses” (kotitalousvähennys/hushållsavdrag). If someone pays for household related services (e.g. cleaning, repairs, in-house child minding or elderly care) they are entitled to a small tax deduction. It’s not very much but the idea is to get people buy these services and thus (theoretically) generate new jobs.
Germany has this, 20% of the costs of manual labour can be deducted. I guess the main reason is to discourage tax fraud.
I don’t think a lot of people around here can afford house cleaning services… As for hiring handymen – no, no tax reduction.
No. Here you will be asked if you want it legally with invoice or illegaly without. In case you choose the latter it is of course cheaper.
Belgium also has this service for home cleaning, ironing or home ‘support’ for various reasons (e.g. to do your groceries for you if you are unable to for health reasons).
AFAIK it doesn’t extend to gardeners, handymen, similar.
In the Czech Republic we have nothing like that. People are not encouraged to hire domestic workers and are used to doing everything themselves. VAT for craftsmen works is lower, but it is not really noticable. Human labor is too expensive, if you can do it yourself, it’s better to try. Moreover, most employees have no idea how do their taxes and what they can deduct. 😀
Yes in France, under certain circumstances and also over a certain age.
Something like this exists in Belgium, but I’ve never used it. I think it works as a type of voucher that can be used to pay for ironing, home cleaning, this kind of service based jobs.
You get a percentage as a tax credit at the end of the year (maybe 30% or so? I’m not sure.)
I believe it does exist in Portugal, and there are also other kinds of businesses where you get a tax discount for those reasons, like hairdressers and mechanics.
A pretty similar system in Finland though the present government has decreased the tax relief rate.
A pretty similar system in Finland though the present government has decreased the tax relief rate.
We don’t have such a thing in Hungary. Wish we did, because a few years ago we did this whole refurb of the apartment. Just this year we had blinds fixed and a second AC put in.
A pretty similar system in Finland though the present government has decreased the tax relief rate.
21 comments
Whats that about? In CH I dont think we have that, but then we are like 200 years behind you guys in whatever regards social equality etc
Edit: CH is the country code for Switzerland: Confederatio Helvetica (latin)
If you describe it, that might help people know if they have something similar
if you mean “kotitalousvähennys” (hushållsavdrag or “tax credit for household expenses”), yes
Denmark does, if I understand you correctly.
In order to combat tax fraud, we get a deduction in our taxes for money spent on certain domestic work. Mostly cleaning, but also the salaries for craftsmen depending on what exactly is being done.
Like this?
Link here: [https://skat.dk/en-us/individuals/deductions-and-allowances/home-improvement-and-household-services/deduction-for-home-improvement-services-and-household-services-for-holiday-homes](https://skat.dk/en-us/individuals/deductions-and-allowances/home-improvement-and-household-services/deduction-for-home-improvement-services-and-household-services-for-holiday-homes)
For Denmark fyi
We do in France, it covers house cleaning services at least. I don’t have kids but i would not be surprised if it also covers at least some kind of child services (ie : fetching them from school and keeping them until you get back from work etc)
If you’re self-employed and have e.g. someone clean your office, then yes, you can deduct that, just like any business expense.
As a private person? No chance. The list of things that can be deducted is very short in Austria and for most of those that can be deducted, only expenses above a certain threshold (as a percentage of your income) can be deducted.
You get like 630 EUR each month if you don’t put your kids in public or private childcare and don’t work here in Norway.
This is per child, not per parent.
You also get a small amount for having procreated per child not related to workstatus. This is normally payed to the mother directly.
Childcare can be subtracted from your taxes but since tax-subtractions are for the taxedamount it is not a whole lot of money. Adds up over the years tho.
Loads of European countries have something like this, which whilst not directly a tax relief these concepts are still around.
In Finland, yes, there’s something similar called ”tax deduction for household expenses” (kotitalousvähennys/hushållsavdrag). If someone pays for household related services (e.g. cleaning, repairs, in-house child minding or elderly care) they are entitled to a small tax deduction. It’s not very much but the idea is to get people buy these services and thus (theoretically) generate new jobs.
Germany has this, 20% of the costs of manual labour can be deducted. I guess the main reason is to discourage tax fraud.
I don’t think a lot of people around here can afford house cleaning services… As for hiring handymen – no, no tax reduction.
No. Here you will be asked if you want it legally with invoice or illegaly without. In case you choose the latter it is of course cheaper.
Belgium also has this service for home cleaning, ironing or home ‘support’ for various reasons (e.g. to do your groceries for you if you are unable to for health reasons).
AFAIK it doesn’t extend to gardeners, handymen, similar.
In the Czech Republic we have nothing like that. People are not encouraged to hire domestic workers and are used to doing everything themselves. VAT for craftsmen works is lower, but it is not really noticable. Human labor is too expensive, if you can do it yourself, it’s better to try. Moreover, most employees have no idea how do their taxes and what they can deduct. 😀
Yes in France, under certain circumstances and also over a certain age.
Something like this exists in Belgium, but I’ve never used it. I think it works as a type of voucher that can be used to pay for ironing, home cleaning, this kind of service based jobs.
You get a percentage as a tax credit at the end of the year (maybe 30% or so? I’m not sure.)
I believe it does exist in Portugal, and there are also other kinds of businesses where you get a tax discount for those reasons, like hairdressers and mechanics.
A pretty similar system in Finland though the present government has decreased the tax relief rate.
A pretty similar system in Finland though the present government has decreased the tax relief rate.
We don’t have such a thing in Hungary. Wish we did, because a few years ago we did this whole refurb of the apartment. Just this year we had blinds fixed and a second AC put in.
A pretty similar system in Finland though the present government has decreased the tax relief rate.