Yes. The cost of laser eye surgery or lens implants is the same as the cost of spectacles or contact lenses and is deductible as a medical expense.
Current income tax guidelines state: “If an illness is present, visual aids, including laser treatments, are necessary to enhance vision and are tax-deductible.”
In patients undergoing such an operation, there is a defect in vision, and thus an illness is present. Therefore, these costs are usually recognized, even without a medical certificate confirming the procedure’s medical necessity, as an exceptional expense.
Deducting laser eye surgery from the tax
Here’s how: Enter the cost of the eye operation in the column of “medical expenses” in the annual employee tax assessment. You can specify the total cost. But, there is an excess of 6 to 12% of your annual income depending on how high this is. This percentage is reduced by approx. 1% under certain circumstances (single income, single parents etc.).
The Ministry of Finance calculates your excess. The rest of the treatment costs affect tax deductibility.
Exception: If the operation was professionally conditioned and you have a certificate to prove it, you can deduct the full amount.
Find out more about exceptional costs (§ 33 EStG) at the Ministry of Finance. If you are in doubt, please inform yourself about the tax-deductibility of your operating costs.