Deducting Psychotherapy From Your Taxes in Austria 2026: Extraordinary Expenses, Deductible, How-To

Can you deduct psychotherapy from your taxes in Austria?

Yes. In Austria the cost of psychotherapy counts as a medical expense and can be claimed for tax purposes as an extraordinary expense (außergewöhnliche Belastung) with a deductible threshold. You enter the amounts in your employee tax assessment (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung, formerly "Steuerausgleich") or in your income tax return. The tax office then deducts them from your taxable income.

The catch is in the three words "with a deductible". That is exactly where the expectation of getting the therapy "back from the state" falls apart. For many people, little or nothing is left in the end. We will clarify why in a moment, otherwise it is easy to talk yourself into a saving that is not there.

Two conditions must be met for the costs to be recognised at all:

• Medical warrant: there must be a mental disorder with disease value that is being treated. Pure coaching, life counselling or personal development without a diagnosis are not deductible
• Registered therapist: the treatment must be carried out by a person entered in the psychotherapist register of the Ministry of Health
• This is the same logic as with the insurance subsidy: what the health fund recognises as medical treatment, the tax office generally recognises too.

The most important limitation: the deductible threshold

With an extraordinary expense "with deductible", not the full amount counts, only the part above your personal deductible threshold. This threshold depends on your annual income:

The percentage drops by one point if you are entitled to the sole-earner or single-parent tax credit (Alleinverdiener- oder Alleinerzieherabsetzbetrag), or if your spouse earns very little, and by one further point per child. Someone with two children pays a noticeably lower deductible.

Only the spending above this threshold lowers your taxable base. And what actually lands in your account is that amount times your marginal tax rate, not the amount itself. So you get back a part, never the full bill.

When deducting really pays off (and when it does not)

It is easiest to see with two cases. Both are about elective therapy (Wahltherapie) at 100 euros per session, of which the ÖGK refunds 33.70 euros. That leaves 66.30 euros of your own cost per session.

Example 1, deducting brings almost nothing:

• Annual income 30,000 euros, no children, deductible 10 percent, so 3,000 euros
• Weekly therapy, 40 sessions a year, own cost 40 times 66.30 euros, so 2,652 euros
• These 2,652 euros are below the deductible of 3,000 euros
• Result: no tax effect at all, the saving is zero

Example 2, deducting pays off:

• Same income, but one child, the deductible drops to 9 percent, so 2,700 euros
• An intensive therapy phase plus dentist and new glasses in the same year add up to total medical costs of 4,500 euros
• Above the deductible are 4,500 minus 2,700, so 1,800 euros
• These 1,800 euros lower the tax base; at a marginal tax rate of 30 percent (typical at this income) that is around 540 euros less tax
• So the difference is not the therapy alone, but the sum of all medical costs of one calendar year that run together against the one deductible. Keep every receipt, also from the dentist, the optician, the pharmacy and for the trips to therapy.

Which costs you may claim

You may only ever claim the amount you actually bore yourself. Concretely that means:

• The fee of your elective therapist, but after subtracting the insurance subsidy. At 100 euros fee and a 33.70 euro ÖGK subsidy you claim 66.30 euros per session
• Travel costs to therapy count as part of the medical costs, either with the cost of public transport or the official mileage allowance (Kilometergeld)
• With an insured slot (Kassenplatz) there is nothing to deduct, because you paid nothing anyway
• Not deductible are coaching, supervision, life and social counselling, and couples therapy without a medically warranted diagnosis, because they do not count as medical treatment for tax purposes

How to claim the costs: step by step

Everything runs through the employee tax assessment, so for most people through FinanzOnline. Here is how:

• Step 1: collect all fee notes and payment receipts of one calendar year. The fee note should show the date, duration and amount paid
• Step 2: in FinanzOnline, start the employee tax assessment for the relevant year
• Step 3: enter the medical costs under the extraordinary expenses. In FinanzOnline the assistant guides you there; on paper it is the supplement L1ab. Beforehand you must have submitted the fees to the health fund and subtracted the subsidy, that is not optional but a requirement. The same applies to refunds from a private supplementary insurance
• Step 4: do not send the receipts along, but keep them until the assessment notice is final. The tax office can request them as a spot check
• Step 5: you do not have to calculate the deductible yourself, the tax office does that automatically and shows the result in the notice
• You can file the assessment up to five years retroactively. So if you think of it in 2026, the therapy costs of previous years are not lost either.

Lowering or avoiding the deductible

A bit of planning helps. If a larger dental treatment or new glasses are due anyway, put them in the same year as the intensive therapy phase where possible. Two years just below the deductible bring nothing, one year clearly above does.

Fully without a deductible is only possible in special cases, for example for disability-related costs from a certified degree of disability of 25 percent. Whether that applies to your therapy is best clarified by the tax office or the Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer), whose tax advice is free for members.

Get the insurance subsidy first, then deduct

The order matters, because the tax benefit is only the second stage. Get the insurance subsidy first, at the ÖGK it brings 33.70 euros per session immediately and independently of the deductible. How that works is in our guide to the ÖGK subsidy, and an overview of all funds is under applying for the insurance subsidy. Only the remaining own share do you then deduct from your taxes.

How much really stays with you can be worked out in a minute with our therapy cost calculator. The big overview of hourly rates, subsidies and saving tips is in the cost guide for psychotherapy in Austria.

And if you are still looking for a suitable elective therapist with free capacity: on matchyourtherapy.at you filter for free by location, method, focus and availability, and see the hourly rates directly in the profile.

This article is general orientation and does not replace tax advice. For your specific case, the tax office or a tax adviser is the binding source.