Can I also deduct the costs of my health insurance from my taxes?
May 15, 2023 | 40,00 EUR | answered by Anneliese Schaaf
Dear tax consultant,
My name is Chloé Altmann and I am an employee in a medium-sized company. This year, I have started to focus more on my tax return in order to potentially find ways to save on taxes. One question that has come up for me concerns the costs of my health insurance.
I pay a significant amount to my statutory health insurance every month and I am now wondering if these costs are tax deductible. I have heard that it may be possible, under certain conditions, to deduct health insurance premiums from taxes, but I am unsure if this applies to me.
My monthly gross salary is 3,000 euros, of which I contribute 300 euros towards my health insurance. Since I have no control over the contribution as an employee, which is based on my income, it is important for me to know if I can at least deduct the costs for tax purposes.
I am concerned that I may be missing out on a chance to save on taxes if I do not include the health insurance premiums in my tax return. Therefore, I would like to know from you if and under what conditions the costs of my health insurance are tax deductible. Are there specific limits or requirements that I need to consider in order to include the health insurance premiums in my tax return?
Thank you in advance for your help and advice.
Best regards,
Chloé Altmann
Dear Mrs. Altmann,
Thank you for your question regarding the tax deductibility of your health insurance costs. It is indeed possible to include the contributions to health insurance in your tax return and thus make them tax deductible. However, there are certain conditions that you need to consider in order to benefit from this tax advantage.
In principle, contributions to statutory health insurance are deductible as special expenses. This applies to both employees and self-employed individuals. However, contributions to health insurance can only be tax deductible up to a certain maximum amount. For employees, this maximum amount is currently 1,900 euros per year. So if you pay 300 euros monthly for your health insurance, the annual total amount would be 3,600 euros, which exceeds the maximum amount. In this case, you could only declare a maximum of 1,900 euros as special expenses in your tax return.
It is important to note that not only contributions to health insurance, but also contributions to long-term care insurance and statutory pension insurance are tax deductible as special expenses. So if you also pay contributions to long-term care insurance in addition to health insurance, these can also be included in your tax return.
To declare the contributions to health insurance in your tax return, you will need a certificate from your health insurance provider showing the contributions paid. This certificate should be submitted to the tax office along with your tax return.
I hope that this information has been helpful to you. If you have any further questions or need assistance with your tax return, please feel free to contact me.
Best regards,
Anneliese Schaaf
