Private health insurance & tax return: Is private health insurance tax deductible?

If you deduct the basic coverage of your private health insurance for tax purposes, you are usually already above the maximum amount. You just can't claim any further costs in this case. The situation is different if you are below the maximum amount. The monthly costs for your basic rate would therefore have to be less than 158 or 233 euros for you to still have room to maneuver.

If this is the case for you, you can claim further tax-reducing costs that fall under "other pension expenses".

Examples of other pension expenses:

• Unemployment insurance
• Liability insurance
• Disability and occupational disability insurance
• Accident insurance
• Term life insurance

The state also only recognizes additional benefits as tax-reducing if the maximum amount has not yet been exhausted. For example, if your plan includes treatment by a chief physician or a private room in a hospital, you can only deduct these extra benefits in this case. The same applies to daily sickness benefits.

What are the advantages of private health insurance?

• Tariffs are tailored to the needs of different occupational groups.
• Tariffs can be customized: The chosen tariff can be customized with additional modules to meet your own requirements and wishes.
• Preferred treatment: With private health insurance you benefit from the most advanced treatments and shorter waiting times at the doctor's office. ottonova also offers an appointment service, meaning we book and organize your doctor's appointments for you.
• Contractually agreed benefits: Benefits are not eliminated in old age, whereas this can be the case with statutory health insurance. With ottonova, there are also no tariff-based price/benefit schedules, i.e. no hidden benefit reductions in the event of treatment.

Can I claim medical bills that I paid myself?

If you do not submit medical bills to your private health insurance, you can receive a premium refund from some providers. That's why some insured persons pay smaller bills out of pocket first. Some insured persons also pay for medical bills themselves because they have chosen a tariff with a high deductible.

At the latest when you do your tax return, the question arises:

What about the medical bills you pay yourself? Are they tax deductible?

Out-of-pocket medical bills are considered extraordinary expenses. That means you can only claim them if the extraordinary expenses exceed a certain limit. How high this limit is, depends on your marital status and your annual income

Here is an overview of all the key data for 2022:

Annual net income up to 15,340 euros

• Single without child: 5%
• Married without child: 4%
• One or two children: 2%
• Three or more children: 1%

Annual net income up to 51,130 euros

• Single without child: 6%
• Married without child: 5%
• One or two children: 3%
• Three or more children: 1%

Annual net income from 51,130 euros

• Single without child: 7%
• Married without child: 6%
• One or two children: 4%
• Three or more children: 2%
  

If you are single, earn 50,000 euros net per year and have no children, your personal tax threshold is 3,000 euros. Anything less than this will not be recognized by the tax authorities. If you exceed the limit with your medical bills and other extraordinary expenses, you can declare the costs.

According to the Lohnsteuerhilfeverein, extraordinary expenses include, for example:

• Co-payments for medication
• Nursing home costs
• Maintenance costs
• Funeral expenses
• Eye operations for defective vision

Where do I enter private health insurance in the tax return?

The private health insurance contributions are considered "other pension expenses". Therefore, you must enter them in the annex "VOR" - namely in line 24. Here, however, you may only note the insurance contributions of the basic provision. If you have received refunds and reductions from your health or long-term care insurance, they must be noted on line 26. They reduce the total deductible amount.

If you used elective services or purchased supplemental insurance, you can enter corresponding amounts on line 28. If you received reimbursements, you must reduce or deduct them first.

You are an employee: What do you have to do if your employer pays a part of the private health insurance contributions?

If you are employed, you can also be a member of the private health insurance if you earn enough. In this case, your employer pays part of the contribution costs, which of course you cannot use for tax savings. The tax office charges the employer's contribution in full and deducts it from the cost of basic coverage. This means for you: You must include the employer's contribution for private health insurance in your tax return - the rest is taken care of by the tax authorities.