BFH Premium paid by health insurance reduces tax deduction

The Treasury also has its share in the contribution savings through a deductible tariff in statutory health insurance. As in private health insurance, a "premium" paid by the health fund is also to be deducted as premium refunds, which are deducted from the tax-reducing health insurance contributions, as the Federal Finance Court (BFH) in Munich ruled in a ruling published on Wednesday, September 5, 2018 ( Az .: XR 41/17).

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In order to revive the competition among the statutory health insurance companies, so-called elective tariffs were introduced in 2007. These can relate to additional benefits, but almost all funds also offer optional rates with deductibles.

The plaintiff had chosen such a tariff with an annual deductible up to 550 euros. If he had used little or no benefits, he received up to € 450 at the beginning of the following year as a "premium". In his worst case, the premium is waived and he pays 100 euros per year on high health expenditure.

The year 2013 was health-related for him, so that in 2014 he received the full premium of 450 euros. In the same year he paid contributions totaling almost 4,000 euros.

These contributions he claimed in his tax return in full as tax-reducing special expenses. The tax office did not fully recognize this. It reduced the special expenses to the "premium" of the health insurance in the amount of 450 euros.

And rightly so, as the BFH ruled in its judgment of 6 June 2018, which has now been published in writing. The "premium" is completely "comparable to the classic premium refunds of private health insurance", which also led to a lower special deduction deduction. "In both cases, the insured receives a payment from his health insurer, as he was not used by him or to a lesser extent. As a result, his contributions are reduced. "

By contrast, a "premium" granted for the risk of excess is not comparable with so-called "bonus payments", with which some health insurance companies reimburse the costs of certain sports courses or other health-promoting expenses. Because this is about the reimbursement of additional expenses. This has nothing to do with the contributions paid for the basic protection of the statutory health insurance.

The Federal Social Court (BSG) in Kassel in 2011 had set such deductible rates in the statutory health insurance narrow limits. According to this, such tariffs must be self-supporting; they are inadmissible for co-insured family members (judgment and JurAgentur notification dated 8 November 2011, file: B 1 A 1/11 R). mwo / fle