Tax office does not reward own payment of medical expenses

BFH: Private insured will be fully credited
Privately insured persons who pay for medical expenses themselves with the aim of contributing to the reimbursement have tax disadvantages. Because the self-paid costs can not be claimed as tax-reducing special expenses, as the Federal Finance Court (BFH) in Munich on Wednesday, 11 April 2018, decided ruling (Az .: X R 3/16). On the other hand, the special expenses are to be reduced by the reimbursement of contributions.

Privately insured persons who pay for medical expenses themselves with the aim of contributing to the reimbursement have tax disadvantages. (Image: Focus Pocus LTD / fotolia.com)

Many private health insurance companies grant their insured a premium refund if they do not claim any benefits in a calendar year. For tax reasons, however, this is not always worthwhile, as the BFH judgment of 29 November 2017, now published in writing, shows.

In 2012, the plaintiff himself paid medical expenses amounting to 564 euros. In the following year, he received a reimbursement of 741 euros from his private health insurance.

For the tax year 2013, the tax office deducted the reimbursement from the tax-reducing health insurance contributions. Without success, the plaintiff argued that, in return, his own medical expenses had to be taken into account because his own contribution was the cause of the reimbursement.

However, the Finanzgericht Baden-Württemberg in Stuttgart dismissed the action (judgment of 25 January 2016, file no .: 6 K 864/15, JurAgentur report dated 21 October 2016).

This is now followed by the BFH. Thereafter only those expenditures are deductible as contributions to health insurance ", which stand in connection with the acquisition of the insurance protection and serve finally the precaution". Here, however, the insured person did not pay for his own treatment in order to obtain the insurance cover, but only for the reimbursement of contributions.

If necessary, medical expenses can be claimed as extraordinary expenses. However, these only have a tax-reducing effect if a "reasonable load" is exceeded. Their amount depends on the income and the number of children and is between one and seven percent of the income.

In the specific case, the corresponding threshold was not exceeded. A deduction as extraordinary charges would therefore also not be considered, so the BFH.

Previously, the BFH had already decided that in a private health insurance with deductible this own share is not among the special expenses (judgment of 1 June 2016, Az .: X R 43/14, JurAgentur-message of 2 November 2016). mwo / fle