Inability to deduct health insurance agreement fees for family members

The Directorate General of Taxes (DGT) has issued a relevant ruling for individuals who bear the cost of health coverage for their dependent family members through special health insurance agreements.

What the DGT has ruled

The query concerned whether the amount paid to a special health insurance agreement could be considered a deductible expense in the IRPF tax return of the taxpayer making the payment. The resolution determines that these contributions do not meet the requirements for deduction.

The ruling is based on the following points:

• Contributions to special health insurance agreements in favor of a family member are not deductible expenses according to Article 19 of the IRPF Law.
• The deductibility of social security contributions is limited exclusively to recipients of income from employment.
• Current regulations do not provide for tax credits or tax benefits for the payment of special agreement fees for dependent family members.

What this means for you

If you make periodic payments to ensure the health coverage of a family member through a special agreement, you should know that these amounts cannot be subtracted from your taxable base. Even if the taxpayer is the one covering the cost, the regulations do not recognize this expenditure as a necessary expense for obtaining income from employment, nor as a permitted deduction in the tax settlement.

What you should do

Taxpayers who manage the healthcare of their dependents must keep in mind that this expense has a non-deductible tax treatment. It is recommended to analyze the structure of your personal and family expenses to avoid errors in your income tax return. Since the regulations are restrictive on this point, each situation must be assessed based on the exact nature of the benefit and the relationship with the taxpayer.