How are children's health insurance contributions taken into account?

Claim contributions to your child's health and nursing care insurance on your tax return as follows:

(1) You are entitled to child benefit, and you are the policyholder
The contributions to your child's health and nursing care insurance are deductible as special expenses for you. Enter the contributions for basic cover in the "Anlage Kind" (line 31). Contributions for optional benefits, foreign health insurance, etc. are deductible for you under "other insurance" and should be entered in the "Anlage Kind" (line 37).

(2) You are entitled to child benefit, and the child is the policyholder
A special legal regulation applies here: If you pay the health insurance contributions for a dependent child for whom you are entitled to child benefit, you can deduct the contributions as special expenses (§ 10 para. 1 no. 3 sentence 2 EStG). Enter the contributions paid in the "Anlage Kind" (line 31). Contributions for optional benefits, foreign health insurance, etc. are only deductible as special expenses for the policyholder - i.e. the child - under "other insurance" and must therefore be entered in their tax return in the "Anlage Vorsorgeaufwand" (line 36). These contribution shares cannot be deducted by the parents.

Note: According to a recent ruling by the Federal Fiscal Court, the tax deduction requires that the parents have actually paid or reimbursed the contributions to the child (BFH ruling of 13.3.2018, X R 25/15). However, this ruling is not recognised by the tax authorities, and a legal amendment has since provided clarification. The contributions to the child's (basic) health and nursing care insurance are deductible as special expenses, regardless of whether the parents financially cover the child's contributions as part of their maintenance obligation through cash or in-kind support. It is also irrelevant whether the child has their own income. However, the child must be entitled to maintenance. (§ 10 para. 1 no. 3 sentences 2 and 3 EStG, amended by the "Act on Further Tax Promotion of Electromobility and Amendment of Other Tax Regulations" of 12.12.2019).

(3) You are not entitled to child benefit, and you are the policyholder
If the child is insured with you, you can deduct the contributions you have paid as your special expenses (§ 10 para. 1 no. 3 EStG). Claim the expenses in the "Anlage Vorsorgeaufwand" (line 40 ff.).

(4) You are not entitled to child benefit, and the child is the policyholder
If the child is the policyholder and you pay the insurance contributions, you cannot deduct the expenses as special expenses. The above-mentioned special regulation does not apply here. However, you can claim the contributions paid for basic cover as extraordinary expenses under § 33a para. 1 EStG and enter them in the "Anlage Unterhalt". In general, maintenance payments are deductible up to a maximum amount of 11,784 Euro (2024). In this case, however, the maximum amount is increased by the health and nursing care insurance contributions paid. A reasonable burden is not taken into account.