Tax relief on health insurance: what the law says
Ley 35/2006 on personal income tax, article 30.2.5ª.a)
«primas de seguro de enfermedad satisfechas por el contribuyente en la parte correspondiente a su propia cobertura y la de su cónyuge e hijos menores de veinticinco años que convivan con él. El límite máximo de deducción será de 500 euros por cada una de las personas señaladas anteriormente o de 1.500 euros por cada una de ellas con discapacidad.»
In English: health insurance premiums paid by the taxpayer, for their own cover and that of their spouse and children under twenty-five living with them. The maximum deduction is 500 euros for each of those persons, or 1,500 euros for each of them with a disability.
Checked against the Agencia Tributaria manual, IRPF 2025 edition. In force as of August 2026.
What the law establishes
Health insurance premiums reduce the taxable base. But the rule works differently for a self-employed person and for a limited company, and the difference is substantial.
Self-employed, own and family premiums. The limit is 500 € a year per person, and 1,500 € a year per person with a disability. It covers the self-employed person, their spouse and children under 25 living with them. Children with a disability are covered with no age limit, but must live with them.
Self-employed, employees' premiums. Fully deductible. The 500 € limit does not apply here: it affects only the business owner's own insurance and that of their family.
Limited company. Premiums for employees and directors are deducted as a company expense in full, with no limit.
The mirror rule for the employee
Ley 35/2006, article 42.3.c) — insurance paid for by the employer does not count as a benefit in kind within the same limits: 500 € per person per year, 1,500 € in case of disability. It extends to the employee, their spouse and their descendants.
That is where the advantage of a group policy comes from: the company deducts the premiums in full and the employee is not taxed on them. Both sides win.
Official sources
Self-employed, article 30.2.5ª — Agencia Tributaria manual, IRPF 2025.
Employees, article 42.3.c) — Agencia Tributaria manual, IRPF 2024.
The current limits were introduced by Ley 26/2014, published in the BOE.
This page is not tax advice. It reproduces an extract of the legislation in force together with links to the official Agencia Tributaria manuals. Applying it to your particular case is your gestor's job.
The limit is per person, not per family
This is where people get it wrong most often. You frequently hear the formula «up to 500 € per person, but no more than 1,500 € in total». That is incorrect. The 1,500 € is the limit for each person with a disability, not a family cap. The legislation sets no overall cap at all.
The origin of the misunderstanding is easy to see: a family of three — the business owner, their spouse and one child — comes to exactly 3 × 500 = 1,500 €. The coincidence of the figure created the myth.
The correct calculation:
| How much can be deducted | |
| Self-employed person alone | 500 € a year |
| Self-employed person and spouse | 1,000 € a year |
| Self-employed person, spouse and one child | 1,500 € a year |
| Self-employed person, spouse and two children | 2,000 € a year |
| Self-employed person, spouse and three children | 2,500 € a year |
| For each person with a disability | 1,500 € a year instead of 500 € |
Families with three or more children are routinely short-changed precisely because of this misunderstanding.
The requirement that is decided when you take out the policy
The text of the law contains a condition worth keeping in mind from the outset: the premiums must be paid by the taxpayer. If the payments leave someone else’s account, your gestor will have grounds not to apply the deduction.
For a limited company, the mirror requirement: the invoice must be issued in the company’s name, not an individual’s, or the accounts cannot book the expense.
We check this when the policy is taken out, not in April, when there is no longer any room to change anything.
What we provide
To companies and small businesses, an invoice. That is the document the accounts use to book the premiums as an expense.
To individuals and the self-employed, payment receipts issued by DKV, available in the client area and in the Activa DKV app.
Certificado de primas pagadas — we request it from the insurer whenever you ask. It is not only for the tax return: it is what is usually asked for when applying for or renewing residency, as proof of uninterrupted cover.
If your gestor does not know this rule
It happens more often than you would think. Do not argue and do not explain it in your own words: forward them the link to this page. It carries the text of the article and the links to the Agencia Tributaria manuals; a professional needs no more than that to check it at source in a couple of minutes.
Policies this applies to
- For companies: employees’ premiums are deducted in full.
- We issue an invoice in the company’s name — the document the accounts use to book the expense.
- Four products for businesses from 3 insured people, with no waiting periods.
- For the self-employed: medical cover plus Renta, with a daily allowance during sick leave.
- A 5% discount for the self-employed, for the life of the policy.
- Own and family premiums within the limit; employees’ premiums at 100%.
Agent's opinion I am asked this in almost every meeting with a business owner, and almost always with the same wrong figure in mind: «fifteen hundred for the whole family». Hence the disappointment — people conclude that the relief is not worth the paperwork.
In fact the limit is per person. A family of five is 2,500 € a year, not 1,500. The difference is noticeable and changes the conversation entirely.
The second thing I make clear at the outset: I am an insurance agent, not a tax adviser. I show you the text of the law and the link to the Agencia Tributaria website; the person who calculates and answers is your gestor. If they do not know the rule — and it happens — simply forward them this page. There is no need to argue: it is enough to give the source.
And the third point, purely practical. Whether there is relief at all is often decided on the day the policy is taken out, not in April: whose name the invoice is in and which account the payments leave from. We go over that together before signing.