Taxation of personal income tax on voluntary medical insurance. How to get a tax deduction for voluntary medical insurance and other types of treatment Voluntary health insurance personal income tax refund

The VHI system is one of the key elements of the modern health insurance sector. Now let’s talk about why it became the key, and not compulsory medical insurance, and how to get part of your money back, what subtleties and pitfalls to take into account.

But first, let’s decipher the abbreviation VHI in order to dot all the i’s at once. Voluntary health insurance. What it is? In short, it is a program that provides medical services in excess of compulsory medical insurance.

Confrontation between compulsory health insurance and voluntary health insurance

The state provides all citizens with the opportunity to take advantage of free medical care under the compulsory medical insurance program. However, there are many shortcomings of domestic medicine, so many people are thinking about voluntary health insurance more and more often. Moreover, conscientious taxpayers have the right to receive part of the funds spent on treatment back.

The VHI package is available to almost all people who do not have serious health problems.

List of standard services

The VHI system involves receiving medical services:

• techniques doctors for diagnostic consultation,
• research for correct diagnosis of the disease,
• honey. home help,
• ambulatory treatment,
• ambulance services,
• emergency or planned hospitalization of patients,
• provision of sanatorium-resort treatment,
• family or company doctor.

Who has the right to get some of the money back?

Here is a short “checklist” that will allow you to understand whether you can get back some of your own money spent on voluntary health insurance. In other words, apply for a tax deduction for voluntary health insurance.

You need to answer questions, “yes” or “no”.

1. Are you officially employed and pay taxes according to the law? That is, income is subject to income tax at a rate of 13%?
2. Have you paid premiums for VHI: personal insurance, insurance for your spouse, parents, children under 18 years of age, or all relatives together?
3. Are you covered by the entire package of VHI documentation as a taxpayer?
4. Are you a resident? (Non-residents are not entitled to social tax payments).
5. Is your insurance organization located on Russian territory and has a license required by law?

If you answered yes to all questions, then the law allows you to get part of the money back.

Who can't get a tax deduction?

• You have income taxed at different rates.
• You had expenses for voluntary health insurance during the tax period, but there was no income that would be taxed at a rate of 13%.
• You are a pensioner, receive only a pension, and do not have income that would be taxed at a rate of 13%.
• You paid for the policy to a child for whom you are not officially considered a parent, guardian or trustee on official grounds.
• You have registered an individual entrepreneur operating under a simplified taxation system or using UTII/STS.
• Your employer bought a policy for your voluntary health insurance with his own money, the contract was drawn up in his name. Even if the amount of expenses is deducted from your salary.
• You have taken out insurance and received a policy from a foreign insurance company.

Where and when to get a deduction for VHI?

The law provides that you can contact the tax authorities at the place of residence or location of real estate or vehicles of which you are the owner. It is also possible to receive a deduction at your place of residence if you submit an application for registration with the tax authorities.

The law allows you to submit a Declaration completed in Form 3-NDFL and other documentation proving that you have the right to return income tax. This can be done after the end of the tax period – the calendar year. The tax deduction is provided for the period in which you paid for medical services.

Important! The Voluntary Health Insurance Law provides that you can apply for a refund within 3 years from the date of payment for VHI services.

What documents should I submit to the tax office for deduction?

• Declaration in form 3-NDFL.
• Certificate from the employer in form 2-NDFL.
• A copy of the first page of the passbook or bank account details sheet.
• Copies of two pages of the passport - those with a photo and information about the place of registration.

After receiving these documents, the tax authorities have the right to request other documents from you in order to conduct an audit.

For example, prescriptions filled out by a doctor with a note indicating that they have been submitted to the tax office. As well as checks or payment receipts, which will confirm the fact that you paid for the medicines.

Important! It is better to issue payment documents directly to the person who will return the income tax, according to VHI. Otherwise, problems may arise from the tax authorities.

Payment amount

For those who pay not only for their own policy, but also for the policies of their spouse, parents, children, official wards under 18 years of age, law allows you to reduce your taxable income on these expenses. However, there is a limitation: no more than 120 thousand rubles for the tax period. 13% of 120 thousand rubles comes to hand, that is, the amount is 15,600 rubles.

It is also necessary to take into account that the balance of unused deductions is not carried forward to future periods.

Expenses for expensive treatment, according to the Government Decree, are fully reimbursed. Here, taxation does not provide for restrictions on the amount. However, these costs are not included in the maximum amount (discussed above) and are taken into account separately.

Deduction for expensive treatment

If the taxpayer receives expensive treatment for which the amount of payments for medical services is not limited, some explanations need to be given.

• The amount is accepted for deduction taking into account actual expenses.
• Expensive treatment in terms of taxation is the provision of medical services from the list approved in 2001. It is important that you receive this medical care in an institution that is licensed to provide such services.
• If a medical institution providing expensive treatment does not have the medical materials necessary for the patient, he can purchase them and then receive a deduction. The fundamental point: the purchased materials went directly to this expensive treatment.

What documents should the patient collect?

• A certificate from a medical institution that provided expensive treatment. It should contain information that the doctor prescribed these medical materials.
• A receipt or other document confirming the fact of payment for the medications prescribed by your attending physician.
• Certificate of payment for services. It must indicate the amount of (X) rubles.

Subtleties: how to get money when relatives pay?

If the medications were purchased for children or a spouse, then a copy of the children’s birth and marriage certificates will need to be attached to the above list of documents. If you bought medicine for your parents, you will need a copy of your birth certificate.

Copies of these documents must be certified personally. Indicate the date of certification, put a signature with a transcript (last name, first name, patronymic). In this case, when submitting all documentation to the tax office, you will also need to take the originals with you. The inspector will compare the copies and the originals, and will leave a mark on the copies and indicate the date of receipt.

How to get a deduction through your employer?

The deduction can be obtained without waiting for the end of the financial year. In this case, the employee fills out an application for a deduction and also provides the employer with a notification from the tax authority confirming that the individual is entitled to a social benefit. The employee receives this notification within 30 calendar days from the date the application was submitted to the tax authority. Attach documents confirming your right to a tax deduction to your application. So, these are cash receipts and a recipe with a tax stamp.

Conditions and list of drugs for tax deduction

In 2017, the list of drugs for deduction remained the same as that approved by the Russian government in 2001, taking into account the changes that were made in 2007.

Conditions for receiving a deduction: providing a declaration, application, documents for medicines confirming payment. Important: payments are made only for those medications that are on the list.

Medicines must be prescribed by the doctor who treated the patient, at the expense of the patient-taxpayer. If your medications were paid for by your employer, then no deduction is provided for this amount.

The list contains international non-proprietary names of drugs. Moreover, each of the drugs may have synonymous names. The names are in the State Register. The Ministry of Health publishes it annually.

If the doctor prescribed medications that are not on the list, then you cannot count on receiving insurance payments. The doctor can prescribe both medications that can only be purchased with a prescription and those that are sold over-the-counter.

Prescription forms

The names of drugs in prescriptions are written in Latin letters. But the method of using the product must be written in Russian. The prescription must not contain phrases of general meaning, for example, “medicine for external use”, “medicine for internal use”. An extract from prescriptions is required, which are issued on forms No. 148-1/u-88, No. 107-1/1, No. 148-1/u-04 (l) or No. 148-1/u-06 (l).

When issuing prescriptions, doctors follow the procedure established by the Ministry of Health. It is allowed to make recipes in block letters, that is, on a computer. Forms must be submitted without amendments. If the doctor made a mistake when filling out the prescription form, it is better to prepare a new one.

There are separate forms for prescribing different groups of medications. So, No. 148-1/u-88 - for the following list of funds:

• psychotropic drugs from list III or registered drugs
• anabolic steroids,
• drugs with low concentrations of psychotropic and narcotic components - the so-called precursors,
• medicines created individually, including narcotic substances and psychotropics from List II in a small dosage, not exceeding a single dose.

Forms No. 148-1/u-04 (l) and 148-1/u-06 (l) are intended for prescribing drugs for free receipt, as well as issuing prescriptions to citizens entitled to receive a discount.

Form No. 107-1/u - for drugs that are subject to control, since they, in addition to small doses of narcotic and psychotropic components, contain other pharmaceutical substances. Also, other medications are prescribed on this form for those for which special forms are not provided.

What medications can I get?

Within the framework of this article on voluntary health insurance, it is impossible to provide a complete list of medications. Therefore, we present groups of drugs, some names without specifying their forms of release.

1. Medicines for anesthesia and reduction of skeletal muscle tone. For example, solution for inhalation of halothane, lidocaine, botulinum toxin, etc.
2. Group of analgesics. Narcotic, non-narcotic, non-steroidal, gout medication, etc.
3. Antihistamines.
4. Drugs affecting the central nervous system.
5. Anti-infective drugs (a number of antibiotics, antifungals, vaccinations, etc.)
6. Antitumor and immunosuppressive drugs (cytostatic, antihormones, hormonal, etc.)
7. Stimulants with anti-osteporosis action.
8. Drugs that affect the blood. For anemia, problems with blood clotting, plasma substitutes, etc.
9. Medicines for the heart and blood vessels (allapinin, verapamil, dopamine, etc.)
10. Means for medical diagnostics. Fluorescent, contrast for X-rays, radioisotope, etc.
11. Antiseptics, for example, iodine, and disinfectants: chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, ethanol.
12. For gastrointestinal diseases. Pancreatin, aprotinin, atropine, lactulose, etc.
13. Hormonal medications. Insulin, methyltestosterone tablets, others.
14. Means for the treatment of the urinary system, renal pathologies. For example, cyclosporine, mannitol, etc.
15. Ophthalmological. Reducing inflammation, antiglaucoma and miotic, stimulating regenerative processes.
16. Uterine, including hormonal. In addition, agents affecting the uterine muscles.
17. Medicines for pathologies of the respiratory organs - for example, a number of drugs against asthma.
18. Nutrients and electrolytes.
19. Some vitamin preparations.

And finally, we will answer the most important question for many.

When will the money be returned?

The tax deduction is calculated after a desk audit has been carried out of the data that you indicated in the declaration and is also recorded in the documentation submitted for consideration. The verification can take place within 3 months from the date of submission of all the necessary documents. That's how law on voluntary insurance.

If you choose voluntary health insurance and purchase a VHI policy, an individual has the right to receive VHI tax deductions. How can I get some of my insurance money back?

Payment for a voluntary health insurance policy usually comes from the income of a Russian citizen, from which income tax (NDFL) is withheld. The possibility of returning part of the personal income tax for the purchase of a voluntary health insurance policy is provided for by the tax legislation of Russia. To receive a social deduction, you must fulfill a number of conditions and go through the procedure prescribed by law. You should understand this carefully so as not to waste time on repeated visits to authorities.

Who and why can receive personal income tax compensation under VHI?

A tax deduction, according to the Tax Code (Tax Code of the Russian Federation), is understood as a refund of income tax paid on a person’s official income, which is 13% of the amount of income. Social tax deduction implies personal income tax compensation for expenses incurred for social needs. According to Art. 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation these include:

• costs of education (your own and your children under 24 years of age);
• donations to charities;
• costs of treatment (your own and your immediate family, for example, children, spouses, parents) carried out in hospitals and clinics in Russia;
• purchase of medicines;
• costs for any voluntary health insurance (signing an agreement with an insurance company and purchasing a voluntary health insurance policy);
• participation in pension insurance (non-state or voluntary);
• payments towards pension accumulation;
• costs of voluntary life insurance for a period of 5 years (according to No. 382-FZ of November 29, 2014).

According to tax legislation, persons who meet the following criteria can compensate for income tax when paying for a voluntary health insurance policy:

• Residents of the Russian Federation who are taxpayers;
• Individuals who have paid for a VHI policy for themselves or immediate family members and have issued documents in their name. A person cannot count on a deduction if his employer has entered into an agreement with an insurance company;
• Individual entrepreneurs paying income tax at a rate of 13%.

If the policyholder meets any of these requirements, then he can count on a partial refund of personal income tax, the amount of which depends on the amount of the insurance policy.

The amount of social tax deduction for VHI

According to paragraph 2 of Art. 219 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, social tax deductions compensate for a person’s actual expenses for paying personal income tax. However, these costs in total cannot exceed 120,000 rubles per tax period (1 calendar year). Exceptions include expenses for necessary expensive treatment and education of children, which are reimbursed without any limit on the amount.

The maximum amount of social compensation for 1 year can be 13% of 120,000 rubles, that is, 15,600 rubles per year. If a person has spent money on social needs on various items during the year, he can count on compensation for the types of expenses of his choice, but in total these expenses should not exceed 120,000 rubles.

An individual has the right to receive the maximum amount of compensation if the amount of official income subject to personal income tax is from 10,000 rubles. With such a salary, the employer will withhold 1,300 rubles monthly to pay personal income tax, which will amount to 15,600 rubles for the year.

Examples of calculating social deductions:

№	Initial data	Amount to be reimbursed
1	In a year, a person spent 130,000 rubles. for the purchase of a VHI insurance policy. There were no other social costs.	For the year, the maximum allowable amount of expenses of 120,000 rubles established by the Tax Code and subject to compensation was exceeded. Therefore, the personal income tax refund amount will be 13% of 120,000 rubles, resulting in 15,600 rubles.
2	During the year, an individual spent 80,000 rubles. for treatment and voluntary health insurance.	The maximum allowable amount of expenses has not been exceeded. The amount of compensation will be 13% of 80,000 rubles, i.e. 10,400 rubles.

To get an income tax refund under VHI, it is usually not enough to just come to the tax office and ask for your money; you need to fill out a package of documents and go through a short social quest through the authorities.

Documents for registration of VHI deductions

To receive compensation, you need to immediately collect several mandatory documents, which in any case will be required at one or another stage of the tax refund. This list includes:

• Certificate form 2-NDFL about income and taxes paid for the required period;
• Declaration of form 3-NDFL with calculations of paid contributions;
• A copy of the agreement with the insurance company;
• Documents confirming payment for the VHI policy;
• A copy of an identity document;
• Application for personal income tax compensation. The application can be submitted up to 3 years from the date of spending funds on VHI; you can provide documents and receive payments for the previous 3 years immediately;
• Bank account details for transferring funds.

When providing a copy of documents confirming the right to compensation, the tax inspector may request the originals for verification. To fill out a tax return (form 3-NDFL), you can use the instructions and samples for filling out this document on the official tax website, download a special program, or contact a specialist.

Procedure and deadlines for income tax refund under VHI

There are several ways to obtain a tax deduction, so each voluntary health insurance owner can spend his time and effort on this, or he can involve his own employer and spend time only on writing an application.

Option 1. Having collected all the necessary documents, you can independently contact the Federal Tax Service (IFTS) inspectorate at your place of residence. This must be done after the end of the tax period (calendar year) for which you want to receive compensation. Next, you will need to submit Declaration 3-NDFL and all documents on any working day during the office hours of the Federal Tax Service.

Please note that the end of the tax period for individual entrepreneurs and organizations is a “hot” time, so both at the end and at the beginning of the year, most likely, you will find yourself in huge queues and a rather nervous environment. It is worth waiting a couple of weeks after the time for filing declarations, the queues will become much shorter, and the Federal Tax Service officer will be able to devote more time to you. Tax authorities check the submitted documents within 3 months. After this time, if there are no comments, funds will be transferred to the specified details within up to 1 month.

Option 2. If the payment of contributions for voluntary health insurance is carried out through the employer, you can receive a deduction with his help. To do this, you need to provide the accounting department with an application for a tax deduction and a copy of the agreement with the insurance organization.

Obtaining a tax deduction is not only a long process, but also sometimes unpleasant. Controlling authorities will try to find typos and errors that will delay the deadline for receiving funds and, perhaps, force the taxpayer to abandon his desire. If the tax documents are “wrapped up” over and over again, you should contact a qualified lawyer and entrust him with checking the documents. This service alone costs much less than full support, so it is available to any citizen of the Russian Federation.

In the Russian labor market, the presence of voluntary health insurance (VHI) in the employer’s social package has long become one of the important tools for retaining staff and increasing loyalty. In times of crisis, the importance of insurance in the eyes of employees increases even more. In addition, we must not forget that when applying for VHI, companies have the opportunity to receive tax benefits. Therefore, when optimizing costs, it is worth considering whether it is necessary to address this expense item.

Elena Kopeikina, chief accountant at Liberty Insurance, tells how to correctly draw up voluntary health insurance contracts, attribute expenses to them and reduce the cost of an insurance policy for an employee: “Obviously, during an economic downturn, businesses have to look for ways to reduce costs, but, as our corporate partners say, clients, the social sphere - this is not what you should save on in the first place. After all, as we know, healthy and prosperous employees work more efficiently and effectively. We are sensitive to the needs of our clients and do everything so that they can optimize their costs. In particular, we advise companies on how they can save on applying for voluntary health insurance and gain tax advantages.”

The fact is that VHI contracts are voluntary personal insurance contracts, so they are covered by a number of benefits that not everyone knows about.

Attribution of insurance premiums under VHI contracts to enterprise expenses

Expenses for voluntary health insurance for employees, like other labor expenses, reduce the tax base (Article 253 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). As for VHI itself, it is necessary to comply with a number of mandatory conditions (Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, paragraph 16):

Contributions under voluntary personal insurance contracts are included in expenses in an amount not exceeding 6% of the amount of labor costs;

The VHI agreement must be concluded for a period of at least one year.

Personal income tax

When determining the tax base, insurance premiums under voluntary health insurance contracts for employees are not subject to personal income tax (Article 213 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 3). Also, income received in the form of insurance payments upon the occurrence of an insured event is not taken into account (Article 213 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 1, clause 3), and this norm applies to insurance not only of employees, but also of their family members.

The only exception is payment for health resort treatment at the expense of voluntary health insurance. In this case, personal income tax arises, since the voucher relates to the income of the insured (Article 213 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 1, clause 3), accordingly, he has an obligation to pay a tax of 13%. To do this, the employee must independently file a tax return, receive a notification and make payments in equal installments in two payments.

Insurance contributions to extra-budgetary funds

If the term of a voluntary health insurance agreement concluded in favor of employees is one year or more, payments under it made by the employer are not subject to insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of Russia, the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund and the Social Insurance Fund of Russia (Federal Law No. 212-FZ, Article 9, Part 1, clause 5). If a voluntary health insurance agreement is concluded in favor of family members of employees, payments under it should also not be subject to contributions, since they are made in relation to persons who are not in an employment relationship with the employer.

Value added tax

Insurance premiums (contributions) and insurance payments are exempt from value added tax by virtue of the direct instructions of the law (Article 149 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, clause 3, clause 7).

As you can see, if you know the nuances of applying for voluntary health insurance and use all the benefits prescribed by the state, the cost of insurance for the company is significantly reduced. At the same time, the employer receives important benefits. Firstly, VHI makes the social package of services provided by the company more competitive, which, in turn, will help it attract highly qualified specialists and strengthen its position in the market. Secondly, better medical care can improve the working capacity of staff and reduce production losses resulting from issuing sick leave. Thirdly, this is an effective additional factor that reduces the outflow of personnel and stabilizes the organization’s personnel composition.

Do not forget that if an insured event occurs under a VHI agreement, financial responsibility for harm to the health of an employee will be borne not by the enterprise, but by the insurance company. For example, Liberty Insurance has more than 20 years of experience in the provision of voluntary health insurance services and during this time it has developed and implemented a high-quality system of medical care for clients and the practice of settling insurance claims. The advantages of the company are the presence of a 24-hour control panel, a staff of qualified expert doctors, and contracts with the best specialized medical institutions. Liberty Insurance constantly develops products that best meet the interests of clients. In particular, the company recently offered St. Petersburg enterprises voluntary health insurance with a franchise - a product that allows them to save up to 30% of the cost of a standard voluntary health insurance contract and at the same time preserve an important element of the social package for their employees.

In this article we will not only talk about how to correctly draw up and record a voluntary health insurance agreement (VHI) for employees, but also draw attention to what mistakes can lead to very dire financial consequences.

General issues of taxation of transactions under VHI agreements are regulated by the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Special cases are explained in relevant letters from the Russian Ministry of Finance. Judicial practice in cases related to the taxation of VHI agreements is extremely contradictory and reflects purely individual cases, so it makes no sense to be guided by it in this matter.

This is also true for tax accounting of such agreements - errors in taxation and accounting are fraught with significant losses for the enterprise, and proper accounting and use of benefits provided by law will allow one to derive certain benefits when concluding these agreements.

Let's consider the features of taxation and registration of VHI agreements that an organization should know when planning, budgeting and developing VHI programs.

Income tax

According to Art. 253 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, labor costs are included in expenses that reduce taxable profit. But please note that in accordance with sub. 16th century 255 Tax Code of the Russian Federation:

• contributions under voluntary personal insurance contracts that provide for payment by insurers of medical expenses of insured employees are included in expenses in an amount not exceeding 6% of the amount of labor costs;
• Labor costs include the amounts of payments (contributions) under voluntary personal insurance contracts for employees, concluded for a period of at least one year, providing for payment by insurers of medical expenses of insured employees.

That is, according to subparagraph. 16th century 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, labor costs for the purpose of calculating income tax include the amounts of insurance premiums for VHI paid by the employer for employees, in an amount not exceeding 6% of the total labor costs, calculated taking into account Art. 255 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. By the way, this rule does not apply to persons who are not on the policyholder’s staff (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 03/09/2011 No. 03-03-06/1/130).

In this case, the above costs can be taken into account as expenses for corporate income tax purposes. as in the case of payment by the insurer of medical expenses to a medical institution providing medical services to insured employees of the employing organization (insured organization), and directly to the insured employees of the employing organization upon provision of the relevant primary documents on their payment of medical expenses provided for by the VHI program (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated January 13, 2009 No. 03-03-06/1/2).

For your information

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The number of insured persons in relation to the total number of employees of the organization, as well as the difference in insurance programs for individual employees, do not matter for income tax purposes. If the organization has 1000 people, you can insure only 10 or choose different programs for different categories of workers (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated May 10, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/284).

The only limitation is that this should not contradict the collective agreement and fall under the formal signs of discrimination specified in Art. 3 Labor Code of the Russian Federation. For example, if you have two cleaners with the same functions, but you only insure one, this must be somehow convincingly justified. Moreover, in writing and with reference to functionality or business qualities (for example, an annual policy in the form of bonuses for individual employees or compensation for increased responsibility, volume of work, etc.). Otherwise, the “offended” cleaner has the right to go to court “with an application for restoration of violated rights, compensation for material damage and compensation for moral damage” (Article 3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation). In practice, if the positions and functionality are different, no questions arise.

And we also want to remind you that classification of insurance premiums under a VHI agreement as expenses that reduce the taxable base for income tax , is only possible if the following conditions are met:

1. The insurer must have an appropriate license to carry out activities in the field of voluntary health insurance in the Russian Federation, valid for a period not less than the expected term of the contract. The absence of such a license does not give the right to include payments under the contract as expenses. It does not matter whether the insured person is being treated in Russia or abroad, the main thing is that the insurer himself has a license valid on the territory of the Russian Federation (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 5, 2007 No. 03-03-06/3/10);
2. The voluntary health insurance contract must be concluded for a period of at least one year (note: this applies to the contract itself, and not to the insurance period of each employee). Consequently, when concluding a voluntary health insurance contract, it must be borne in mind that replacement (exclusion or addition of insured persons) does not change the term of the contract itself.

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Some standard VHI contracts contain the clause “The Contract in relation to the Insured being removed from insurance is considered terminated from the date specified in the application, unless otherwise established by an additional agreement of the Parties. At the same time, the number of Insured under the Contract decreases.”

According to this formulation, income tax must be recalculated and additionally assessed for the person removed from insurance if he was insured for a period of less than a year.

It is more correct from the point of view of tax accounting to write: “The Insurer’s obligation in relation to the Insured being removed from insurance is considered terminated from the date specified in the application, unless otherwise established by an additional agreement of the Parties. At the same time, the number of Insured under the Contract decreases.”

It is also useful to include in the contract a mechanism for replacing one insured person with another. From a tax perspective, this is less risky than returning part of the insurance premium.

Keep in mind that the amounts of insurance premiums paid by the employer under VHI agreements for family members of employees are not taken into account for profit tax purposes. This conclusion follows from paragraph. 5 paragraph 16 art. 255 and paragraph 6 of Art. 270 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The above was also confirmed by the capital's tax authorities in a letter from the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated August 22, 2008 No. 21-11/079061@.

And another important point: if you, on your own initiative, want to change the insurer , it is better to do this after a year has passed from the start of the contract that “does not suit you.” Otherwise (if the voluntary health insurance contract is terminated before one year and the contract is concluded with another insurer), the taxable base will have to be recalculated - expenses included in reducing the tax base for income tax must be restored as part of income, since the conditions established by paragraph. 5 paragraph 16 art. 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated 06/07/2011 No. 03-03-06/1/327). But you can take into account the costs of a new contract only in the corresponding period (when it will be valid) and only if it is also concluded for a period of at least a year. This applies not only to income tax, but also to other taxes. Tax benefits do not apply to voluntary health insurance contracts for a period of less than a year.

Changes in the composition of the insured, the VHI program and the amount of insurance premiums within the framework of the current agreement does not entail changes in taxation. According to letters of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 18, 2006 No. 03-03-04/2/260, dated November 9, 2006 No. 03-03-04/1/747, as well as the Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated January 30, 2009 No. 19-12 /007403, dated 10.10.2007 No. 20-12/096637 if changes were made to the list of insured persons related to the hiring and dismissal of employees without changing the essential terms of the contract (term, number of insured, etc.), then insurance premiums for such contracts are also taken into account to reduce the tax base for income tax.

In accordance with the explanations set out in the letter of the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated January 29, 2010 No. 03-03-06/2/11, if an additional agreement is concluded to the main agreement, the terms of which provide inclusion of new employees of the employing organization in the main contract , expenses in the form of additional amounts of payments (contributions) under the contract of voluntary personal insurance of employees are also taken into account as part of labor costs for the purpose of taxing the profits of organizations, provided that all essential conditions are met by the additional agreement (term, number of insured persons, etc. ) contracts for voluntary personal insurance of employees and the amount “fits” into 6%.

In addition, if the obligations under the voluntary personal insurance contract for the organization’s employees the insurer transfers it to another insurer (insurers) without terminating the contract (by replacing persons in the obligation), the policyholder has the right to continue to include the amounts of contributions under such an insurance contract as expenses for profit tax purposes. A similar approach is also valid in a situation where the transfer of obligations under a voluntary personal insurance agreement for employees does not occur voluntarily, but on the grounds provided for in Art. 57 and 58 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (in connection with the reorganization) (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated November 11, 2011 No. 03-03-06/3/12).

Features of the accounting procedure: if the terms of the insurance contract provide for payment of the insurance premium in a one-time payment, under contracts concluded for more than one reporting period, expenses are recognized evenly over the term of the contract in proportion to the number of calendar days of the contract in the reporting period (clause 6 of Art. 272 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, the actual paid amount of the insurance premium attributable to the days the contract is valid for the corresponding reporting (tax periods) cannot exceed the maximum level.

Personal income tax

Insurance premiums under VHI contracts are not subject to personal income tax (both for the employee himself and for his family members who are not in an employment relationship with the enterprise), this follows from the norms of paragraph 3 of Art. 213 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The specified insurance premiums are not subject to personal income tax even if they are paid in favor of family members of employees (letters of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 3, 2008 No. 03-04-06-01/185, dated December 26, 2008 No. 03-04-06-01 /388, Federal Tax Service of Russia for Moscow dated July 1, 2010 No. 20-14/3/068886).

According to sub. 3 p. 1 art. 213 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, when determining the tax base, income received in the form of insurance payments in connection with the occurrence of relevant insured events... under contracts providing for reimbursement of medical expenses (with the exception of payment for sanatorium and resort vouchers) is not taken into account. The norm applies to insurance of any person.

Payments made by the employer in favor of employees in the form of providing them with dietary meals provided for by the voluntary health insurance program, if relevant diseases are identified in employees, are not subject to personal income tax.

A natural question arises: what to do with sanatorium-resort treatment? Unfortunately, the analysis of explanations on this problem does not make it possible to answer it unambiguously. There is a so-called “tax risk” here. Apparently, when including this clause, the legislator had something important in mind, but the clause is formulated in such a way that it is clearly impossible to understand.

On the one hand, insurance payments under voluntary medical insurance contracts concluded by organizations in favor of their employees are subject to personal income tax in terms of payment for sanatorium and resort vouchers, since this is directly provided for by current legislation. On the other hand, who exactly is the tax agent in this case - the employing organization or the insurance company - is not clearly defined by the current legislation, and judicial practice on this issue is contradictory.

Arbitrage practice

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Judicial practice sometimes does not work out in favor of the taxpayer (see, for example, decisions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated January 15, 2010 in case No. A27-6748/2009, dated December 18, 2009 in case No. A27-6555/2009, FAS North-West District dated July 16, 2010 in case No. A56-24057/2008).

At the same time, the resolution of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Ural District dated March 12, 2008 No. Ф09-1326/08-С3 in case No. А60-11974/07 states that such payments of personal income tax are not subject to personal income tax in the case where the organization’s employees underwent rehabilitation treatment in a sanatorium -resort establishments.

At the same time, in judicial practice there is no uniform approach to the question of which organization (employer-insurer or insurer) should withhold personal income tax from a given insurance payment.

For example, in the decisions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the West Siberian District dated January 15, 2010 in case No. A27-6748/2009, dated December 18, 2009 in case No. A27-5584/2009 and in case No. A27-6555/2009 it is stated that personal income tax should be withheld employer organization, and in the decisions of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the North-Western District dated July 16, 2010 in case No. A56-24057/2008, dated July 2, 2009 in case No. A56-24057/2008 - that personal income tax must be withheld by the insurance company (insurer).

Thus, there is a risk of being held accountable in the event of failure to withhold and transfer personal income tax to the budget for the employing organization in this situation. But at the same time, according to paragraph 1 of Art. 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, in this case the tax agent may not be the employer, but the insurance organization that makes payments. She must calculate, withhold, and transfer personal income tax or inform the inspectors about the impossibility of withholding (clause 5 of Article 226 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, determination of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated November 10, 2010 No. VAS-14352/10).

Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary problems, it is better to stipulate in advance in the VHI agreement that personal income tax on the specified amount is calculated and paid by the insurer when providing sanatorium and resort services. True, he will have to compensate this amount in the cost of the contract.

Another important nuance: what to do with personal income tax if the VHI agreement stipulates that does the employee receive insurance compensation in monetary terms?

There are two options. If the insured person, according to the terms of the VHI agreement, receives a sum of money simply as a payment upon the occurrence of an insured event at pre-agreed rates, then his taxable income includes the amount of the insurance premium and is subject to personal income tax at a rate of 13%. Moreover, according to Art. 223 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, this should be done in the case when the employee received income, i.e. on the day of payment of insurance compensation.

The amount of insurance compensation itself does not need to be subject to personal income tax: according to Art. 213 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the tax base does not include amounts that are paid after an insured event occurs.

The second option is if the employee receives the insurance amount as compensation for treatment costs already incurred. For example, in another region where the policyholder does not have contracts with medical organizations or in another medical institution (if it is not possible to receive such assistance at the insurer’s medical institution). If they provide the relevant primary documents confirming their payment of medical expenses provided for by the VHI program and in the amount specified in these documents, the personal income tax contribution is not subject to personal income tax (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 17, 2008 No. 03-04-06-01/216).

Documented expenses for the purpose of justifying VHI expenses by the insured are understood to be expenses confirmed by documents drawn up in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, or documents drawn up in accordance with business customs applied in the foreign country in whose territory the corresponding expenses were incurred, and ( or) documents indirectly confirming the expenses incurred (including a customs declaration, a business trip order, travel documents, a report on work performed in accordance with the contract) (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated August 22, 2011 No. 03-03-06/1/507) .

For your information

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The form and procedure for insurance payments to the insured person are determined on the basis of a specific VHI agreement.

Insurance premiums

Insurance contributions for compulsory social insurance, including contributions for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases, contributions and payments for voluntary health insurance are also not assessed. Exemption from insurance premiums is provided for in clause 5, part 1, art. 9 of the Federal Law of July 24, 2009 No. 212-FZ “On insurance contributions to the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund,” subp. 5 p. 1 art. 20.2 of the Federal Law of July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ “On compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases.”

However, this exemption does not apply to cases where VHI contracts are concluded for a period of less than a year; accruals under the contract will be subject to insurance premiums, including contributions for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases (letter of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation dated July 17, 2008 No. 03-04 -06-01/216).

This norm applies to employees, but there are no labor relations between the organization and members of the employees’ families, therefore, when an insurance premium is transferred for them under VHI contracts, the object of taxation of insurance premiums, including contributions for insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases, does not arise (Part. 1 Article 7 of Federal Law No. 212-FZ, paragraph 1 Article 20.1 of Federal Law No. 125-FZ).

Value added tax

This tax is easiest. Insurance premiums (contributions) and insurance payments are exempt from value added tax by virtue of the direct instructions of the law (subparagraph 7, paragraph 3, article 149 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation).

Simplified taxation system

The position of specialists of the Ministry of Finance of Russia on the issue of accounting for tax purposes when applying the “simplified system”, the organization’s expenses for voluntary medical insurance of its employees is reflected in letters dated January 30, 2012 No. 03-11-06/2/14 and dated September 27, 2011 No. 03-11 -06/2/133.

In accordance with sub. 6 clause 1 art. 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, enterprises and individual entrepreneurs operating under the simplified taxation system “income minus expenses” have the right to include as expenses the costs of voluntary medical insurance for their employees. In this case, the contract of voluntary compulsory medical insurance must be concluded for at least one year.

Despite the fact that in the closed list of “allowed” expenses under the simplified taxation system (Article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) such expenses are not directly named, the taxpayer can take them into account as expenses on the basis of subparagraph. 6 clause 1 art. 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation as labor costs, and the composition of labor costs, in turn, is determined in accordance with Art. 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation (clause 2 of Article 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). In this case, contributions under such agreements are included in expenses in an amount not exceeding 6% of the amount of labor costs.

However, it is worth noting that there is another approach to solving this issue. This approach is demonstrated by individual specialists of regulatory authorities in private explanations and in practice when conducting tax audits. Its essence is as follows. Subclause 7, clause 1, art. 346.16 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation allows only expenses for all types of compulsory insurance of employees, property and liability to be included as expenses when calculating the tax paid in connection with the use of “simplified taxation”. This norm is special in relation to the general norm of Art. 255 Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, taxpayers using a simplified system with the object of taxation “income minus expenses” do not have the right to take into account the amounts of contributions under voluntary personal insurance contracts for employees as expenses when calculating the single tax.

Thus, it must be borne in mind that when accounting for contributions under voluntary health insurance contracts for employees concluded for one year as expenses when calculating the tax paid in connection with the application of the “simplified tax”, claims from inspection authorities are possible. Moreover, due to the lack of established judicial practice on this issue, it is difficult to predict what position the court will take in the event of a possible trial.