Deductions are the main way to pay less taxes in the Income Tax return, a procedure that can already be carried out at the Tax Agency if what you want is to present it online. Taxpayers can get a discount on the total fee they must pay by including a number of expenses in their draft. Among them, there are many who wonder if the money they spend on their health insurance or the expenses derived from visits to the dentist are part of these deductible expenses.
The answer is negative. Dentist expenses are not deductible from income, at least generally and within the state income tax bracket. The law does not provide a general deduction for the dentist or for other medical expenses.
However, there are certain groups that can deduct taxes for them and also autonomies that do allow dental expenses to be deducted.
Autonomous deductions for the dentist.
The first exception to the general rule is regional deductions. The personal income tax is divided into a state part and a regional part, which allows each region to adapt the tax to its particularities.
There are two communities that have taken advantage of it to include a deduction for health and illness expenses that does allow dental expenses to be deducted.
In Cantabria it is possible to deduct 10% of expenses due to illness, which includes dental health. The limit of the deduction is 500 euros in individual taxation and 700 euros in joint taxation, to which 100 euros are added in case of disability equal to or greater than 65%.
To access this deduction for dental expenses, it is necessary that the general taxable base amount and savings be less than 22,946 euros in individual taxation and 31,485 euros jointly.
Meanwhile, in the Canary Islands they also have a deduction for illness expenses that includes dental health. Specifically, Canarian taxpayers can deduct 12% of the expenses paid to the dentist throughout the year and also 12% for the acquisition of appliances and accessories.
The limit of this deduction is 600 euros for individual taxation and 840 for joint taxation. The income limits to be able to enjoy it are 42,900 euros in the first case and 57,200 in the second. These figures refer to the sum of the general tax base and savings.
Who else can deduct dentist expenses?
There is another group that can deduct dental expenses: the self-employed. However, they will only be able to do so as an integral part of their health insurance.
Self-employed workers can deduct their health insurance and that of their family up to a maximum of 500 euros per year per member.
This option opens the door to deducting dental health expenses, as long as it is included as coverage within health insurance. And individual dental insurance is not considered a deductible expense as a self-employed person.
The Treasury has already spoken out about professionals who live off their image, such as actors, and who have tried to justify that the dentist is an expense related to their activity. The Treasury’s criteria are clear: it cannot be deducted because, if it allows this type of deductions, it would open the door to deducting beauty treatments, aesthetic operations and even the nutritionist.
Can employees deduct dental expenses?
As we have seen, the dentist is not generally deductible. However, a salaried worker could deduct taxes for that expense using the same trick as the self-employed.
Employees cannot deduct health insurance like the self-employed, but health insurance in the name of the employee paid by the company is considered compensation in kind. remuneration in kind. And these types of expenses are part of the income exempt from tax.
Article 46 of the Personal Income Tax regulations considers that the insurance premiums of the worker and his family are exempt from taxation up to 500 euros per year and 1,500 euros in the event of a person with a disability.
This means that this part of the worker’s salary will not be added to the income tax return. For this reason, negotiating a part of the salary in kind is a way to increase salary without having to pay less taxes.
