Health insurance premiums on your Swiss tax return: the deduction people miss

Key takeaways

• The insurance-premium deduction (VersicherungsabzugVersicherungsabzugInsurance premium deductionFRdéduction pour primes d'assurancesITdeduzione per oneri assicurativiA capped deduction for insurance premiums and savings interest. In Zurich for 2025: CHF 5,800 married, CHF 2,900 single, plus CHF 1,300 per child.Where you see itZiffer 15 of the Zurich return, labelled *Versicherungsprämien und Zinsen von Sparkapitalien*, worked out on the *Versicherungsprämien* annex.Open in the glossary →) covers eligible health insurance premiums within the applicable limit. Check that you have claimed it in your return.
• In Canton Zurich for tax year 2025 the cantonal cap is CHF 5,800 married, CHF 2,900 single, plus CHF 1,300 per child.
• The federal cap is separate and lower: CHF 1,800 for everyone else, CHF 3,700 married, plus CHF 700 per child.
• Subtract any premium reduction the canton paid. Most insurers already net it off, so do not subtract it twice.
• Premiums are a cap you usually reach. Medical costs are a floor, at 5% of net income.

What is the insurance-premium deduction?

The insurance-premium deduction (Versicherungsabzug, insurance deduction) lets you subtract your insurance premiums plus savings interest from your taxable income, up to a fixed amount. The rule is in the Zurich tax law, § 31 para. 1 letter g, and in the federal one, DBGDBGThe federal income tax actFRLIFDBundesgesetz über die direkte Bundessteuer: the act that governs federal income tax for the whole country. Almost every federal rule a guide cites comes from here, which is why the abbreviation appears so often beside an article number.Where you see itIn citations, as DBG Art. 33 or similar. French and Italian sources call the same act LIFD.Open in the glossary → Art. 33 para. 1 letter g.

It covers:

• Health insurance premiums (KrankenkasseKrankenkasseHealth insurance providerFRcaisse-maladieITcassa malatiYour compulsory Swiss basic health insurer. It sends a premium statement every year, and those premiums are deductible, but only inside the capped insurance-premium deduction.Where you see itAn annual premium statement, and a deduction line for insurance premiums in the return.Open in the glossary →, mandatory health insurer)
• Life, pension and accident insurance premiums
• Interest earned on savings

How much is it worth in Canton Zurich (2025)?

Two caps, not one. The cantonal and communal return and the federal return use different numbers, side by side in the same form.

Situation	Cantonal and communal (Zurich)	Direct federal tax
Married, paying into a pension fund or 3a	CHF 5,800	CHF 3,700
Married, paying into neither	CHF 8,700	CHF 5,550
Everyone else, paying into a pension fund or 3a	CHF 2,900	CHF 1,800
Everyone else, paying into neither	CHF 4,350	CHF 2,700
Per child or dependent person (added)	CHF 1,300	CHF 700

A worked example (illustrative)

A single filer claims the full CHF 2,900 cap. At a marginal rate of roughly 25–30%, that lowers the tax bill by about CHF 700 to CHF 870 a year. The same amount, unclaimed, is the same amount overpaid. That repeats every year the field stays empty.

Why it gets missed

Check the annual premium statement from your health insurer (Krankenkasse). It may be available in the customer portal or sent by post. Keep it with your tax documents.

The insurance-premium deduction has its own field on the return. Check that you have completed it and that the amount follows the applicable limits. Being able to submit the form does not confirm that you have claimed every deduction.

If you previously paid tax at source (QuellensteuerQuellensteuerTax at source (withholding tax on salary)FRimpôt à la sourceITimposta alla fonteTax your employer deducts from each salary payment and pays to the canton for you. The rate is a cantonal average that assumes standard deductions, so it ignores your individual ones.Where you see itA deduction line on your monthly payslip, and a total on the salary certificate.Open in the glossary →, tax deducted from salary), this may be your first time entering the premiums yourself. Use the insurer’s statement to identify the amount for the tax year.

Claiming it

1. Find this year's premium statement. Your insurer's annual statement or your premium invoices carry the number. If you cannot find it, your insurer's online portal can re-issue it.
2. Add up the premiums (health, plus life, pension and accident if you have them) and any savings interest.
3. Subtract any premium reduction (Prämienverbilligung) the canton paid towards your premiums.
4. Enter the total on the insurance-premium line of your cantonal return. In Zurich that is box 15, filled in from the separate insurance-premium form (form 365).

The form does the comparison for you: part A is what you paid, part B is your cap, and the lower of the two is what you deduct. The cantonal app applies the same rule, so entering your real premiums is enough. It will not let you over-claim.

Can you fix a past return that missed it?

Sometimes, if you act in time.

• If the return is not yet assessed, you can still correct it. Until the assessment decision (VeranlagungsverfügungVeranlagungsverfügungAssessment decisionFRdécision de taxationITdecisione di tassazioneThe canton's binding decision on what you owe, which may differ from what you filed. Receiving it starts your 30-day objection window.Where you see itArrives by post, often a year or more after you file.Open in the glossary →, the tax office's binding decision on your return) is final, corrections are possible.
• For 30 days after the decision arrives, you can file an objection (EinspracheEinspracheObjectionFRréclamationITreclamoA formal challenge to an assessment decision, due within 30 days of notification. Miss it and the assessment becomes final in almost all cases.Where you see itThe deadline is printed on the assessment decision itself.Open in the glossary →, formal objection to the assessment) in writing. The deadline is the same in Zurich law (StGStGA cantonal tax actFRLIITLTSteuergesetz: a single canton's own tax act. Every canton has one, so StG never means the same text twice: the guides here cite Zurich's (LS 631.1). It is the law that fixes your cantonal deduction amounts, which is why they differ from the federal ones.Where you see itIn citations as StG § 31 or similar. Cantonal acts number by § (paragraph), federal ones by Art. The sign tells you which level you are reading.Open in the glossary → § 140 para. 1), in the federal law (DBG Art. 132 para. 1) and in the harmonisation law every canton follows (StHGStHGThe cantonal tax harmonisation actFRLHIDITLAIDSteuerharmonisierungsgesetz: the act that tells all 26 cantons which taxes they must levy and how the rules must be shaped. It sets the frame; each canton still fixes its own rates and many of its own deduction ceilings inside it.Where you see itIn citations as StHG Art. 13 or similar, usually beside the DBG article covering the same point federally.Open in the glossary → Art. 48 para. 1).
• After that window closes, a missed deduction in a closed year is generally lost. There is a review procedure (RevisionRevisionReopening a final assessmentFRrévision (d'une décision de taxation)ITrevisione (di una decisione di tassazione)The only route once an assessment is legally final and the 30-day objection window has closed. The grounds are narrow, and it is excluded where the error came from your own lack of care.Where you see itA request to the tax office, long after the assessment.Open in the glossary →), but federal law shuts it off for anything you could have raised yourself with reasonable care. A forgotten deduction is exactly that.

1. 1Before the assessment arrivesThe return is not final, so a correction is ordinary rather than exceptional
2. 2For 30 days after it arrivesThe objection window (Einsprache). A missed deduction can still be claimed
3. 3After those 30 daysThe year is closed and a deduction you did not claim is generally lost

The tax office can go back years to collect what you underdeclared. What you overpaid through a missed deduction stays paid.

Premiums and medical costs are two different deductions

People mix these up, and they behave in opposite ways.

	Insurance premiums	Medical costs
What it covers	What you pay the insurer	What you pay for treatment: the franchise, the co-payment, dental, glasses
How it works	A cap, which most people already exceed	A floor. Only the part above 5% of net income counts
Where it goes in Zurich	Box 15	Box 22.1, on a separate form
Realistic outcome	You claim the cap	Often nothing, unless the year was expensive

The 5% floor is exact, not a guideline. Zurich sets it in StG § 32 letter a and the federal law in DBG Art. 33 para. 1 letter h, both measured against your net income (Nettoeinkommen). That is the figure on box 21 of the Zurich return, after your ordinary deductions. On a net income of CHF 90,000 the first CHF 4,500 of medical costs is not deductible at all.

Subtract any premium reduction (Prämienverbilligung) you received. The deduction is for what you actually paid. If the canton subsidised part of your premium, that part was not your cost and does not belong in the figure. Most insurers already net the subsidy off the premiums they invoice you; if yours does, do not subtract it twice.

Common questions

Are health insurance premiums deductible on a Swiss tax return?

Yes. Mandatory health insurance (Krankenkasse) premiums are deductible under the insurance-premium deduction, up to your canton's cap.

What is the insurance-premium deduction cap in Canton Zurich for 2025?

For cantonal and communal tax, CHF 5,800 married and CHF 2,900 for everyone else, plus CHF 1,300 per child. Those figures are for people who pay into a pension fund or pillar 3a. If you pay into neither, they rise by half, to CHF 8,700 and CHF 4,350.

Sources

The sources below support the tax figures and rules discussed in this guide. Follow the links to check the original guidance and its scope.

1. Canton Zurich — WegleitungWegleitungOfficial filing instructionsFRinstructionsITistruzioniThe canton's own guide to completing the return, published each tax year. Authoritative and, in Zurich, German only.Where you see itPublished on zh.ch alongside the year's forms.Open in the glossary → zur SteuererklärungSteuererklärungTax returnFRdéclaration d'impôtITdichiarazione d'impostaThe return itself: the whole set of forms you complete and submit for one tax year. What the canton sends you, and what its software fills in.Where you see itThe title on the letter the canton sends, and the name of the cantonal app.Open in the glossary → 2025, box 15 (insurance premiums and savings interest: all four cantonal caps and all four federal caps) and box 22.1 (medical and accident costs, 5% of net income) — zh.ch
2. Canton Zurich — form 365 Versicherungsprämien 2025, the form that prints both columns and does the part A / part B comparison — zh.ch
3. Zurich tax law (StG, LS 631.1) § 31 para. 1 letter g — CHF 5,800 / CHF 2,900, the half increase, CHF 1,300 per child — and § 32 letter a for the 5% medical-cost floor and § 140 para. 1 for the 30-day objection — zh.ch
4. DBG (SR 642.11) Art. 33 para. 1 letters g and h and para. 1bis (federal deduction, half increase, CHF 700 per child, 5% floor) and Art. 132 para. 1 (30 days) — fedlex.admin.ch
5. EFDEFDThe Federal Department of FinanceFRDFFEidgenössisches Finanzdepartement: the government department the Federal Tax Administration sits inside. It issues the ordinances that set things like interest rates on late and early payments.Where you see itNamed as the issuing department on a federal ordinance or a rate announcement.Open in the glossary → ordinance on cold progression (SR 642.119.2, in force 1 January 2025) — the federal 2025 figure of CHF 3,700 — fedlex.admin.ch
6. StHG (SR 642.14) Art. 48 para. 1 — the 30-day objection deadline every canton must provide — fedlex.admin.ch