Do I qualify for the Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction?

If you were Self-Employed, you may be able to deduct the amount you paid for health insurance. Which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance and qualified long-term care insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents.

The health insurance can cover your child who was under age 27 at the end of the tax year, even if the child wasn’t your dependent. A child includes your son, daughter, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child. A foster child is any child placed with you by an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

To qualify for the deduction:

• Your business must have had a net profit for the tax year and
• The insurance plan must be established under your business

You are allowed a deduction for most of the medical expenses that you paid during the tax year. However, you cannot include any part of the expenses that were paid by an insurance company or other source.

Are there any limitations?

Limitations and amounts you may not include: 

• Amounts for any month you were eligible to participate in a health plan subsidized by your employer or your spouse's employer or the employer of either your dependent or your child who was under the age of 27 at the end of 2025.
• If you are a retired public safety officer, amounts excluded from gross income, not to exceed $3,000, if the amounts were paid by your retirement plan directly to the insurer for qualified health insurance premiums, or were received by you from that retirement plan and used to pay those premiums.

Can I deduct long-term care insurance premiums?

You can include premiums paid on a qualified long-term care insurance contract when figuring your deduction. But, for each person covered, you can include only the smaller of the following amounts.

• The amount of premiums paid for that person.
• The amount shown below. Use the person's age at the end of the tax year.

Program Entry

• Federal
• Deductions (Select my forms)
• Adjustments to Income
• Self-Employed Health Insurance Coverage