Deducting healthcare costs from your tax: what is allowed and what isn't in 2026?

What are deductible healthcare costs?

Deductible healthcare costs are costs for medical treatments, aids or facilities you paid yourself — so those not reimbursed by your health insurance or another scheme. They are costs that arise from illness or disability.

Important: you can only deduct the part above the threshold. The threshold is a percentage of your assessable income (aggregate income). Only if your total deductible healthcare costs exceed this threshold, the remainder is deductible.

Which healthcare costs are deductible?

The Belastingdienst has a specific list of deductible healthcare cost items. These are the most important ones:

Medical and surgical care

• Costs for a GP, specialist, dentist (treatments, not check-ups), physiotherapist, speech therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist — to the extent not reimbursed
• Hospital admission — the personal contribution part you pay yourself
• Orthodontics for yourself or your children — to the extent not reimbursed

Prescription medicines

• Medicines prescribed by a doctor that are not reimbursed by health insurance
• Note: over-the-counter medicines (without prescription) are not deductible

Aids

• Medical aids such as a wheelchair, crutch, hearing aid, special mattress or prosthesis
• Glasses and contact lenses are in most cases not deductible (unless there is a serious eye condition)

Transport costs

• Travel costs to a doctor, hospital or other medical treatment: €0.23 per kilometre for own car, or actual costs for taxi or public transport
• At least once a week hospital visit over a distance of more than 10 km: also deductible

Diet costs

• Costs of a special medical diet, prescribed by a doctor or dietitian, are deductible via fixed amounts per diet (see the diet list from the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax authority))
• Examples: gluten-free diet, sodium-restricted diet, protein-enriched diet

Extra clothing and bedding

• Extra costs for clothing and bedding as a result of a chronic illness or disability. You can deduct €300 (or €750 with high costs), without further specification.

Home help

• Costs for household help if you cannot manage your household yourself due to illness or disability — to the extent not reimbursed by the municipality or health insurance

What is not deductible?

There is also a long list of healthcare costs people expect they can deduct, but that they cannot:

• The premium of your health insurance (basic and supplementary)
• The mandatory own risk (€385 in 2026)
• Over-the-counter medicines and supplements (without prescription)
• Regular dental check-ups and oral hygiene
• Glasses and contact lenses (unless there is a serious eye condition)
• Gym or preventive programmes, even if prescribed by a doctor
• Cosmetic treatments
• Healthcare costs reimbursed by the insurer or municipality

The threshold: how much do you have to pay yourself?

You can only deduct healthcare costs to the extent they exceed the threshold. The threshold is income-dependent: the higher your income, the higher the threshold.

For tax partners, both incomes count towards the threshold calculation, but so do both deductible healthcare costs.

Example calculation: what does it yield?

Suppose your threshold income is €35,000 and you had the following deductible healthcare costs:

* Indicative example calculation. The actual amount depends on your income, tax bracket and total deductions. We calculate this exactly for you.

Special rules for the elderly (65+)

People who are older than 65 (or have reached AOW age) and have a low income are entitled to an increase in the healthcare costs deduction. The deductible costs are multiplied by a factor:

This means that an older person with a low income can deduct more than double their actual healthcare costs. This is a significant tax saving that many seniors miss.

Chronically ill and disabled

People with a chronic illness or disability are entitled to a fixed deduction, even if they cannot demonstrate their actual extra costs. The Belastingdienst accepts fixed amounts for certain cost items (extra clothing, diet) which are set annually. Ask your GP for a declaration of the chronic condition — this can significantly increase the deduction.

How do you fill in healthcare costs on your tax return?

In the income tax return you find healthcare costs under the heading "Healthcare costs and other extraordinary expenses". You fill in per category what you paid yourself:

1. Open your tax return via My Belastingdienst or use a tax return programme
2. Go to the section "Deductions"
3. Choose "Healthcare costs"
4. Fill in the amount per category (medical and surgical care, medicines, aids, transport, diet, etc.)
5. The threshold is automatically calculated and deducted from your total

Keep all your receipts, invoices and notes for at least 7 years. The Belastingdienst can request evidence afterwards — without evidence the deduction can be reversed.

Healthcare costs and tax partner

Do you have a tax partner? Then you can add up each other's deductible healthcare costs together and calculate the threshold jointly. This can be beneficial if one of you has high healthcare costs: the deduction then covers both incomes and can be allocated to the partner with the highest tax rate for maximum benefit.

Healthcare costs missed in previous years?

Did you not declare healthcare costs in your tax return in previous years? You can still correct this for the past 5 years. We review your situation, calculate how much you can still get back and submit the correction for you.

For many seniors and people with chronic conditions, healthcare costs are the biggest missed deduction. With the multiplication factor for the elderly, this can quickly add up to hundreds of euros per year. Get in touch with us for a no-obligation calculation.