It’s really difficult to form a clear idea on what the future has in store for you, because mishaps can often strike like a bolt from the blue. And that is why it is important that you keep yourself prepared for the worst. Having a health insurance is one such necessity. In countries like US and UK it is mostly the individual companies that you are working for which take care of your health insurance needs.
By adopting a health insurance policy the company ensures that its employees, as well as, their families enjoy health covers in case of medical emergencies. Most insurance companies across the world offer cashless health insurance facilities which enable the policy holder to enjoy the hospitalisation facilities in affiliated hospitals. However, all this is subject to the terms and conditions specified by the policy.
Besides this, what makes such a policy even more popular among the companies as well as individuals are the tax benefits that they are eligible for, once they opt for any health insurance policy for their employees.
It pays to get insured:
The US tax policy mostly allows tax benefits in group health insurance. This means that it is mostly individual companies who are eligible of offering health insurance covers to their employees in order to enjoy tax benefits. For the tax year between 2010 and 13 the maximum credit that can be enjoyed is 35% for small employers and 25% for small tax-exempt employers. This can be explained with the help of a simple example. Suppose you pay $50,000 for the workers’ health care premiums while you are eligible for the 15% credit limit. So you end up saving $7500 a year.
These kinds of tax benefits are mostly limited to the high income group as it has received criticism from various quarters. However, even if you are a small business employer who does not owe tax during any particular year, you are still eligible of carrying over the credit forward to the next tax year.
In European countries as well, it is mostly like this wherein the employer bears the burden of your health insurance covers. The demand for health care benefits have gone up in UK over the last couple of years owing to the uncertainty in terms of inflation and recession that has taken hold of the country. Companies across the country are seeing this as an opportunity that could help them save some additional amount in terms of tax.
Be proactive and claim your deductions on time
In order to claim tax deductions you need to pay your premium through a cheque or credit card because cash payment does not account for tax deduction. The benefits while paying premiums for a single policy can be split in different segments in case there are multiple contributors. Each contributor can claim the deduction subject to overall limits.
That is why it is time that you start investing without any further delay in order to save valuable money besides ensuring your employees as well as their families’ life.