Family, salary and benefits

Is health insurance for me and my family deductible?

Depends on the details: keep good documents

In short: For employees, yes: health insurance is a normal staff cost, and often required by law. For you as the owner and for your family, it depends on whether it is part of your documented pay and on who sponsors the visa.

The basic rule

Staff costs, including insurance the employer must provide or has promised in the contract, are business costs. The owner’s personal and family costs are not, unless they are part of documented pay at market value.

When it is different

Employees: health insurance required by the emirate's rules or by the contract is deductible.
Owner-manager employed by the company with a residence visa sponsored by it: insurance can be part of the documented package, subject to the market-value rule.
Freelancer or sole establishment: your own and your family's insurance is personal.
VAT: input tax on health insurance for employees and their family (one spouse and up to three children under 18) can be recoverable.

Documents to keep

Policy schedule showing insured persons
Employment contract or staff policy
Visa sponsorship details

How safe is it?

Depends on the details: keep good documents Medium for family members of the owner.

When to ask a professional

Ask if the policy covers your family and you are the owner. Who can confirm it for your own case: an FTA-registered tax agent (a tax professional approved by the UAE tax authority), or the optional year-end review in SoloBooks.

If you pay no Corporate Tax this year (Small Business Relief): If you use Small Business Relief this year, you pay no Corporate Tax anyway, so this cost does not change your tax for that year. Keep the documents anyway: they back up your income figure, and they matter if you stop qualifying later.

Check it with the free calculator: Small Business Relief calculator →

Sources

Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022 on the Taxation of Corporations and Businesses (consolidated, unofficial English translation) — Art. 28(1) and 36(1)
Executive Regulation of the VAT Decree-Law (Cabinet Decision No. 52 of 2017, as amended up to 2025) — Art. 53(1)(c)(1) and (3)

Last verified: 19 October 2026

General information, not tax advice. Your situation may differ.

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