Medical insurance plans and check-ups

Medical insurance relief

You may pay medical insurance premiums for your employees. This is a benefit in kind. They must pay Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) and Universal Social Charge (USC) on the gross premium. This is the amount due before you deduct Medical Insurance Relief from the premium amount. 

Your employee can apply to Revenue for a Medical Insurance Relief tax credit. See the Medical insurance premiums section for more information.

Permanent Health Insurance (PHI) cover

You may take out an insurance policy to cover the cost of sick pay costs to your employees. If the policy is a general one to cover all employees, this is not a benefit in kind.

General PHI Cover

It is not a taxable benefit if the general policy covers the sick pay costs of any employees or directors. The proceeds of these policies would be paid to your business. 

Specific PHI Cover

It is a taxable benefit if the policy is to cover the sick pay costs of a specific employee or director. The proceeds of these policies would be paid directly to the employee or director. The taxable value of the benefit is the premium amount paid. 

Office PHI Schemes

You may operate a scheme where you and your employees both contribute to the insurance premiums. This scheme must have Revenue approval. The tax relief granted on PHI contributions is subject to a maximum 10% of the individuals income for the year.

The combined contribution cannot be more than the 10% limit.

If the overall PHI contribution exceeds 10% of your employee's income, you must deduct PAYE, PRSI and USC from the excess over 10%.

If the policy does not  have Revenue approval, the total premium you pay is a benefit in kind.

In-house medical plans

You may run an in-house medical plan which your employees contribute to and make claims from. Where you make no contribution to this plan, it will not be considered a Benefit in Kind.

If you make contributions to your in-house medical plan, you must seek Revenue approval to confirm there is no Benefit-in-Kind. You can seek approval from your Revenue office using MyEnquiries on Revenue Online Service (ROS).

You may choose to employ or pay a retainer to a general practitioner. If you do, any benefit received by your employees shall not be treated as a taxable benefit in kind.

Medical check-ups

You may pay for one medical check-up each year for each employee. This is not a taxable benefit in kind.

If you require your employees to receive medical check-ups for work, there is no yearly limit. This is not a benefit in kind.