For federal income tax purposes, what percentage of personal life insurance premiums is usually deductible?

For federal income tax purposes, personal life insurance premiums are not deductible by the policyholder. This means that individuals who pay premiums for their personal life insurance policies cannot claim these payments as tax-deductible expenses on their income tax returns.

The rationale behind this tax treatment is that life insurance is generally considered a personal expense rather than a business expense. As a result, the premiums paid do not provide a direct tax benefit to individuals, making the appropriate deduction percentage for personal life insurance premiums effectively zero percent.