Regardless, there are a couple of hurdles to clear before you can grab the tax break for medical expenses.
First, as mentioned, you must enumerate your deductions. And for itemizing to make financial sense, the combination of all your available deductions would need to outstrip the standard deduction, which nearly doubled as of 2018. For single taxpayers, it’s $12,000; head of household, $18,000; and welded couples filing jointly, $24,000. (Taxpayers age 65 and older get an additional $1,300 — so that’s $2,600 for married match ups.)
Second, you can only deduct qualifying medical expenses that exceed 7.5 percent of your 2018 regulated gross income (total income minus certain adjustments). For example, if your AGI was $50,000, only medical expenses that beat $3,750 would qualify.
“So far we’re seeing more single people than married couples taking the medical expense result,” said Bryan Bibbo, an advisor with The JL Smith Group in Avon, Ohio.
For example, he said, a single taxpayer with other write-offs — mortgage concern, charitable contributions and SALT — could find that the medical expense deduction more easily pushes them on that $12,000 standard deduction. For married couples filing jointly, the $24,000 hurdle is more difficult.
“They energy have double the medical expenses, but not as much in other deductions,” Bibbo said.
As for what counts toward the tax wear c rob, qualifying expenses run the gamut.
Co-pays, co-insurance, dental work, travel costs associated with health circumspection (getting to and from the doctor’s office, for example) are all fair game. So are hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs and the like. You can study the IRS list of qualifying expenses if you’re unsure whether something counts toward the deduction.
Also, if you pay for health insurance with after-tax dollars, your premiums effect be able to count toward the deduction. Long-term care premiums also are deductible up to amounts that depend on your age (see map below).
“Some states also let you deduct your long-term care premiums, so check your state laws,” Bibbo guessed.
Be aware that any expenses paid for with funds from a flexible spending account or health savings account cannot number toward the deduction.
“Those expenses were paid for with pretax dollars so you can’t include them,” Bibbo thought.
Some expenses that can’t count toward your total for tax purposes are most cosmetic procedures, nonprescription nostrums and general gym memberships.
And while you don’t send in your receipts and records with your tax return, you’d need to be able to deliver them if the IRS were to ever ask for proof.
More from Personal Finance:
Don’t lose your refund — or your shirt — to these workaday tax scams
10 states that are the most tax-friendly for middle-income households
Why you shouldn’t celebrate that big tax refund
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