When we file taxes on my health care?

Question

What do we need to bring this is our first time filing on benefits that we have paid for on health care do we need to file on health care ,or what is deducted from the paycheck biweekly for health care, or the reciepts for the copays or the EOBS or do we bring it all .

Answer 1

Judy's right, but I will add... you can count medical mileage as well. If you know how many trips you made to the doctor's office or hospitals, dental visits, etc., you can count the round-trip mileage.

If your doctor advised you to take certain over-the-counter medications, get it in writing, and add in the cost of "whatever" he/she told you to get. The one I see most often is low-dose aspirin for heart patients. Also, you can count things like knee braces, bandages, and so on.

It would be good to get a printout from the pharmacy as to the amount of meds you purchased through the year. Most people forget the ones they discontinued or only used for a short time.

You can add the figures yourself. You don't have to necessarily bring the items with you to the tax interview, but it might come in handy. You'll want to break it down by categories, such as physician co-pays, medicines, insurance premiums, dental work, and so on. Be sure to subtract out any insurance reimbursements you've received. Also, you'll want to know that if you itemize the deductions on your tax return and are later reimbursed for a part of these deductions, you'll need to show that income on future tax returns.

Since you'll be itemizing anyway, you'll want to track things like charitable contributions, any work-related expenses, mortgage interest, property taxes, and the amount you paid to have your tax return prepared last time. It all goes on the form, and since you'll be paying for the form, load it up.

Answer 2

If you have enough medical expenses to deduct them, you add health insurance payments and any out of pocket medical expenses including copays all together. You do not deduct any amounts that were paid by, or reimbursed by, insurance.

You can only deduct medical expenses if you itemize, not if you take the standard deduction. And you can only deduct the portion of your medical expenses that is over 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.