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Definition Essay On Medical Expenses

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For many seniors, medical expenses make up a lot of the money that they spend every year. If you spend most of your money on medical expenses, and you are a senior, make sure that you are deducting all qualifying medical expenses on your taxes.

Federal Tax Definition

If you are over 65 years old, you can deduct all medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) for the year. That means that all expenses that are greater than 7.5% of your income can be deducted from your taxes.

For example, if your adjusted gross income is $50,000, than any medical expenses that exceed $3,750 (which is 7.5%) can be deducted from your taxes. That means every penny that you spend on medical expenses that exceeds $3,750 can be deducted …show more content…

Here are some different medical expenses that can all be deducted from your taxes after the amount exceeds 7.5% of your AGI:

Health insurance premiums
Dental insurance premiums
Prescription drug costs
Long-term insurance premiums
Any costs not covered by your insurance
Transportation costs for medical care (public transportation, ambulance, tolls, parking fees)

It is important to note that you are not allowed to deduct any expenses that your insurance reimburses you for. You can also not deduct any expense you paid for out of a health savings account or flexible spending arrangement since those funds are already tax-free.

How You Have To File

In order to deduct your medical expenses, you cannot not the standard deduction on your taxes. Instead, you have to take the itemized deduction on your federal tax returns. That means you will also need to make sure you keep track of any other expenses that you would need to deduct since you are not taking the standard deduction.

This will require you to keep better track of all things you would need to itemize on your federal tax return. Here are a few things you would need to itemize as well:

Mortgage

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