For 2013, new rules adopted under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the protection of patients and can affect how much you can deduct medical expenses - or if you can take the medical expenses deduction at all.
"floor" higher before starting to make medical deductions expenses
before 2013, medical expenses to the extent one could deduce that your total medical expenses exceeded 7.5 % your adjusted gross income - your taxable income before itemized deductions and exemptions
The amount you must exceed before a deduction is known as a
The medical expenses. "floor." floor for most people in 2013 is now 10%. This means that your total medical expenses exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income before any deduction for them.
For example, suppose your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $ 50,000.
$ 50,000 AGI X 10% = $ 5,000, so your floor medical expenses is $ 5,000. If you have $ 6,000 in eligible medical expenses, you can deduct $ 1,000 ($ 6,000 expense - 5000 floor = $ 1000 deductible expense).
Exception for taxpayers 65 years and more
If you have reached age 65, the percentage of new floor does not apply to you. You can still deduct total medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.
If you are married and one of you is 65 or more, you can always use the lower level of 7.5% for your health expenses. You are 65 or over if you turn 65 during the year or a previous year.
This exception is temporary. After 2016, everyone must respect the 10% floor for medical expenses before you can take a deduction.
Is it even worth saving medical recipes?
Even with a 10% floor, it is quite possible that your total medical expenses can exceed the floor and you qualify for a deduction.
at the beginning of the year, when you start to pay for some office visits, it can be tempting not to bother tracking your expenses.
However, if a major medical event occurs at the end of the year, you wish you had saved all the receipts and accounted for each medical mile.
Consider these possible medical deductions:
- requirements (but not over-the-counter drugs, except insulin)
- payments after tax insurance premiums (and not premiums reduced your taxable income. already).
- Costs for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease, or treatment that affects a function of your body, for which you are not reimbursed.
- laboratory services, including blood tests, x-rays, MRI, and so on.
- Travel and transportation for medical care, 24 cents per mile. If you travel 20 miles round trip to the doctor, for example, you can deduct $ 4.80, plus parking fees or toll you paid. You also have the option to use your actual costs for gas and oil for medical transport. If you have a medical major event that requires multiple trips, or travel to a facility farther from home, these fees add.
- disability accommodation. If you improve your home to accommodate a disability, you may be able to deduct any of grab bars to wheelchair ramps.
- long-term care costs. If you or a dependent person receives care in an institution primarily for medical care, the entire cost is deductible - even the part that covers meals and accommodation. It should not take long at one of these facilities to meet and exceed your 10% or 7.5% floor for the year.
Do you think that your medical expenses out-of-pocket be more or less next year
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