Virginia Medical Premiums Insurance Deduction for Seniors -- bug?

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
March 28, 2026
1 reply
119 views

Good Afternoon:

I'm facing confusion about whether Virginia allows a deduction for my wife's payment of medical insurance premiums, and if so, whether Turbotax is treating them correctly (which seems doubtful).

Here's the status: Both spouses are over 66. My income is greater than what the Va Smart Worksheet implies is a $30k income limit for Seniors to take a deduction on the premiums. My wife works part time and is under that limit. We're filing jointly.

Spouse is covered by my health care plan and dental -- paid by the employer, pre-tax. She is also on Medicare, and we pay Part B premiums for her.

The TTax interview for Virginia initially asks about medical and dental insurance premiums, independent of asking about a particular spouse, and without asking about the pre-tax status of the premiums paid. The next screen appears designed to allow allocation of premiums between spouses, showing the total premiums figure and asking for an entry about my spouse's premiums -- but Turbotax fills in the total figure, and does not permit changes.

Switching to the Smart Deductions worksheet to investigate reveals the following:

1. Both spouses over 66

2. Earned income figures of $20k plus for both spouses.

3. Federal AGI of <$30k for my wife; > $30k for me.

4. A figure for the total medical premiums we paid (no allocation) on line "B," and a bottom-line total on line "F" which appears to be designed to allow allocation between taxpayer and spouse -- but again the program assigns the entire amount of the premiums to my spouse.

The program then appears to deduct the entire amount of premiums we paid for 2025 from our Virginia taxes, which significantly changes the tax due figure.

The TurboTax Virginia Info Worksheet correctly notes that we file jointly.

The Review runs without flagging an issue.

Something seems quite wrong here. Various online sources of uncertain reliability report that Virginia generally allows deductions only if over 7.5% or 10% of federal AGI. It appears that there may be a more generous deduction for seniors (>66). But the program's handling of the premium payments, most of which are paid pre-tax by my employer, suggests that we can deduct the entire sum in Virginia without even allocating between the two spouses filing jointly. That seems quite unlikely.

If this is permitted, I'm delighted. But I suspect problems here. Can anyone help or let me know how to report a bug in the program? I'm trying to get the taxes filed, and this is the one item holding up the show.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

AmyC

Level 15

Only after tax premiums can be entered for medical expenses. You will need to remove all pre-tax medical expenses federal and state.

VA does have a very specific deduction for ages 66 and older for prepaid funeral, medical, and dental insurance premiums. The AGI can't exceed $30k for the individual. If you are filing MFJ, your income is too high. See VA deductions.

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MDRVaAuthor

Level 2

Thanks Amy: That's consistent with what I was finding, but seemingly not with what the program is trying to tell me to do. Unless I missed it, you're just asked for health care premiums (no mention of pre-tax issues), AND, despite the fact that we are MFJ, it proposes to take all premiums paid (a number I have to provide, but the guidance would suggest that ALL premiums are eligible), and it wants to allocate the entire amount to my wife -- despite the page you referred to suggesting an allocation based on relative income.

So, can you check that and pass it along so folks don't get misled, or should I make a bug report? Not a big deal, but it did spend time tracking down the amounts before I realized that something wasn't right. And I'd hate to see anyone actually claim what the program seems to tell you is OK.

Appreciate the confirmation. This is a pretty unusual case, so I can see how it wouldn't get spotted right away. Hope it can be patched.

AmyC

Level 15

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