To claim a medical expense as a tax deduction, you must have paid for the expense yourself.
If the medical bill was paid directly by another family
member on your behalf, then you would not be able to claim that as a
deduction. If you do not believe that
you paid enough of the expenses yourself to be able to get a tax benefit, then
you do not need to enter any information into your return. TurboTax will give you guidance about the
threshold that must be met in order to generate a possible medical expense
deduction.
One other thing to consider is that medical expenses on
their own would not be a tax deduction.
You must also be claiming other expenses that are reported on Schedule A
Itemized Deductions. This includes
things such as mortgage interest, property taxes, and charitable
contributions. If you are not claiming
other itemized deductions such that they are greater than your standard deduction,
then you do not need to worry about trying to determine the amount of the
medical expenses that you paid yourself.
