Deductions & credits

You can claim the cost of your dental plan as Medical Expenses if you itemize your deductions.

In TurboTax, you can enter Medical expenses by following these steps:

• In TurboTax, open your tax return
• Click on Federal in the left-hand column, then on Deductions & Credits on top of the screen
• Scroll down to All Tax breaks, locate the section Medical and click on Show more
• Click Start next to Medical Expenses.

You can claim all medical and dental bills and health and dental insurance premiums paid out-of-pocket as Medical Expenses in Schedule A - Itemized Deductions

For tax year 2018, Medical Expenses are subject to the 7.5% rule and you can only claim the excess over 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income.

Please note that Itemized Deductions will only "help" when they exceed your standard deduction.

For 2018, standard deductions are:

For a taxpayer under 65, not claimed as a dependent

• $12,000 for Single
• $24,000 for Married Filing Jointly, or Qualifying Widow(er) with dependent child
• $18,000 for Head of Household
• $12,000 for Married Filing Separately
• If you are over 65 or blind, add $1,300 for each instance if married or add $1,600 each instance if single or head of household