I took a 401k loan to pay for my childrens Braces. I left that company and have a 1099. Can any of the cost associated with that be deducted?

[randy-m-doyle]

My Children had braces put on in 2017 to the tune of 11k. At that time, I took a 401k loan over 5 years to pay for that. I left my job in 2018 and did not have the means to pay that portion back to avoid taking it as a distribution. Can I deduct any of the 11k from that loan which was used towards my childrens braces?

[Coleen3 · Accepted solution]

The payment for the braces would have to be included on your 2017 return, unless you actually paid it in 2018. Whst counts is when you actually pay for the medical expense.

Medical, dental, and vision expenses are reported on Schedule A and entered in the Deductions & Credits section:

1. Open your tax return.
   (To do this, sign in to TurboTax and click the Take me to my return button.)
2. Search for Schedule A and then click the "Jump to" link in the search results.
3. Answer Yes on the Did you have any medical expenses in 2018? screen.
4. You will then be prompted to enter your medical expenses, starting with prescriptions.

If you're using Federal Free Edition or Basic and your medical expenses are large enough that you would benefit from itemizing deductions, you'll be prompted to upgrade to Deluxe, as the Federal Free and Basic versions do not handle Schedule A.