My husband paid for AFLAC on his pay check it says taxable can we claim that?

[IreneS · Accepted solution]

Maybe.  Insurance premiums can be deductible as a medical expense if the policy covered such things as medical care, hospitalization, vision, etc.  Long term care insurance premiums are also deductible.

Premiums for policies that pay you for loss of earnings, life, limb or sight, however, are not deductible.

Do not include the premiums if they were paid pretax out of your husband's paycheck.  If the premiums were paid pretax they are not included in your income and are therefore not deductible from your income.

Please also keep in mind the following:

• You don't get the benefit if you are taking the standard deduction.
• If you itemize deductions, you will only be able to take total medical expenses that are greater than:
• 10% of your adjusted gross income if you are under age 65; or
• 7.5% of your adjusted gross income if you are age 65 or over (born before January 2, 1951).

If your AFLAC insurance premiums meet the requirements, enter the premiums into TurboTax using  these steps:

1. Click on Federal Taxes > Deductions & Credits  [In TT Self-Employed:  Personal > Deductions & Credits > I'll choose what I work on].
2. In the Medical section, click on the Start/Revisit box next to Medical Expenses.  (See Screenshot #1 below.)
3. TurboTax will display a screen, Did you spend more than $XXXX on medical expenses in 2016?  This is based on the 10% or 7.5% floor mentioned above.  [Screenshot #2]
4. Continue through the interview, entering the requested information on your medical expenses.
5. You will eventually come to the screen How much did you spend on insurance premiums?  This is where you can enter your medical insurance premiums, as well as any long term care premiums.  [Screenshot #3]

[Carl]

As a side note, most of the time an AFLAC policy isn't deductible, since a vast majority of such policies is to cover you for loss of income.