Do I need to spend more on medical bills? Income will be around 43K for my wife, 0 for me. Already spent 2,300 on medical and 6k on school. Also, how should we file

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

If you are legally married then you have to file as either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately.  You would want to file as MFJ since you receive the highest standard deduction of $12,700 and you each receive a personal exemption of $4,050 (2017).

Medical expenses are entered on Form 1040 Schedule A as an itemized deduction.  If your total itemized deductions on Schedule A are not greater than $12,700 when filing as MFJ, there is no tax benefit in itemizing your deductions.

[kevin-stancill]

Thank you very much DoninGA. This information was very detailed and helpful.

[xmasbaby0]

"Do I need to spend more on medical bills?"

The medical expense deduction has to meet a rather large threshold before it can affect your return. The amount of medical expenses that will count toward itemization is the amount that is OVER 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. You should only enter the amount that you paid in 2017—do not include any amounts that were covered by insurance or that are still outstanding.  Of course, your medical expenses plus your other itemized deductions still have to exceed your standard deduction before you will see a difference in your tax due or refund.

To enter your medical expenses go to Federal>Deductions and Credits>Medical>Medical Expenses

[kevin-stancill]

Thank you xmasbaby0. Hope you enjoyed your Christmas. This answer helped greatly.