dental insurance

[Ben28]

I am a retired federal employee, have a part time job where do I put my deductions for health insurance and dental insurance

[DavidS127 · Accepted solution]

You deduct your medical and dental premiums as itemized deductions.  The TurboTax section is Deductions and Credits>>Medical, unless you are self-employed.  If you are self-employed, and meet the requirements, you can deduct them as self-employed health insurance.

Whether it helps lower your taxes depends on whether they are treated as itemized deductions or self-employed health insurance, and whether your itemized deductions are more than your standard deduction.

Itemized deductions for medical expenses, including health insurance premiums, are subject to a 7.5% AGI “threshold”.  In other words, they only “count” to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).  And, even your total medical costs exceed the 7.5% AGI threshold, your total itemized deductions must exceed the Standard Deduction for your filing status to make a difference.  So, a lot of hurdles to clear before health insurance premiums makes a difference in what you owe.

Self-employed health insurance, on the other hand, gets deducted directly from income as a part of the AGI calculation, without the 7.5% AGI threshold.  So, assuming you have taxable income, adding self-employed health insurance will lower the tax you owe.  But, even if you are self-employed, you must meet certain requirements to get this favorable treatment for your medical insurance premiums.

[Nomad1939]

Where in my tax forms do I enter my dental insurance premiums?

[DavidS127]

You deduct your dental insurance premiums as itemized deductions; the TurboTax section is Deductions and Credits>>Medical, unless you are self-employed.  If you are self-employed, and meet the requirements, you can deduct them as self-employed health insurance.

Whether it helps lower your taxes depends on whether they are treated as itemized deductions or self-employed health insurance.

Itemized deductions for medical expenses, including health and dental insurance premiums, are subject to a 7.5% AGI “threshold”.  In other words, they only “count” to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).  And, even your total medical costs exceed the 7.5% AGI threshold, your total itemized deductions must exceed the Standard Deduction for your filing status to make a difference.  So, a lot of hurdles to clear before health insurance premiums makes a difference in what you owe.

Self-employed health and dental insurance, on the other hand, gets deducted directly from income as a part of the AGI calculation, without the 7.5% AGI threshold.  So, assuming you have taxable income, adding self-employed health insurance will lower the tax you owe.  But, even if you are self-employed, you must meet certain requirements to get this favorable treatment for your medical and dental insurance premiums.