Do domestic partner health insurance premiums paid by the employer count as income if my domestic partner qualifies as a medical dependent?

[nbostaph]

Every December my employer adds some $7k of 'income' to my last paycheck to account for the cost of employer paid health insurance premiums for my domestic partner.  My domestic partner is claimed as my dependent and qualifies as a medical dependent, which to my understanding means that the employer's cost is not supposed to qualify as income for me.  When I asked, my employer told me that they don't take 'medical dependent' status or anything else into account and just add that 'income' to the paychecks of everyone who uses the domestic partner plans, and that I need to discuss with my accountant.

So I have a two part question:

1) Am I correct that those $7k should not count as income and that I can recover the extra taxes they took out of that last paycheck via my federal tax return?

2) Where do I enter that in Turbotax?  I purchased Premier, so I assumed it would have a wizard that would address this situation, but it never came up.

[MinhT]

This health insurance counts as income for you as it is the cost that your employer paid on your behalf for your domestic partner. This amount is included in your W-2 and you have to report this W-2 on your tax return.

If you are entitled to claim your domestic partner as a dependent, you can claim this amount as Medical Expenses in Schedule A - Itemized deductions.

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 2017, standard deductions are:

For a taxpayer under 65, not claimed as a dependent

• $6,350 for Single
• $12,700 for Married Filing Jointly, or Qualifying Widow(er) with dependent child
• $9,350 for Head of Household
• $6,350 for Married Filing Separately
• If you are over 65 or blind, add $1,250 for each instance or add $1,550 each instance if single and not a surviving spouse

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.

[nbostaph]

This doesn't feel correct, but I will do some more research.  This imputed income is not a medical expense; it is incorrectly reported income.  Therefor, assuming our tax system is fair and equitable (hey, stop laughing!), there should be some way for me to adjust my income and achieve the same situation as if my employer had reported it correctly.

[MinhT]

If your employer does not recognize your domestic partner as a tax dependent and won't change your W-2, then the only resolution is as described in my answer above.