I have a disability that is generally recognized by the SSA, however I am working with a high income and have not applied for SSA benefits nor would I qualify because of the high income. Can I claim any IRWE deductions directly related to my disability?

[amsync]

I have a disability that is well documented/substantiated by years of medical records. However, because I have a very high paying job I have never applied for any benefits. That said, to be able to do that job I pay a lot of out of pocket expenses directly related to managing the disability. (it wouldn't bring my income down enough to qualify for benefits however). I am not understanding if in order to claim any of these expenses as IRWE I need to be receiving SSA benefits or I can claim the IRWE deduction anyway even though I do not receive benefits.

[xmasbaby0]

You are asking a question in an income tax user forum.   You need to explore this issue with Social Security.   We cannot advise you regarding eligibility for SS benefits.

[xmasbaby0]

Do you have job-related expenses that require adaptive or mobility devices in order for you to perform your job?   In most instances, W-2 employees cannot deduct job-related expenses on a federal tax return, but there are some exceptions if the expenses are related to enabling you to perform your job.

[BillM223]

Why are you not already trying to deduct your IRWE expenses as Medical Expenses on Schedule A. Is it because your high income make it impractical (medical expenses must exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income to even begin to be deductible)?

But if you are asking about specific Social Security deductions as described here ("DI 10520.001 Impairment-Related Work Expenses (IRWE)"), then yes, your questions may be better directed to the SSA.

[xmasbaby0]

 Federal>Deductions and Credits>Employment Expenses>Job-Related Expenses

[amsync]

Thank you for your response. I am actually just inquiring on income tax return eligibility to use IRWE deductions, but I think you're sort of confirming my understanding, which is that these deductions on income tax returns are only possible if, and only if, I also receive benefits from SSA. Since I do not, I suspect I cannot claim any IRWE deductions on my income taxes. It's not very intuitive, because one can have a disability but work without any form of disability assistance.

[amsync]

Correct, the 7.5% threshold is (just) too much to be able to deduct medical expenses. Thank you for the link. While I have yet to find conclusive evidence that one has to be covered by SSA as disabled and receiving SSDI or SSI in order to use IRWE on an individual tax return, since the IRWE is used to lower income in order to determine SGA, and a disabled person is not considered disabled (unless blind) if he/she has income exceeding SGA, thereby not meeting condition 1 of the eligible person criteria.

[amsync]

Thank you for your help. With the responses I received here so far, I am concluding that a disabled person that has an income above SGA (and IRWE would not bring it down below the SGA threshold) that person is not considered disabled and cannot claim out-of-pocket expenses enabling them to perform the job. Perhaps there is another way to claim those expenses outside of IRWE or the 7.5% AGI Medical Deduction?

[RobertB4444]

Possibly on your state return.  These states still allow employee expense deductions:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• California
• Hawaii
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• New York
• Pennsylvania

@amsync