Is health insurance pretax? I pay 100% of my health insurance premium at my job for the group plan.

[rkrbrannan]

My employer is not taking my health insurance premium out pretax and I don’t have enough to itemize on my taxes.  Isn’t group health insurance suppose to be pretax?

[TaxGuyBill]

Apparently you didn't like my previous answer to your question:
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4298813-i-pay-100-of-my-health-insurance-thru-a-group-policy-at-wo...>

[KatrinaB · Accepted solution]

It is usually taken out through pre-tax withdrawals.

If your insurance premiums were paid with after-tax funds then the premiums would have been included in Box 1 Wages of your W-2 Form. If your insurance premiums were paid with after-tax funds then the premiums would have been reported in Box 12 of your W-2 Form. There would also be a code DD in Box 12. Please view the Turbotax FAQ below for more information about W-2 Box 12 codes.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3300234

[rkrbrannan]

The premiums were taken out after taxes but was still listed in box 12a DD which from what I understand, is pretaxed items. My wages are the same in box 1,3 and 5.  It appears from what I’m reading, that box 12a lowers wages in box 1 but that is not the case on my w2.  Is there anything I can do to get this corrected?  I know nothing about this type of thing but this is going to cost me a lot of money on my return.

[TaxGuyBill]

As I stated in you other question, pre-tax insurance lowers Box 1 and Box 3 and Box 5.  So the W-2 does NOT tell if it is pre-tax or not.  You need to look at your pay-stubs to determine if it is pre-tax or not (and the can sometimes be difficult to tell).  As both Katrina and I said, it is quite unusual for health insurance to NOT be pre-tax.

Box 12, Code DD is for insurance through the employer.  It does not matter if it is pre-tax or not.

[rkrbrannan]

I know for a fact it wasn’t taken out pretax.  My employer said it wasn’t taken out pretax.  He asked his CPA if it was suppose to be pretax and he told him that it wasn’t unless it was a cafeteria plan, which it isn’t.  I thought every health insurance premium was taken out pretax but I was wrong.  My premium was over $5k and I need to be able to claim it and can’t imagine that I can’t, but so far it looks like I’m not going to be able to.

[TaxGuyBill]

As we stated before, the only way to deduct post-tax health insurance is by Itemizing your deductions with the Medical Expenses.  Sorry, that is the way the law reads.