Can a married couple, using Schedule C, deduct health insurance premiums while self employed and while holding separate jobs that do not offer plans?

[nicoledcarr]

My husband and I will be filing jointly and claiming his son this year as TX residence. We are self employed and run the company together. We both also carry separate jobs that do not offer health insurance plans. He pays health insurance premiums out of pocket for both he and his son as well as other health expenses not covered by the plan. I do not have a plan at all. 

We plan on filing a Schedule C for the company. Can we deduct his out of pocket premium expenses and other medical expenses incurred on the Schedule C? If so, should we add it as an owner deposit, then deduct it? Or simply deduct it as a company expense? Any other suggestions would help as I'm sure I'm not realizing every option.     

[rjs · Accepted solution]

You can take the self-employed health insurance deduction for the premiums that your husband paid. You enter it in the business expenses section of TurboTax, but it does not go on Schedule C. The deduction appears on Form 1040 line 29.

The self-employed health insurance deduction is only for insurance premiums, not for other medical expenses. The other medical expenses can be included in the itemized deduction for medical expenses on Schedule A. You enter them in the personal section of TurboTax, not under the business.

[grapeyip]

Can the children's insurance premium be deducted as business expenses (appears on Form 1040 line 29)?

[rjs]

@grapeyip - If you paid the premiums for your children's health insurance, and you meet the requirements for the self-employed health insurance deduction, then you can include the premiums for the children's health insurance in your self-employed health insurance deduction if you claim the children as dependents, or if they were under 27 years old at the end of 2015, and the children are not eligible to participate in an employer health plan. The self-employed health insurance deduction is not a business expense deduction. It's a separate deduction in the adjustments section of Form 1040, but you have to have business income in order to take the self-employed health insurance deduction.