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Can my self-employed wife deduct her health insurance? I'm W2'd with option to add family to healthcare at a sig higher cost than my current individual health care plan.

 
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DanielV01
Expert Alumni

Can my self-employed wife deduct her health insurance? I'm W2'd with option to add family to healthcare at a sig higher cost than my current individual health care plan.

It depends, but probably not.  One of the requirements for the self-employed health insurance premium deduction is that the self-employed individual cannot be eligible for employer-sponsored health care, even if they choose not to obtain it.  Please see this IRS link: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p535/ch06.html#en_US_2016_publink1000208843, and scroll down to Other Coverage.  You will find this quote:  

Other coverage.   You can’t take the deduction for any month you were eligible to participate in any employer (including your spouse's) subsidized health plan at any time during that month, even if you didn’t actually participate. In addition, if you were eligible for any month or part of a month to participate in any subsidized health plan maintained by the employer of either your dependent or your child who was under age 27 at the end of 2016, don’t use amounts paid for coverage for that month to figure the deduction.

  These rules are applied separately to plans that provide long-term care insurance and plans that don’t provide long-term care insurance. However, any medical insurance payments not deductible on Form 1040, line 29, can be included as medical expenses on Schedule A (Form 1040), if you itemize deductions.

Thus, if she was eligible for your plan, even if it was not cost-effective to put her on that plan, she is ineligible for the self-employment health care premium deduction.

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1 Reply
DanielV01
Expert Alumni

Can my self-employed wife deduct her health insurance? I'm W2'd with option to add family to healthcare at a sig higher cost than my current individual health care plan.

It depends, but probably not.  One of the requirements for the self-employed health insurance premium deduction is that the self-employed individual cannot be eligible for employer-sponsored health care, even if they choose not to obtain it.  Please see this IRS link: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p535/ch06.html#en_US_2016_publink1000208843, and scroll down to Other Coverage.  You will find this quote:  

Other coverage.   You can’t take the deduction for any month you were eligible to participate in any employer (including your spouse's) subsidized health plan at any time during that month, even if you didn’t actually participate. In addition, if you were eligible for any month or part of a month to participate in any subsidized health plan maintained by the employer of either your dependent or your child who was under age 27 at the end of 2016, don’t use amounts paid for coverage for that month to figure the deduction.

  These rules are applied separately to plans that provide long-term care insurance and plans that don’t provide long-term care insurance. However, any medical insurance payments not deductible on Form 1040, line 29, can be included as medical expenses on Schedule A (Form 1040), if you itemize deductions.

Thus, if she was eligible for your plan, even if it was not cost-effective to put her on that plan, she is ineligible for the self-employment health care premium deduction.

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
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