Do I enter my monthly out of pocket health insurance premiums bought through the Affordable Care Act?

[gguerrero61]

TurboTax says not to include it in the medical expense section. I did receive a 1095-A and have enter that information accordingly.

[Vanessa A]

If you do not enter a 1095-A, then you would need to enter the premiums in the expense section.  For those who do enter a 1095-A, the premiums are automatically transferred to the medical expense section as an itemized expense or if you select that you are self-employed, then they are calculated in the self employed health insurance deduction section.

Are you self-employed or taking the itemized deductions?

If you have health insurance through the Marketplace and you are paying the full premium, but did not get a 1095-A, you may also be able to deduct your health insurance premiums as a business deduction. The Self-Employed Health Insurance deduction is limited to your earnings.  Meaning, you cannot deduct more than you earned. This is also entered in the business expense section. This would be entered in the business expense section under Self-Employed Health Insurance.

Taking Business Expense Deductions

If you are not self-employed, or your deduction is limited by your self-employment income, you can also claim them as an itemized medical expense. Itemized expenses include mortgage interest, state and local taxes up to $10,000, medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your AGI and casualty and losses in excess of 10% of you AGI with the first $100 not counting towards the loss.  Your health insurance and all medical expenses are only deductible for the amount that is over 7.5% of your AGI.  This means if your AGI is $50,000, then the amount that is over $3,750 is deductible.  

Then your total itemized expenses would need to be greater than your standard deduction below in order to benefit from your insurance premium payments. 

The 2023 Standard Deductions are as follows:

• Married Filing Joint (MFJ)              $27,700
• Married Filing Separate (MFS)      $13,850
• Head of Household (HOH)             $20,800 
• Single                                                     $13,850                                

Blind and MFJ or MFS add $1,500

Single or HOH if blind add $1,850

Standard versus Itemized Deduction