Health Insurance Premiums -- Deduction if Filing Jointly?

[lropeik]

I'm self-employed (sole prop); my spouse is employed with health care insurance we purchase through her company.  Premiums are reported as taxable W-2 income.

If my business does not pay the premiums directly, can we still deduct them? 

Sch A med costs (10% floor kills us) or 1040 line 29?

BTW, TT help and IRS docs mention "subsidized" plan from an employer. To my knowledge, this plan is not subsidized (whatever that means in this context); that term has never appeared in company documentation.

[Bsch4477 · Accepted solution]

Generally those premiums paid through an employer are pretax. If you are uncertain whether your health insurance premiums are taken out of your paycheck pre-tax or after-tax Talk to your payroll department, or check your W-2. If your premiums are paid with pre-tax money, that money will not be included as income in Box1 (wages) on your W-2. If your premiums are paid with after-tax money, that money will be included as income on your W-2. If your premiums weren’t included as income on your W-2, you cannot take them as a deduction because they’re already tax-free. 

[Zbucklyo]

The premiums can only be deducted if they were made after-tax, which is generally not the case with employer health insurance.  In your situation, even if the premiums can be deducted, they are not eligible to be deducted as a self-employed health insurance premium and taken on Line 29 of Form 1040, because the policy is not in your name or the name of your business.