You may be able to deduct medical, dental, and long-term care insurance premiums for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents if you or your jointly-filing spouse is self-employed.
There are two ways to do this: through the self-employed health insurance deduction or as an itemized deduction.
After you enter your premiums in TurboTax, we'll check to see if you qualify for either or both of these deductions.
Self-employed health insurance deduction
- To get this deduction, your Schedule C must show a net profit.
- The deduction amount generally can't exceed your net profit amount.
- If you (or your spouse if filing jointly) were eligible to participate in an employer's health plan during any given month—even if you declined the coverage—the premium you paid for that month can't be claimed under this deduction.
- Health insurance premiums you paid for your child, even if you aren't claiming them as a dependent, are eligible for this deduction as long as your child was age 26 or younger at the end of 2023.
- The self-employed health insurance deduction shows up on Schedule 1, line 17.
Itemized deduction
- Any out-of-pocket premiums you couldn't claim under the self-employed health insurance deduction can be used as an itemized deduction instead.
- You can't deduct insurance premiums paid with pretax or tax-free dollars, nor can you claim any premiums you already claimed under the self-employed health insurance deduction.
- Itemized deductions show up on Schedule A.
