Deducting Insurance Premiums paid each month in 2016

[olesusana]

My husband work in 2016 for two different people doing contract work so he received a 1099 from each one, he also paid Health Insurance to BCBS each month for a plan for our daughter and himself, He started working a full time job late in the year and has a W-2 for the remainder of the year but did not take the company Insurance he kept his plan with BCBS, can we deduct the monthly premiums he paid for medical insurance if he doesn't have a corporation just worked off of two 1099's??

[MargaretL · Accepted solution]

Yes, he can deduct it (providing he otherwise qualifies as I'll explain below), but he would have to divide his premiums paid between the time when he was self-employed (got his 1099 forms) and when he was a W-2 employee.  So, if he started a W-2 job in July, for example, half of the annual premiums would be for his "business" and the other half as his personal deduction. 

In TurboTax, he would deduct his "self-employed health insurance premiums" in self-employed section, while his personal (W-2) premiums would go to Deductions & Credits>Medical Expenses section.

As to the qualifications for self-employed health insurance...You can deduct the premiums as self-employed insurance deduction- it is an adjustment to income and not a direct expense against your business - if a policy is either in the name of the business or the individual owning the business (you). The deduction is limited to the smaller of:

• your premiums paid or 
• your net profit from your business