<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
There has been some discussion, and more than a
little confussion, in the last few weeks about celiac
related medical deductions. Here are some basics:
1) In the US, your medical deductions must go over a
7% threshold before you get anything back:
at $40,000, medical must be over $2,800
at $60,000 over $4,200
at $80,000 over $5,600
2) Some medical deductions people forget:
a) Your insurance premium. For most people it's
the biggest expense and the easiest one to
forget because most of us don't write a check
for it. We join a health plan at work and our
employer takes the premium out of our paycheck
automatically - out of sight, out of mind!
Typical family premium: $4,000/year
b) Mileage to/from medical appointments
c) If you are paid by the hour, time off from
work for medical reasons is deductible
3) One time expenses for the year you went GF:
- If you just went GF it is because you just
got diagnosed so there are extra doc/lab
expenses this year.
- did you replace a wooden bread-board and
wooden cooking spoons to avoid cross
contamination? The cost of the new ones
is a legitimate medical expense.
- Did you buy a bread machine so you can
make your own bread? That cost is deductible.
- Did you buy a small freezer to keep GF
food items in. Not as silly as you think:
we buy flours, bagels, some breads, ...
mail order. If we just order what we can
use immediatelly the shiping cost doubles
the price of the food. If we buy 1-2
month's worth the shipping cost gets
amortized over the lot; but now we need a
freezer to store these foods in.
Considering that celiac is a life-long
disease and a GF diet is the only treatment
buying these foods 'in bulk' and using a
freezer is cheaper than buying-as-you-use.
So, what does this all add up to for a 'typical' GF
family?
Insurance premium $4,000
Mileage $ 100
5 trips to the doctor
1 trip to celiac specialist
for annual check-up
Doctor fees $ 90
6 visit co-pays (@$15 each)
Lab fees $ 30
2 @ $15 each
Medicines (average) $ 100
1 med. for chronic condition
5 meds. for 'stuff' this year
(an antibiotic, ...)
GF food premium $ 750
( for a 2 celiac family )
---------------------------------------
TOTAL FOR THE YEAR $5,070
If your income was $50,000 your
deduction threshold is $3,500 (7% of 50,000)
--------
Your qualifying deduction is $1,570 (5,070-3,500)
That will reduce your taxes ( or increase your
refund) by over $300. And if you just went GF this
year, add another $200 to your refund ( assuming
diagnosis doc/lab expenses and new wooden kitchen
utensils, bread machine and freezer add up to $1,000).
Bottom line for this 'typical' case:
- $300 refund - you've just covered half of your
GF food premium for this year!
- $500 refund - if you just got diagnosed and went
GF last year. You've just covered
2/3 of your GF food premium for
this year!
Regards ...
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