Okay. So of course if you itemize med. items you can deduct doctor's bills, prescriptions, medical insurance payments. I know you can deduct "appliances" like support stockings - or walkers, whatever. What about Depends? Chux?
I don't think you can deduct Depends. Another deduction you didn't list is the cost of hiring someone to be with your LO so you can go shopping, haircut, etc. This includes the cost of daycare. Once they get into assisted living or nursing home, your portion of that is also deductible. And don't forget the mileage driving your LO to the doctor, to day care, etc. When you're as far away as we are this can mount up rather quickly. In order to get the deduction your medical expenses must be above a certain percent of your income (I don't remember how much) so the more you can claim the greater your chance of exceeding the limit.
The mileage was the big surprise when I started using TurboTax this year. My accountant never had me add it up. It turned out to be pretty big money between the two of us.
I took last year's calendar. I opened an Excel spread sheet and marked down the date, who's appointment it was, where we went, and the mileage for the round trip.
I got the mileage from Yahoo Maps. If you put your address in the start space, and the address of where you are going in the destination space, they not only give you directions but also the mileage for those directions. I doubled that number for the round trip.
TurboTax wanted to know how many miles for the first and second 6 month period and used $0.19 as the amount per mile. Mileage, or the bus fare if you used a bus, is a medical expense according to TurboTax. It was a deduction I did not know existed.
TurboTAx is great for finding all kinds of deductions - that some other tax people don't know about and won't find for you. I have my quicken set up with categories for all tax deductions and it's very easy to transfer either automatically or manually into Turbotax. I've finished both federal and state taxes, filed on-line and already got my refunds!
Diaper Service You cannot include in medical expenses the amount you pay for diapers or diaper services, unless they are needed to relieve the effects of a particular disease.
NOTE: UNLESS THEY ARE NEEDED TO RELIEVE THE EFFECTS OF A PARTICULAR DISEASE.
Ahhh. That sounds like they are a tax deduction. At this point we aren't using diapers, or medical equipment, but I wonder about the costs of medical equipment too. Like hospital beds and transfer chairs?
yes, they definitely are deductible. Now remember, you have to get up to a large amount of medical stuff before anything is deductible. You take all your med amounts - incl. the part of ss that goes for medicare, incl. the medigap and part d and anything you've paid in meds and medical supplies. Ok. Then you take your 7.5% of the total income (not adjusted).YOu can deduct however much OVER that 7.5% figure your meds are. And none of this works if you don't itemize of course.
One of the things I liked about using TurboTax is that you don't need to know most of what briegull said. You just keep filling out the worksheets they give you and if you are entitled to use a particular kind of deduction it gets used. And they have a great help system, and a sidebar where other people's questions (and the answers) often mirror what you would have asked.
There is at least one other program, but TurboTax was the one my daughter has been using. I'm giving up our very expensive accountant because it just doesn't make sense with the kind of income we have to continue to use him.
We've used Turbo Tax for several years. The first couple of years, we purchased it. The last few years, we've gone thru www.irs.gov and used the online version.
Our income is low so we have never had to pay to e-file.
I think this year most everyone can e-file for free.
Our situation is so simple I down load the booklets and forms to My Documents. Then when I have all the W-2s and 1099s, I fill inb the forms, proint them out, sign and mail them. I tried the 'FREE e-file' programs from our Credit Unon and the irs. The e-file may be free but to getr to it you have to use one of the "programs"--Turbo Tax or another, and they cost, plus you have to have a credit card. I already had the taxes figured, why would I want to pay them to do it over? Filing mine cost me $.84.
I use TurboTax too, have for ten years or so. But I do also CHECK what they figure, and they say: what medical supplies have you used? It's up to you to define supplies so then you go to the IRS stuff.
carosi, I've gotten the impression that things have changed this year. I think many of the tax software companies are offering free e-file, including free calculation software on-line, for people with income below a certain level.
I didn't finish reading beyond the first few posts, but I do want to say that my parents CPA takes deductions for any creams, gloves, disposables, you name it! If it is used for the health and hygiene of an infirm individual it is deductible, according to the CPA.