can i claim anything

[anonymous]

hi
i have cf but dont have to visit or stay in hospital at all just go clinic 4 times a year or so can i claim anymoney if so how much as im currently in quite alot of debt on credit cards which i wish i could get out of without loosing my house which i have worked hard for
thanks

 

[anonymous]

I'm guessing you mean claim medical expenses on your taxes this year?
I don't know what the guidelines are for 2004, but in prior years, you would have had to have medical expenses of like 7% of your income or something like that to be able to claim them & you can also claim mileage to & from your Dr's appts, and if you're paying for your health insurance after taxes are taken out AND these deductions are more than the standard deduction, it would be a good idea to claim them. Have I confused you?
If there's a CPA in the house here, that would probably be of more help<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">
I've gotten close to the standard deduction w/ my out of pocket medical expenses, but never been able to itemize them because the standard deduction is always more. I will email a CPA friend of mine & try to get specifics for 2004 and get back w/ you. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">

 

[anonymous]

Cut the credit cards up!

Dave 29 w/cf

 

[anonymous]

If you have CF you can also claim any food expenses over the amount that a person your age, weight and height eats. You have to do some research as to what that is, and it also helps to have a note from a CF dietician explaining your dietary needs if the IRS ever questions you. For my husband, we keep a monthly account of EVERY dollar we spend on food and we keep the reciepts for 10 years in case we are ever audited. At the end of every month, I record the dollar amounds of just the food on a spread sheet and add up the total for the month. I take 25% out for myself (I don't eat much) and 25-50% out for non-CF related food expenses, and what is left is what we can directly attribute to his CF. We spend about $800 a month on food, and $300-350 of that is what we deduct as a result of CF. Multiply that by 12 and it's a good amount of money. That in combination with any other medical expenses might give you enough to deduct, it has to be 7.5% of your income and if you want more info, go to www.cff.org, and in the search engine type in food deduction. They have something very specific about it that lists the laws. Good luck

Julie

 

[anonymous]

OK, I have some facts here. As long as no one else claims you as a dependent, the standard deductions are as follows:
single or married filing a seperate return $4850.
Married filing joint $9700.
Head of Household $7150.

Here are some add'l things that can be claimed. Some of these are no-brainers, but thought I'd add them anyway:
what you paid for Dr appts (almost any kind of Dr)
bandages birth control pills oxygen & O2 equipment
prescribed medications, including insulin eye glasses & contacts

I did not realize about the add'l food allowance. In what IRS publication can you find that allowance explained?

 

[anonymous]

Here's what I found on the IRS laws, I only took bits and peices so you might want to visit the website yourself and read everything on the specific law. The two different accountants I have had in the last 4 years have said it is a legal deductiona and all we need to do is make sure we save all of our reciepts.


Section 213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, states in relevant part:
“(a) Allowance of Deduction-There shall be allowed as a deduction of the following amounts, not compensated for by insurance or otherwise-

(1) The amount by which the during the taxable year…for medical care of the taxpayer, his spouse, and dependents…exceeds 7 ½ percent of the adjusted gross income…”

Section 213 (d)(1)(A) defines “medical care” as “amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body.”


Also, visit this website on www.cff.org <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http:// http://www.cff.org/UploadedFiles/living_with_cf/Files/tax%20tips%20for%20food%
20deductions.pdf">Text</a>
I lists all relevant iformataion about the deduction. If you can't get there using this link, go to www.cff.org, type in food deductions in the search engine and it is the second topic "tax deduction tips for food expenses" it is a PDF file.

Julie

 

[anonymous]

Julie,
Thank you. I never knew this was an option for CFers. I wonder how many others didn't know either.

 

[anonymous]

You are welcome. I actually found out by accident when I was working for an accountant about 4 years ago. That increased our medical deductions from about $1500 the previous year, to $7000 or so. It was wonderful! They way we keep track, is to record every grocery, eat out, food reciept of any kind on an excel spread sheet month by month and total the end of every individual month. At the end of the year, we take 25% of the total of all 12 months (or however many months we were able to calculate) for me, and 25-50% off for NON-CF related food expenses. Whatever is left over is attributed directly to CF expenses and we deduct it. It comes out to about $300-400 a month give or take.

I also did keep a 2 week log of exactly what my husband ate, and then compared it to the prices at the grocery store. You know how on the grocery tag on the shelf it says, price per item/pound/unit... I just took how much he ate % wise and calculated the cost on a daily and then weekly basis from that information. Based on that, it is accurate to calculate $300-400 a month for him. Also, we purchase boost/ensure shakes for him, about 200 a month and that would be 100% deductible because a person who does not have CF, does not need that therefore you wouldn't have to take out a percentage for non CF related expenses.

Hope this helps!

Julie