tax write off's/medical expenses

[anonymous]

Hey guys what kind of stuff do you write off for medical expenses? how do you determine deductions for food, a/c, utilities, how about cell phone bills, capital improvements to home, over the counter meds/vitamins, supplements, fast food?

i used to prepare taxes for h&r block and most people say you can't write off for food and over the counter meds is this true? that's what they teach us in the textbook, just wandering how you all handle it and if you have ever been audited? Thanks.

Janet
wife of Tim,39 yo, with cf, cfrd

 

[Emily65Roses]

My mom writes off over the counter meds, I know that much. Because I take acidophilus and AZO to prevent yeast infections (I'm on Zithro all the time). I believe she also writes off for yeast infection treatments when I do actually get one. I'm not sure, she'll have a better idea of exactly what she writes off and how... But I know she writes off some stuff.

 

[EmilysMom]

Emily is right....I was told I can write off anything related to the CF as far as over the counter meds go....so AZO yeast and acidopholus, any yeast infection meds, anything else related to the CF bought over the counter. Save your receipts....they are deductible!

 

[2sickkids]

Cell phones are a write off if you use it for work. Some home improvements are gas and mileage to and from doctor are write offs. Co-pays for percriptions are write offs. EmilysMom do you know the name of the deduction for food of CF people? I cannot remember it and our accountant says there isn't one.

 

[anonymous]

Janet, I'd like to email you a copy of an excel spread sheet I use so we are able to deduct by husbands CF food related expenses, also you can go here for information <a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.cff.org/SiteSearch/dsp_SearchResults.cfm">http://www.cff.org/SiteSearch/dsp_SearchResults.cfm</a> and click on #4, 'tax tips for food expense deductions' it lists the law and everything. If that link doesn't work, go to www.cff.org, type 'food deduction' in the search enging, and then choose option 4 (just like above).

If your husband uses something special because of his diabetes, then that is 100% deductible, and anything that he uses for his CF that someone without CF wouldn't use (like boost plus or ensure shakes).

As far as food deductions, I keep a spread sheet separated by month of EVERY food purchase I make (grocery store, eating out, fast food) as well as keep the reciepts separated by months and then filed as years (for 10 years-that's how long they have to audit you). Since the spread sheet includes all food, I take off about 25-50% for myself (depends on how much I am home-I am in the military and am deployed and such so some weeks or months I don't eat at home so I just average it). Then I take off about 25-30% (again depends on the month and how much my husband ate that much, if he was sick at all...) for non CF related food expenses. I also researched the average a person his age, weight, height and activity level eats and their costs. In our situation it's about $220 a month, so I make sure the non CF I deduct is at least $220 a month, sometimes more. I can't remember where I found the food stats but I will be searching so I will post it if I find it.

If you want to email me first, it is division902@hotmail.com

Julie (wife to Mark 24/w CF)

 

[anonymous]

If you are interested in making your tax life easier (I did my taxes in 30 minutes) try using Turbo Tax... The software program will tell you what is a deductable medical expense and what is not. I deducted over $6,000 (yes thousands) in medical expenses (all legite).

 

[anonymous]

I never thoght to deduct anything for my CF care. Is there a guideline of what can be deducted posted anywhere? Will my accountant (who knows I have CF but has never mentioned doing this) know what to do. Can you or anyone direct me???


thanks,

Jennifer 33yrs old with CF

 

[anonymous]

Jennifer, go to the website I posted above (www.cff.org) and type food deductions in the search engine. Then choose option #4 in the second part which gives guidance on FOOD deductions for CF and states the tax law that applies to it.

You can deduct anything medical related, over the counter, of course your RX copay, any and all insurance premiums. Also, medical miles and cost of food to and from (and lodging-if applicable). Believe me, those medical miles add up. I keep track of any and every appointment to the doctor, (and if you go to the pharmacy and it's in a different location than the doctor-count those miles too) and put it on an excel spread sheet, separated by month just for easier viewing. It really does add up! Then theres' a place to put it when you do your taxes to calculate out the dollar amount.

We had an accountant do our taxes for the last two years and I just took them the information on CF and food deductions that I printed off the website above, and I used two different accountants. This year I did my taxes through the military, provided that same copy for them-along with a look at all my reciepts and my excel spread sheets and I deducted over $7200 in FOOD and supplement expenses (boost shakes and such that ins. didn't cover) Plus about $200 in medical miles.

The only thing to remember is that the medical deductions in total, have to be at least 7.5% of your income, or else they count your standard deduction. It's worth to keep track of, even though one year you might not have enough deductions, the next year you might.

If anybody is interested in seeing how I set up my food deduction and supplement expenses, please email me at division902@hotmail.com, it's an excel spreadsheet and a word document.

Julie (wife to Mark 24 w/CF)

 

[EmilysMom]

I never thought all these years to try to claim food expenses.....DUH! Emily's appetite has always been huge and that one never occurred to me. I used TurboTax this year. What a wonderful little program. I had the taxes done in about 30 minutes and had my refund back in 4 days!!
I deduct parking fees at the hospital, travel expenses to get there and back....what else? I am trying to remember what else so I can offer more suggestions. Next year...I deduct FOOD!

 

[anonymous]

Don't forget to include your durable medical equipment. This would include nebulizers, compressors, the vest, flutter, acapella, peak flow meter, spacers, and anything else of that nature that you had out of pocket expense on. It also includes rx contacts or glasses, etc.

 

[anonymous]

OK - can I ask a silly question then. If you make 100,000 a year then you have to have at least 7500.00 to deduct? Or is it anything over 7500.00 that would be deductable? thank you....!

 

[anonymous]

OK - can I ask a silly question then. If you make 100,000 a year then you have to have at least 7500.00 to deduct? Or is it anything over 7500.00 that would be deductable? thank you....!

 

[anonymous]

Yes, if you had at least $7500 in deductions, and you made 100000 then it might be worthwhlie for you to deduct.

Julie

 

[anonymous]

Another possible option:
My husband's work has a medical care account (like dependent care, but this is just for medical bills). You can withhold up to $5000 pretax. It puts us in a lower tax bracket and we pay $5000k worth of medical bills from tax-free dollars. I would actually estimate our out of pocket expenses at about $7000 per year (that includes, dental, over the counter, food). So assuming a $100,00 salary (he doesn't make that much, but it makes it easier to calculate), he would be able to deduct anything over $7500 using the tax deduction - wow, without the healthcare account I wouldn't get any tax relief for my medical expenses. The medical care account is a great benefit and I reccomend anyone who supports someone with CF to check if their work offers it. It's also nice because it is automatically linked to my healthcare and prescription benefits. That means I usually get a reimbursment check before I ever get the medical bill. It's so much easier than keeping track of everything I spend to get the income tax deduction. Obviously, if our expenses were a lot higher (like $15K a year) we would benefit from the tax deduction. But this works great for us for now.

 

[LouLou]

bump

 

[LouLou]

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[LouLou]

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[ReneeP]

bump (so it's easier for me to get back to)

... and one new question....

Do you just add the food deduction to the medical deductions or is there a seperate worksheet that has to be filled out for the food deduction?

I'm going to do my taxes next week and I'm trying to gather some info first. This will be my first time iteminzing and I have plenty to itemize this year, so I'm a tad overwhelmed...

Thanks.

 

[ReneeP]

bump (so it's easier for me to get back to)

... and one new question....

Do you just add the food deduction to the medical deductions or is there a seperate worksheet that has to be filled out for the food deduction?

I'm going to do my taxes next week and I'm trying to gather some info first. This will be my first time iteminzing and I have plenty to itemize this year, so I'm a tad overwhelmed...

Thanks.

 

[ReneeP]

bump (so it's easier for me to get back to)

... and one new question....

Do you just add the food deduction to the medical deductions or is there a seperate worksheet that has to be filled out for the food deduction?

I'm going to do my taxes next week and I'm trying to gather some info first. This will be my first time iteminzing and I have plenty to itemize this year, so I'm a tad overwhelmed...

Thanks.