Filing taxes... braces are a medical expense, right?

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#1 Post by **drazda** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:34 pm

I saw on the IRS site that braces do count as a medical expense.... but I read on this site that you can only use braces as a deduction if you paid for them all at once, is this true?

#2 Post by **missing_tooth** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:40 pm

Do you have a link for that? I haven't mailed of my taxes yet. Or is that only if you itemize?

Thank you

John

#3 Post by **missing_tooth** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:41 pm

Scratch that last post I didn't get braced till January. If you have a link though, it would be good for next year.

Thank you,

John

#4 Post by **drazda** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:56 pm

It is on page 7 of this irs PDF file. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf

#5 Post by **Shawnie** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:11 pm

Hi Drazda,

My accountant said Dental/Medical/Ortho all can be a write off. Any out of pocket that you paid, she didn't say anything about needing to pay for the braces in full for them to be a write off.

You take your adjusted gross income and I believe 7% after the 7% is the amount you can write off. Say to make it easy you make 100,000, 7% is 7,000 so if you paid out more than 7,000 then the amout over 7,000 would be the amount you could write off.

Hope that helps (It may be 7.??% I just can't remember)

Shawnie

#6 Post by **Leslie022** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:30 pm

When I was filing my taxes on TurboTax.com, I read that it had to be a certain $ amount. I didn't sign my contract until January '06, so I hadn't spent nearly enough to claim it as a deductible.

#7 Post by **flowertowngal** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:31 pm

I work in an accountant's office and I deducted my braces. The percentage is 7.5% - don't be scared of this - it's easy to figure out. My husband and I made $80,439 (adjusted gross income-Line 37 on your tax return). Multiply this by 7.5% and that is $6,033 - so the cost of my dental expenses has to be OVER this amount and I can only deduct what is OVER that $6,033. I had $8,837 in dental expenses last year - this includes the total cost of my braces (because I got an outside loan and paid for them all at once), the cost of my gum surgery, all my dentist appointments and all my consultation fees. So, you subtract $6,033 from $8,837 and it comes to $2,804 - this is the amount I was allowed to "write-off" - all of this goes on Schedule A of your tax return and increases your itemized deductions, which therefore reduces your taxable income which is good for you in the end!

In order to increase your medical/dental expenses to get over that percentage, don't forget you can also include prescriptions, contacts, glasses, eye check-ups...it's all in that publication listed above.

#8 Post by **ingyandbert** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:52 pm

Great topic! Thanks for posting this. I just got braced in January. Hmmm... maybe Hubby and I should get Lasik before the end of the year. After having already paid for my braces we could probably write that whole expense off.

#9 Post by **drazda** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 4:13 pm

I spent $710 on my braces last year, and tried to use it as a write off and it had no effect on my return. It just wasn't enough money. I got them in november, I'll probably do it next year.

#10 Post by **dena** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 5:28 pm

thanks so much for asking this question! i dont know if i'll be able to write mine off, but this has really explained all the questions i had! great topic

#11 Post by **missing_tooth** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:07 pm

Nice. My braces plus I'm unemployed right now, so that will reduce income. ( Not by choice ) Not to mention doctor and dentist stuff, then I have oral surgery in a couple of months. Shoot, if I owned a house I would be set. All I need to do, is find a job, buy a house and have kid.

Thanks again for the info.

- Missing Tooth -

#12 Post by **Doug** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 2:33 pm

ingyandbert wrote:Great topic! Thanks for posting this. I just got braced in January. Hmmm... maybe Hubby and I should get Lasik before the end of the year. After having already paid for my braces we could probably write that whole expense off.

My wife and I both had Lasik earlier this year. Having both in the same year added up to enough to make the tax deduction possible for us, just as you mentioned. I was a little iffy about Lasik going into it, but the tax deduction helped decide it for me.

I think a lot of people don't normally get anywhere near that 7.5% breakpoint with their medical expenses (which is good...). I guess from a tax standpoint, if you're going to do any kind of elective medical procedures (Lasik, braces, etc), it's best to do it all in the same year!

#13 Post by **Dreamer** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:00 pm

My tax lady said that I could write off my entire braces since I paid cash in 2005 for them. I ended up getting back $2,100 of it on my refund which really dropped the price down of the actual cost! I planned mine this way just to get this nice tax break!

#14 Post by **jennv** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:45 am

Don't forget that you can also claim the miles that you drive to your appointments and back. This helped me a lot last year because I had to drive over 150 miles to and from my ortho. Make sure you check into this as well!

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Filing taxes... braces are a medical expense, right?

Filing taxes... braces are a medical expense, right?

Yes you can