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When you have paid a lot of unexpected medical bills you may want to find out from your tax preparer, ‘Are health insurance premiums tax deductible?’ As a general rule, the premiums are not recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Tax Code as a qualifying deductible. However, there are some exceptions to this tax code rule. If you are self-employed, if you have a health savings account (HSA), or you have paid extensive bills during the tax year you may be eligible for a write off on your individual income tax return.

Self-employment allows several business expense deductions that other individuals do not qualify for. If you do not have access to a group plan, you can use the amount you paid for the premiums as a deduction. If you buy an insurance plan for catastrophic coverage, or a high deductible health plan, you can save money. When you have a high deductible, you should set up a HSA that can be used to pay that amount if you have a need. Under IRS guidelines you can contribute up to $3,050 if the HSA is for a single person and up to $6,150 for a family plan. When you file your income tax return, you will be able to take a deduction on the contribution.

To claim medical and dental expenses you must be able to file Schedule A, Form 1040 when you do your tax return. If you do not meet the criteria for itemized deductions, then you will be unable to deduct the premium. You can qualify for itemized deductions if you have more total deductions than the standard deduction allowed by the IRS for your filing status. You must also meet the deductibility requirements for medical expenses. You can total the entire amount you spent during the tax year on medical and dental services and the premiums that you paid for health insurance coverage. If these total expenses are greater than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, then you can claim the amount that exceeds the 7.5% on Schedule A. If part of your premium is paid by your employer, you cannot include those figures with yours as a deductible.

Talk with an accountant or someone familiar with the IRS codes before you purchase an insurance policy. There is software that is available that will help you determine which combination of plans are more advantageous to you when filing your tax return. For the average tax payer the answer to your question, ‘Are health insurance premiums tax deductible?’ is no.