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| Money Photo © Jon Sullivan, pdphoto.org |
As 2011 comes to a finish, you may want to start gathering up your medical receipts and other copies of bills and pharmacy tabs. You may qualify for some tax deductions, and you'll need to show proof of your expenses. Even if you have not been able to take deductions for medical expenses in past years - if you paid for treatment for breast cancer this year - you may well be eligible to benefit now.
Even if you had good health insurance during treatment, you probably spent on related costs such as: travel, special clothing, housecleaning services, childcare, or home health care. If you can show that those costs were incurred due to your disease or treatment, you may be able to add those to the total you paid out of pocket.
If you used a flexible spending account (FSA) to pay for cancer treatment costs, then don't count those. You have already benefited from the tax advantages of your FSA, and that can be counted only once.
So consider: did you buy a wig, a walker, pay for physical therapy or travel and lodging required for non-local treatments or consultations? Those expenses may be eligible for deductions. Did you keep the receipts for each oncology visit, whether it was a checkup, exam, or treatment? Add those to your file.
Pull all the information together and get a Schedule A, Form 1040. Do your math and see if you qualify, or take your paperwork to a tax counselor and get professional help. This may be the year that hoarding all those bits of paper pays off for you!
Tax Deductions for Medical Expenses
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