Monday, May 17, 2010

Can imputed income for medical & dental insurance for my domestic partner be claimed as medical expense?

my company offers medical and dental insurance to my domestic partner. but my company reports the entire value (what it cost me and my company) of the medical and dental coverage as taxable income to me. This totals over $8k last year. When I file my taxes, can I declare this as a medical expense under medical insurance premium?

Can imputed income for medical %26amp; dental insurance for my domestic partner be claimed as medical expense?
I run across this quite often. The answer is no. While some states recognize domestic partnership, the Federal Government does not. That is the reason that your employer reports it as income. They should not be pre-taxing your contribution for his insurance because Section 125 of the IRS code will only allow you to deduct on a pretax basis for members of your family, as defined by Federal Law. Domestic partnership does not meet that definition.





The same holds true for COBRA. It is a federal law, and therefore, does not recognize domestic partnership.





IRS Publication 502 lists all medical expenses that are eligible for tax consideration/deduction. It says: "You can generally include medical expenses you pay for yourself as well as those you pay for someone who was your spouse or your dependent...To include these expenses, you must have been married either at the time your spouse received the medical services or at the time you paid the medical expenses." It further defines dependent as, " Child, grandchild, great grandchild, etc, your stepchild, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother or stepsister, parent, grandparent, or other direct ancestor, but not foster parent, stepfather, stepmother, brother or sister of your father or mother, son or daughter of your brother or sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in law." The person must have lived with you for the entire year and you must have provided half of that person's total support for the calendar year. There is no mention of domestic partner.





By the way, I don't believe that you can file a joint return unless you are married either.
Reply:Yes providing you are filing a joint return.
Reply:As long as your partner appears on your tax return either as a joint filier, or as a dependent, yes.





Otherwise, no.
Reply:This is not a simple blog question. Do you mean legal "Domestic Partners" and if so, are you in California, or another state that recognizes such? Please contact me to discuss in further detail, as I'm familiar with the tax laws for our community.





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