I was wondering...I remember someone telling me last year to keep track of my prenatal visits, distance to and from the OBGYN, copays, etc. Does anyone know about prenatal care being tax deductible?

I found this website but it didn't mention anything about that. It DID however say that trips to the zoo are tax deductible and anything you buy for a school bake sale, etc.

By Colette on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 10:56 am:

I believe a certain percentage of medical costs are deductible but I think you need to file a 1040 long form for it. School bake sales count as charity and there is a cap on how much you can deduct for charity.

By Missmudd on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 11:16 am:

It usually isnt something that you can deduct because it is hard to meet the requirements. First you have to have enough deductions to use more than the standard deduction, normally it means you have to own your house. Then you have to spend alot on medical. For us I think that anything over $4000 out of pocket would be deductable. We spend alot in meds and copays and we dont come near that amount. Look at the 1040 instructions, I am sure it will explain it alot better than I can.

By Boxzgrl on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 11:24 am:

Someone correct me if i'm wrong but dont your deductions have to be greater than 2% of your earned income for that year? I'm just learning about taxes and deductions/claims and for some reason thats sticking out to me.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 11:27 am:

Payments for medical services OVER a certain percentage of your taxable income, as Missmudd says, are deductible.

Boxzgrl, yes, they have to be over a certain percentage. I'm not sure what, as I always meet that percentage because I pay mortgage interest and real estate taxes. Again, the 1040 instructions will say. Or, try the IRS web site.

I used TurboTax last year for the first time and was sufficiently impressed that I will be using it again this year. It made my tax filing a lot easier.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 11:31 am:

Oh, and I'd be cautious about the advice from the web site you visited. Yes, when you spend money buying something from a charity it is tax deductible, but only to the extent that the amount you paid is greater than the value of what you received. If, for example, you go to a charity dinner or ball, you will get a little slip telling you how much of what you paid is deductible as a charitable contribution (the rest being the fair value of the dinner/ball). If you go to the zoo on a school trip because you are volunteering as a monitor, that's one thing. If you go along as a parent because you want to be with your child on the zoo trip, that is another.

And again, as Boxzgrl pointed out, all of your deductions have to total higher than a certain amount/percentage. If they don't, you simply take the "standard deduction" on the 1040 long form. Or conversely, everyone is entitled to the standard deduction and only those people whose expenses/contributions/etc are greater than that amount can take the higher amount IF they can document it and are willing to take the time to fill out the long form and the extra schedules.