Why can't we deduct ALL healthcare expenses?

[themaguffin]

It seems like it would be a very small step that would be very helpful to many, many people.

I mean deduct without the bullshit threshold of however many thousand it is, I can't remember at the moment.

Yes I know that whatever employees pay into their work related ins is pretax etc and that you can get debit cards and other bullshit, but if you don't a work card thing (and for many people that's probably not an option) or pay a lot out of pocket for medical expenses etc, why not???

[yy4me]

1. How about when the Doc tells you to buy custom made

orthopedic devices or shoes at about a hundred dollars or more a whack. Antihistamines, anti-inflammatory drugs and other over the counter things that are part of treatment but are not deductible. I never could understand that.
Need heating pads for bad back? non-deductible. Lots of legitimate medical devices and treatments should be deductible and can cost hundreds a year.

No logic in any of it!

[Minimus]

2. That would be great.

[pitohui]

3. deductions are surprisingly unhelpful for lower income workers

i haven't qualified to take schedule A deductions in many years, the majority of people don't qualify is my understanding

say your income puts you in the 16% bracket, you're going to be just as bankrupt w. or without a "deduction" on your taxes -- 16% off of more than everything you've ever earned in your entire life is still more than you can pay and still keep eating

health deductions are ok for getting the upper middle class on board, but it's just buying their support, these deductions do little or nothing to attack the real problem of un-affordable health care for the lower middle class

[Cleita]

5. Yes, and if you are too sick to have a job, but have some income,

you may not have enough taxes to take a credit out of.

[Cyrano]

4. Because Republicans are the most despicable pricks imaginable.

It's just not all that deep. If you're super-rich you're entitled to tax cuts, laws that don't apply to you, and a system gamed totally in your favor.

If you're a peasant, you are there to be fleeced, used and screwed to the max.

The unfortunate truth is that 99.9% of Republican voters don't understand this and never will. Go figure.

[Warpy]

6. Thank REAGAN for not being able to deduct them.

Another wonderful thing brought to you by his "flatter, fairer tax, you can send it in on a postcard!"

Congress restored every single loophole for corporations and the rich. They really don't give a shit about the rest of us hosers.

[Tesha]

7. Because you're not a corporation.

Natural-born persons have far fewer advantages.

Tesha

[warren pease]

8. Well, I am...

and I can't deduct them either, unless they reach 7 percent of gross income (which fortunately they haven't yet). I can, however, deduct all money paid for premiums from gross corporate income. And since my employer (the corporation) is too cheap to provide health care for me and my wife, all her premiums are deductible, too. Either that or she can deduct them through her own corporation. Just depends on how the numbers add up in any given year.

I'd highly recommend that everyone -- EVERYONE -- become an S-Corp or LLC. You don't even have to show a profit for something like two out of the first five years, but stuff you'd buy anyway -- TVs, computers, cars and so forth -- suddenly become fully or partially deductible when they're purchased for the benefit of a corporation.

Find something you like and/or are good at; see if you can set up a rudimentary business around that skill; market it in some fashion (flyers under windshields, networking with friends and people you work with, anything that gets your name and business in front of people); and suddenly you're in business.

Caution: The IRS takes a dim view of claiming a hobby is a business, so you need to take steps to establish a business identity: Register your corporation with a state, and I don't think it has to be the one you live in (in Oregon, it only costs $50 and you can do it online). As a result of registering, the IRS will assign you a Tax ID number, which is essentially a Social Security number for the business. Get a business checking account in the business' name. Put a DBA ad in the local paper (the cheapest paper will do, no need to pay the daily's rates). Get business cards and distribute them freely. If possible, get a separate business phone line or mobile phone account. Maybe a separate email account as well. Consider getting a business mailbox at someplace like the local UPS Store. Try to keep your personal life as disconnected as possible from your corporate identity because it helps establish the fact that you're in business and not just scamming them by putting a fancy name on a part-time hobby.

And another caution: Check all of the above, and a bunch more, with an accountant or tax attorney. I'm neither, and I'm just repeating what I've been told by those kinds of people. So don't take my word for any of this.

Anyway, it's something to consider. And these days, since I'm utterly opposed to just about everything BushCo does with my money, it's in my political as well as financial interests to give the fuckers as little as possible. For me, the S-Corp route has worked pretty well.

wp