Taxpayer asks:
i had no health care and was hospitalized in 2012 i finally finished paying off the total bill and never claimed them on previous taxes am i able to claim medical expenses from those years on my 2016 tax return ?
Taxgirl says:
The easy answer is that you can include medical and dental expenses in the year that you paid for them, regardless of when the services were actually provided. You can’t aggregate expenses or count forward or backward. You can only deduct expenses paid during the tax year on that year’s tax return (i.e. expenses paid in 2015 are deductible on your 2015 form 1040, which you must file by April 18, 2016).
So when are medical expenses considered paid?
- If you pay medical expenses by check, the expenses are considered paid on the day you mail or drop off the check.
- If you pay medical expenses online through a portal or a secure account, the expenses are considered paid on the date the financial institution (bank, PayPal, etc.) shows the payment is made.
- If you pay medical expenses by credit card, the expenses are considered paid on the date that the charge shows on your credit card. But since credit cards are paid off over time, it’s worth again clarifying that the date that matters is the date of the charge, not the date that you actually pay the amount charged.
Before you go: be sure to read my disclaimer. Remember, I’m a lawyer and we love disclaimers.
If you have a question, here’s how to Ask The Taxgirl.
