Publication 502 |
2000 Tax Year |
What Expenses Can You Include This Year?
You can include only the medical and dental expenses you paid this
year, regardless of when the services were provided. (But see
Decedent under Whose Medical Expenses Can You Include,
later, for an exception.) If you pay medical expenses by check,
the day you mail or deliver the check generally is the date of
payment. If you use a "pay-by-phone" or "on-line" account to
pay your medical expenses, the date reported on the statement of the
financial institution showing when payment was made is the date of
payment. You can include medical expenses you charge to your credit
card in the year the charge is made. It does not matter when you
actually pay the amount charged.
If you did not claim a medical or dental expense that would have
been deductible in an earlier year, you can file Form 1040X,
Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return,
for the year in which you
overlooked the expense. Do not claim the expense on this year's
return. Generally, an amended return must be filed within 3 years from
the date the original return was filed or within 2 years from the time
the tax was paid, whichever is later.
You cannot include medical expenses that were paid by an insurance
company or other sources. This is true whether the payments were made
directly to you, to the patient, or to the provider of the medical
services.
When do you include a decedent's medical expenses?
Medical expenses for a decedent that are paid from his or her
estate are treated as paid at the time the medical services were
provided if they are paid within the one-year period beginning with
the day after the date of death. See Decedent under
Whose Medical Expenses Can You Include, later.
Medical expenses paid before death by the decedent are included in
figuring any deduction for medical and dental expenses on the
decedent's final income tax return. This includes expenses for the
decedent's spouse and dependents as well as for the decedent.
Qualified medical expenses paid before death by the decedent are
not deductible if paid with a tax-free distribution from any medical
savings account or Medicare+Choice savings account.
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