What Expenses Can You Include This Year?You can include only the medical and dental expenses you paid thisyear, regardless of when the services were provided. (But seeDecedents, cheap hotels in Valkenburglater.) If you pay medical expenses by check,the day you mail or deliver the check generally is the date ofpayment. If you use a "pay-by-phone" or "on-line" account topay your medical expenses, the date reported on the statement of thefinancial institution showing when payment was made is the date ofpayment. You can include medical expenses you charge to your creditcard in the year the charge is made. It does not matter when youactually pay the amount charged. If you did not claim a medical or dental expense that would havebeen deductible in an earlier year, you can file Form 1040Xfor the year in which youoverlooked the expense. Do not claim the expense on this year'sreturn. Generally, an amended return must be filed within 3 years fromthe date the original return was filed or within 2 years from the timethe tax was paid, whichever is later. You cannot include medical expenses that were paid by an insurancecompany or other sources. This is true whether the payments were madedirectly to you, to the patient, or to the provider of the medicalservices. Decedent's medical expenses.Medical expenses for a decedent that are paid from his or herestate are treated as paid at the time the medical services wereprovided if they are paid within the one-year period beginning withthe day after the date of death. See Decedents, later. Hotel Radission TriesenbergMedical expenses paid before death by the decedent are included infiguring any deduction for medical and dental expenses on thedecedent's final income tax return. This includes expenses for thedecedent as well as for the decedent's spouse and dependents. |