Tax Tips

[Glacier]

If anyone has some tax tips or questions please post them here.

I have a question first. Since medical expenses less than 3% of my income are not tax deducible and since my BC Medical premiums (128/month) are approximately equal to 3% of my income, does it make sense to prepay a whack of these premiums as a means of utilizing my tax deductions?

I seldom ever have medical expenses to speak of, but let's say that for this year I did have something out of the ordinary (say wisdom teeth extraction), am I off my rocker thinking that I should prepay a year or two of BC Medical premiums at the same time for tax purposes?

ETA: in addition, I would like to know if any of our resident American citizens file with the IRS?

[Captain Awesome]

MSP premiums are not tax deductible. So, doesn't matter if it's over 3% of your income or not...

PS: Premiums paid to PRIVATE insurance company are.

[Glacier]

Oh snap. There goes that idea. Guess I'll have to up my private insurance policy by 128/month (+markup) so they will cover the MSP premiums.

ETA: No wait, my employer pays that anyway. Aw well.

ETA2: Ah, but he only covers basic coverage, so maybe I could pay out of pocket for an upgrade.

[Captain Awesome]

Before you get any more ideas - plastic surgery isn't tax deductible either...

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Tax tip:
When you put the IRS together, it spells THEIRS.

[Glacier]

If you're hooking on the side, make sure you use your entire house. Don't just conduct your business in the bedroom because you'll only be able to deduce expenses related to that room. Instead, use every part of your house -- the garage, the kitchen, the bathroom, the dinning room, the linen closet, the crawlspace, the back deck, etc.