Can preventive health checkup be claimed as a separate expense from medical expenses?
"There are 2 different things, As per IT Act, one can get ""Medical Reimbursement"" upto Rs 15,000 which is tax free. The way it is supposed to work is an employee submits bill and employer will ""Reimburse"" upto Rs 15,000. So if one does not submit any bills, he does not get any money. If the employer has given the employee Rs 15,000 without any bills, it would have been taxed as per the tax bracket. In practise all employer factor the Rs 15,000 in the salary to the employee. If bills are submitted, then its tax free. If bill are not submitted, partially submitted, the difference is paid as ""Allowance"" and hence becomes taxable. Apart from above there is section 80D that provides additional rebate. Upto Rs 15,000 when health insurance is taken. Upto Rs 5,000 for Health checkup. Hence if you submit the details to your employer you will get rebate in tax, on Rs 5,000 it would be Rs 1,500/-. You would not get ""Reimbursement"". I should mention 20,000 under medical expenses Nope both are under different section as such you should declare these separately." Deduction for Health Checkup is allowed under Section 80D and is allowed to everyone whether Salaried or Business/Professional. However, Exemption for Medical Reimbursement of Rs. 15000 is allowed under a different section.  A salaried employee can take benefit of both Medical Reimbursement of Rs. 15,000 as well as Preventive Health Check-up of Rs. 5,000.  Source: Tax Deduction for Health Check-up
This is referred to as an HSA Mistaken Distribution. An HSA mistaken distribution occurs when you take a distribution and later find out that it is not for a qualified medical expense.  For example, this could occur if you accidentally pay for a restaurant dinner with your HSA debit card.  It can also occur if you take a distribution to pay for a medical expense, but then are later reimbursed by insurance. This is discussed in the instructions for IRS forms 1099-SA and 5498-SA.  (Note: these forms are submitted by the HSA bank, not the consumer, so the instructions are addressed to them.) HSA mistaken distributions.   If amounts were distributed during the year from an HSA because of a mistake of fact due to reasonable cause, the account beneficiary may repay the mistaken distribution no later than April 15 following the first year the account beneficiary knew or should have known the distribution was a mistake. For example, the account beneficiary reasonably, but mistakenly, believed that an expense was a qualified medical expense and was reimbursed for that expense from the HSA. The account beneficiary then repays the mistaken distribution to the HSA.  You have until April 15 in the year following the refund to repay the HSA and avoid the extra tax and penalty that should be paid if you were to keep the distribution that was not ultimately used for medical expenses.  When you send the money to the HSA bank, you need to explicitly tell them that it is a mistaken distribution repayment, so that they can report it to the IRS correctly and it will not affect your contribution limits. HSAs are very similar to IRAs. Any investment returns grow tax-deferred and once you reach age 59 1/2 65, you can withdraw the funds for any purpose (subject to ordinary income tax), just like a traditional IRA. If you can afford to do so, I would recommend you to pay medical expenses out-of-pocket and let the funds in your HSA accumulate and grow. In general, the best way to allocate your funds is in the following order: Contribute to a 401(k) if your employer matches funds at a substantial rate Pay off high-interest debt (8% of more in current environment in 2011) Contribute to an IRA (traditional or Roth) Contribute to an HSA Contribute to a 401(k) without the benefit of employer matching One advantage of HSAs versus IRAs is that you don't have to have earned income (salary or self-employment income) in order to contribute. If you derive income solely from rents, interest or dividends, you can contribute the maximum amount ($3,050 for individuals in 2011) and get a full deduction from your income (Of course, you will need to maintain a high-deductible health plan in order to qualify). One downside of HSAs is the lack of competitively priced providers. Wells Fargo offers HSAs for free, but only allows you to keep your funds in cash, earning a very measly interest rate, or invest them in rather mediocre and expensive Wells Fargo mutual funds. Vanguard, known for its low-fee investment options, provides HSAs through a partner company, but the account maintenance charges are still quite high. Overall, HSAs are a worthwhile option as part of your investment plan. In the US there's no significant difference between what a business can deduct and what an individual can deduct. However, you can only deduct what is an expense to produce income. Businesses are allowed to write off salaries, but individuals can't   write off what they pay their gardener or maid (at least in the US) If you're a sole proprietor in the business of managing properties - you can definitely deduct payments to gardeners or maids. Business paying for a gardener on a private property not related to producing the income (like CEO's daughter's house) cannot deduct that expense for tax purposes (although it is still recorded in the business accounting books as an expense - with no tax benefit). Businesses are allowed to deduct utility expenses as overhead, individuals cannot Same thing exactly. I can deduct utility expenses for my rental property, but not for my primary residence. Food, shelter, clothing and medical care are fundamental human needs,   but we still pay for them with after-tax money, and pay additional   sales tax. Only interest (and not principal) on a mortgage is   deductible in the US, which is great for people who take out mortgages   (and helps banks get more business, I'm sure), but you're out of luck   if you pay cash for your house, or are renting. Sales taxes are deductible. You can deduct sales taxes you paid during the year if you itemize your deduction. You can chose - you either deduct the sales taxes or the State income taxes, whatever is more beneficial for you. BTW in many states food and medicine are exempt from sales tax. Medical expenses are deductible if they're significant compared to your total income. You can deduct medical expenses in excess of 10% of your AGI. With the ACA kicking in - I don't see how would people even get to that. If your AGI is low you get subsidies for insurance, and the insurance keeps your expenses capped. For self-employed and employed, insurance premiums are pre-tax (i.e.: not even added to your AGI). Principle for mortgage is not deductible because it is not an expense - it is equity. You own an asset, don't you? You do get the standard deduction, even if your itemized (real) deductions are less - business don't get that. You also get an exemption amount (for your basic living needs), which businesses don't get. You can argue about the amounts - but it is there. In some States (like California) renters get tax breaks for renting, depending on the AGI. CA renters credit is phasing out at AGI of about $60K, which is pretty high. Well you've got to think about the process, but first make sure the thing you want to pay for is actually a qualified dependent care expense.  Here is a list of eligible expenses from a national FSA administrator. This process will tie up your money for some amount of time.  Your deduction will come out like clockwork.  But there is a time-delay of potentially months between your deduction and receipt of a reimbursement. Dependent care plans are money-in money-out.  You can only file a reimbursement on funds that have actually been contributed, which is different than a medical FSA.  Additionally, you can only file a claim on expenses that have actually been incurred.  Dependent care FSA elections can be changed through the year on an as needed basis.  This would add an administrivia burden to the person running your payroll, and if there is a payroll vendor in place, likely an actual cost.  The administrator in this situation would likely be the company.  In the formalities of employee benefits there must always be a named administrator. If your employer currently offers no benefits you should press healthcare first.  Paying healthcare premiums pretax would likely save you more money and be less administration than this.  Additionally, if your employer is paying for or reimbursing you for your individual health insurance that's currently illegal under the ACA. "No functional difference. Only impression/convenience. ""Business checks"" are checks in larger format (8"" instead of the regular 5"" checks), they can be from your personal account just as well. I didn't have any problem using the small ""individual""-standard checks for my company (I actually did get them for free from Wells Fargo, but that was a gesture, not by policy)." "According to this post on TurboTax forums, you could deduct it as an ""Unreimbursed Employee"" expense. This would seem consistent with the IRS Guidelines on such deductions: An expense is ordinary if it is common and accepted in your trade, business, or profession. An expense is necessary if it is appropriate and helpful to your business. An expense does not have to be required to be considered necessary. Office rent is not listed explicitly among the examples of deductible unreimbursed employee expenses, but this doesn't mean it's not allowed.  Of course you should check with a tax professional if you want to be sure." If you read all that paperwork they made you fill out at the emergency room, there is probably something in there explicitly stating that you owe any bills you rack up regardless of what happens with the insurance company. They generally have a disclaimer that filing for you with your insurance company is a courtesy service they offer, but they are not obliged to do it.  Ultimately, you are responsible for your bills even if the provider slow-billed you.  Sorry. As @Dilip suggested in the comments, the problem is the accountability of the reimbursement plans. In order for the reimbursement to be non-taxable, there has to be a reimbursement plan and policy set up by the employer, it has to be done per receipt, and accounted for correctly. If the employer just cuts you a check - the conditions may not be met, and as such - the reimbursement becomes taxable. In your case, it seems like the employer has not set up a proper (accountable) reimbursement plan, thus your reimbursements are taxable. @Joe pointed out that since the employer also doesn't withhold taxes (as he should), you may have an unexpected tax bill on April 15. This Chron article describes the distinction between the accountable and non-accountable plans. Only with the accountable plans the reimbursements are non-taxable.