# medical deductions



## refutor (Apr 5, 2009)

me and my wife will possibly be doing in-vitro in the next year and I was wondering if someone had a link on claiming medical deductions...is there a limit? is there a benefit to one or the other claiming? can we both claim part?


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

The expenses give rise to a tax credit, not a tax deduction. The amount of the credit will depend on your income. 

The tax credit is non-refundable, so it can only be used to reduce your tax to zero. 

There is a time limit on expenses -- they cannot be carried forward. Normally, it makes most sense to have the lower-income person claim the expense. You can split the expenses across two returns (or combine them on one return).

If you want to model the impact on your taxes, you can use the tax planner feature of tax software. 

Hope that helps. If you have more specific questions, feel free to PM me.


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## stinsont (May 29, 2009)

Be careful when claiming medical expenses. My son had major surgery which meant he had to be in the hospital for very long time. I claimed all the expenses associated with the hospital stay...and was audited. I fought it but lost and it cost me about $10,000.

My advise is talk to your accountant.


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## MoneyGal (Apr 24, 2009)

See s. 59 of this bulletin for a specific list of which expenses related to in vitro fertilization are qualifying medical expenses (qualifying for the medical expense credit, that is).


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## OhGreatGuru (May 24, 2009)

refutor said:


> is there a benefit to one or the other claiming? can we both claim part?


Usually it is more advantageous for the lower-income spouse to claim, because there is a deductable of 3% of claimant's net income. But it doesn't always work out that way.


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