Here’s another tax tip from Ron Mueller, author of “It’s How Much You KEEP, That Counts! Not how much you Make”

How to Write-Of ALL of Your Medical Expenses

Normally a taxpayer who itemizes deductions on their tax returns can deduct medical expenses ONLY to the extent they exceed 7.5% of their adjusted gross income.

Annual deductibles, co-pays, and sometimes glasses, hearing aids, alternative health care, etc. can run into the thousands of dollars for a family, yet probably still total less than 7.5% of income. That means most people never get to deduct ANY of their non-reimbursed medical expenses.

BUT if you have a home-based business and are married, that combination can qualify you to deduct every penny of your non-reimbursed medical expenses. It’s a simple three-step process:

1. Employ your spouse in your business, even on a small, part time basis at minimum wage.

2. Give your spouse an Employee Benefit called a “Self-Insured Medical Reimbursement Plan,” which states that your company will reimburse the employee (that’s your spouse) AND HIS/HER FAMILY (that’s you and any kids) for all medical expenses not reimbursed under any other insurance plan. That plan can specify any categories you wish to specifically include or exclude, such as alternative health care, massage therapy, acupuncture, etc.

3. Have the employee/spouse fill out monthly expense claims, listing all relevant expenses and attaching all receipts. Then write a Business check to the Family account.

This process makes all of your family’s medical expenses tax deductible to the business ­ without the need to reach any thresholds whatsoever.

Review Chapter VI of “It’s How Much You KEEP, That Counts! Not how much you Make” for a more complete description of how this works. NOTE: The employment of your spouse must be made official with an Employment Agreement, and the Benefit must be documented in the form of a legal document. You don’t need to pay a lawyer hundreds of dollars to draw up these forms for you, because you’ll find those documents in Appendix B and C of “It’s How Much You KEEP…”

You’ll be amazed at the amount of money can save with this one tax-reduction strategy.