Medical Expense Tip for Quebec

Blueman

Just a tip for Quebec Residents:

Turbo Tax always tells me that my medical expenses must exceed a certain threshold (3% of family income) before qualifying for a deduction. It is always a good idea to enter medical expenses even if they are nowhere near the 3%. I have been surprised that even $100 of medical expense results in a small credit on Quebec taxes. The reason is that in Quebec Employer Paid private medical plan fees are taxable by Revenu Quebec but the amount can also be claimed as a deduction and it counts toward the 3% threshold. A good employer paid medical plan can cost $2000 per year and that covers the 3% of $65,000 income. The amount appears on the RL-1 form (Item J) and Turbo tax automatically calculates the credit but we have to ignore the messages about not exceeding the 3% (because the amount should not be entered as a receipt if it is already on the RL-1).

TurboTaxAniqua

Your assessment of Quebec's medical expense logic is spot on. While it may seem counterintuitive to enter small receipts when the software keeps telling you that you haven't met the 3% threshold, the "invisible" amount in RL-1 Box J alters the math behind the scenes.

You are correct in that you should not manually enter the Box J amount in the "Medical Expenses" section. TurboTax is set up to automatically pull that value from your RL-1 entry and add it to your medical expense total for Quebec (schedule B).

We appreciate your input.

Thank you for choosing TurboTax.

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Blueman

Thanks for confirming my reasoning. I heard that medical expenses were one of the most commonly missed deductions. Wish Turbotax would encourage everyone to enter all their medical expenses instead of emphasizing the 3% threshold based on receipts and the "optimun 12 month period". At least for Quebec taxpayers the prompts are misleading and might discourage people from claiming medical expenses.

TurboTaxAniqua

We appreciate your feedback and have taken note of it. Thank you!