Which dental expenses can I claim on my return?

by TurboTax• Updated 1 week ago

Certain dental expenses are included in the CRA’s list of eligible medical expenses that can be claimed on your tax return. You can claim eligible expenses within any 12-month period ending in the year of your return, as long as the expenses haven’t been previously claimed.

According to the CRA, eligible expenses include:

Dental services paid to a medical practitioner
Dentures and dental implants (no certification or prescription required)
Orthodontic work paid to a medical practitioner or dentist
Premiums paid to private dental plans, if at least 90% of the premiums were paid for eligible medical expenses

Expenses for purely cosmetic procedures aren’t eligible.

For the 2024 tax year, you can claim your total amount of eligible medical expenses minus the lesser of $2,635 or 3% of your net income. These expenses mustn't have been reimbursed, to you or anyone else. But it's OK if the reimbursement was included in someone else’s income and wasn’t deducted elsewhere on their return.

Enter your dental expenses into TurboTax the same way you’d enter other medical expenses. Before beginning, make sure you've entered all your income information, as TurboTax will use these details to automatically calculate the minimum medical expenses you need to enter and determine your eligibility for claiming a deduction.

Instructions for TurboTax Online

Select Find from the TurboTax menu.
Enter medical expenses in the Find window.
Select Medical Expenses Profile from the list of results.
Select Go. The Your Medical Profile step appears.
Select all checkboxes that apply, then select Continue.
The Medical Expenses step appears. TurboTax will display the minimum amount of eligible medical expenses required to generate a tax benefit.
If the eligible medical expenses are less than the minimum amount displayed by TurboTax, select Done, as there aren't enough expenses to generate a tax credit. Otherwise, select Enter New Medical Expense, and the Medical Expenses Receipt step appears.

When entering receipts individually

Fill out the form, then select Enter New Medical Expense, repeating this step until all receipts are entered.
Select Done.

When entering a single entry of the total amount of medical receipts

Fill out the form once by entering the total amount of the medical receipts.
Select Done.
Make sure the date entered is in the same tax year as your return.

Instructions for TurboTax Desktop

In Forms view

Input eligible receipts, either individually or in a single amount, directly in the Medical Expense form, and then complete either (or both) the:

Dependent Information worksheet
Medical Expense worksheet

In EasyStep view

Select Find from the TurboTax menu.
Enter medical in the Find window.
Select Medical expenses profile from the list of results, then Go.
Select all the checkboxes that apply on the Your medical profile step, then select Continue.
The Medical expenses step appears. TurboTax will display the minimum amount of eligible medical expenses required to generate a tax benefit.
If the eligible medical expenses are less than the minimum amount displayed by TurboTax, select Done, as there aren't enough expenses to generate a tax credit. Otherwise, select Enter Expenses on return, and the Tax return: Medical Expenses step appears.

When entering receipts individually

Fill out the form, then select Enter Expenses on return, repeating this step until all receipts are entered.
Select Done.

When entering a single entry of the total amount of medical receipts

Fill out the form once by entering the total amount of the medical receipts.
Select Done.
Make sure the date entered is in the same tax year as your return.
The Medical expense summary step appears. Review your information, and if more needs to be added, repeat the above steps. Once completed, select Done With Medical Expenses.