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0 pointskazinator9y ago0 comments

I don't know about you down there in the US, but here in Canada, I can also pay for the premiums of a private health plan before income tax!

Self-employed people can write off payments for extended health. (There are some upper bounds on how much, but generous enough that I think I would have a full write off even with the rather frivolous plans out there.)

I did the number crunching that way, using pre-tax dollars. Of course, it looked better that way, but still a waste of money compared to giving your credit card to the dentist or whoever.

By the way, in British Columbia, if you make a decent income, you are required to pay some $1800 per year to the province for a health care plan called MSP. That is not a business expense you can deduct from your income as a self-employed person, nor a qualifying medical expense for a tax credit.

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3 comments · 1 top-level

mywittyname9y ago· 2 in thread

Some people in the USA have access to an HSA, a tax-free savings account where the contributions may be spent on just about any medical procedure.

ihattendorf9y ago

Although an HSA generally can't be used for premiums (with a few exceptions).

Jtsummers9y ago

And you have to have a high-deductible plan. I recommend this to all my (healthy) younger colleagues. Max out the HSA while they don't need the money, let it grow. When they're older, married, kids, and generally find medical expenses increasing you can switch to a standard plan, but still use the HSA money you've accumulated.

I'm at the age and activity level (and higher risk ones) where that's not a sound economic option for me, unfortunately, and didn't know about HSAs until health insurance started paying me more than I paid in (after a shoulder surgery next month, I think I'll have gotten more out of it than I've ever put in).

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