Medical Receipts for Tax Exemption

[anu]

Hi

Many of my friends submit Medical receipts for getting Tax Exemption which reduces tax. They are taken from any pharmacy by paying minimum amount though we donot take any medicines and we submit it for tax exemption. I usually donot do this as I thought i might be sin todo. But due to this lots of tax got deducted from my salary . I would like to know whether it is sin to do this. Is it ok if i take bills and submit it for the next year.

Thank you
Anu

 

[Tietjen]

Hi

Many of my friends submit Medical receipts for getting Tax Exemption which reduces tax.

Exemption or Deduction? One can claim medical expenses as a deduction if they are itemizing.

They are taken from any pharmacy by paying minimum amount though we donot take any medicines and we submit it for tax exemption. I usually donot do this as I thought i might be sin todo. But due to this lots of tax got deducted from my salary . I would like to know whether it is sin to do this. Is it ok if i take bills and submit it for the next year.

If I understand what you are saying, this would be sinful to do. Declaring falsely, that you or a dependant has had medical expenses in order to create false deductions on your taxes is lying. In addition, since the money to be saved is actually owed to the government, it is also stealing. My advice would be to speak to a tax consultant about legal ways in which to protect your income.

 

[anu]

Thank you for your reply. I did not do this , but after so much of amount was deducted i thought of knowing whether it will be sin. Thank you I will think of investing in others to avoid getting into this sin, Thank you again

 

[puzzleannie]

follow the tax laws wherever you reside. if you have questions about your taxes go to a qualified tax preparer. bring your receipts, tell him what they are for, and he will know if the expense is deductible. If someone lies to the IRS and is caught he will be liable for back taxes, penalties and interest, his past returns could be audited leading to more fines, and possible jail time.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Speaking of taxes and the Bush tax rebate.

Be aware when you receive it, that it is actually an advance on your return for 2008. So, when you file your 2008 taxes next year, keep in mind you will be getting less, what you got in the rebate, for your return. Some may even end up having to pay tax next year. Of course the election will be over and the politicians will not have to fear your retaliation.

Its a gimmick the Bush administration played back in 2004, about 6 months before the election. Bush had the IRS with hold, about 5% less from your usual withholding. People thought they actually saw a tax cut in their pay check, and were all full of praise for George Bush. However, when it came time to file, they found out, they weren’t getting back what they expected. In my case, I had to send the IRS more money.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Jim

 

[Joe_Kelley]

If I hear the OP correctly, some pharmacies are selling receipts.
I have heard of a couple of churches doing the same - I don’t recall the denomination.

Aside from the moral aspect, you don’t need the potential hassal when such a scheme comes apart.

These things tend to grow until the IRS notices a pattern and does a thorough investigation. Once they start it all unravels. Usually the IRS can only go back 3, or is it 4, years when investigating a return. However, if there is fraud, which this would be, there is no limit and some heavy additional penalties. [They usually like to unearth one of these around February each year to show some good front page photos of people in handcuffs. ]

 

[DJgang]

I’m sorry, either I"m stupid or have ADD, but I really don’t understand what the OP is talking about…

Are you talking about insurance preniums being Federal Income Tax exempt? If so, that’s legal with the correct paper work…

but again…

I don’t get this thread or question at all.

 

[Listener]

I think that this question is in the wrong forum. Medical bills and amounts we spend for prescription drugs are only a tax deduction if they exceed 7.5 per cent of our income. Amounts for medical insurance can be included (as long as it is not paid for with pre-tax money). You can also include the cost of eyeglasses and hearing aids.

You deduct these expenses during the tax year that you actually paid the expense.

Yes, it is a good idea to keep a record of your medical expenses. No, it is certainly not a sin unless you are trying to fool the IRS by deductiing these expenses in the wrong year.

Unless you have a lot of medical expenses, you will usually find that they don’t add up to over 7.5 per cent of your income. Unless they do, you will have nothing to deduct.

 

[anu]

Sorry for not replying on the thread for so many days. I want to give Thanks and Praise to our Lord in this matter. I had to pay huge taxes this year as i didnot submit fake medical bills as this would be sin. So i raised a question in this thread to know whether it is sin to submit fake bills. So I didnot submit fake bills and as i said huge taxes were cut. I was just asking to God, if all my money goes of in these taxes how will I best utilize this money. Then after 2 days i saw some mails in my inbox stating “Income tax slabs changed; everyone gets relief”. I was soo surprised, I belong to India, have a look at the following url budgetwithet.economictimes.indiatimes.com/Taxpayers_may_gain_up_to_Rs_44000_per_year/ubarticleshow/2826681.cms

PRAISE TO THE LORD. Thank you sooo much Jesus. I was really soo happy. For our God nothing is impossible.

 

[puzzleannie]

I had to pay huge taxes this year as i didnot submit fake medical bills as this would be sin. .

in this country your medical bills have to be over a certain percentage to even be listed on Sched. A, and the overall deductible expenses are further limited depending on your taxable income, so your medical expenses would have to be way out of the ordinary to even affect your tax bill, so I find this statement hard to believe. Any tax return that listed medical expense solely based on pharmacy receipts over that percentage limit would certainly trigger an audit flag.