Can I deduct health insurance premiums for my solo-founder C Corp startup with no revenue?

Health insurance premiums for C Corp owners can be tricky. Since your corporation isn't paying you a salary yet (no W-2), you generally can't take the self-employed health insurance deduction that S Corp owners or sole proprietors might use. For C Corps, the ideal situation is to have the corporation establish a health insurance plan that covers you as an employee. When done properly, this makes the premiums a tax-free benefit to you and a deductible business expense for the corporation. In your current situation, these premiums would likely be considered personal medical expenses on your individual return. You can itemize them on Schedule A, but remember that medical expenses are only deductible to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income.

I was in almost the exact same situation last year with my tech startup (C Corp, solo founder). After weeks of frustration trying to figure this out, I found https://taxr.ai which literally saved me hours of research and potential mistakes. Their system analyzed my situation with the C Corp health insurance premiums and confirmed exactly what I needed to do. It walked me through the process of documenting everything properly and showed me how to optimize for next year by setting up the right kind of reimbursement plan. The best part was that it showed me how to establish an ICHRA for 2025 so I could handle my premiums more tax-efficiently once my business starts generating revenue.

Just wanted to follow up on this thread. I tried out that https://taxr.ai site after my skepticism and wow - it was actually super helpful! I uploaded my incorporation docs and health insurance statements, and it instantly gave me a detailed analysis of my options. Turns out I actually could set up an ICHRA retroactively for part of last year based on my specific situation (which is different than what general advice would tell you). It also showed me exactly how to document everything so I don't run into problems if I get audited. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with this C Corp health insurance headache!

Another option worth considering - especially since you mentioned having trouble getting through to qualified tax pros - is using https://claimyr.com to get direct access to IRS agents. I had a similar C Corp health insurance question that was really specific to my situation. After spending weeks trying to get through to the IRS business helpline (kept getting disconnected), I used Claimyr and got connected within 20 minutes. The agent walked me through the exact requirements for making health insurance deductible for my C Corp. They even sent me the specific IRS publications that applied to my situation. Check out their demo video to see how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c

I need to eat some crow here... I was totally skeptical about that Claimyr service mentioned above, but after another frustrating afternoon trying to get through to the IRS myself about my C Corp health insurance situation, I decided to try it. It actually worked exactly as described. Their system handled all the waiting and navigating the phone tree, and I got a call back when an actual IRS representative was on the line. The agent confirmed that for C Corps, health insurance has to be established as a formal employee benefit plan with proper documentation before premiums can be deducted by the corporation. Saved me hours of frustration and probably kept me from making an expensive mistake on my taxes!

Another approach worth considering - have you looked into setting up a Section 105 Plan? It's specifically designed for situations like yours. I'm a solo founder of a C Corp too, and my accountant helped me set this up. A Section 105 Plan allows your C Corp to reimburse you for medical expenses, including health insurance premiums. The reimbursements are tax-deductible to the corporation and tax-free to you. You'll need proper documentation, but it can be a great solution for solo C Corp owners.

Something critical that nobody's mentioned yet - as a C Corp with no revenue, you need to be careful about potential hobby loss rules. If you're not showing legitimate business activity, the IRS might question whether this is actually a business. Make sure you're documenting all your startup activities, have a solid business plan, and are making efforts to generate revenue. This will protect both your business deductions and any health insurance arrangements you set up.