Can I deduct health insurance premiums paid through my employer on my taxes?

15 Your health insurance premiums paid through your employer ARE pre-tax, but they're handled differently on your W-2 than 401k contributions. Check Box 1 (Wages, tips, other compensation) on your W-2. That amount should already have your health insurance premiums subtracted from your total earnings. Then look at Box 12 with code DD - this shows the total cost of employer-sponsored health coverage, including both your contributions and what your employer paid. Your health premiums don't appear in the same place as 401k contributions because they're different types of pre-tax deductions. The good news is that your AGI is already reduced by those health insurance premiums - they were never included in your taxable wages to begin with. You don't need to deduct them separately when filing.

9 I had this same issue last year! Try checking your last paystub of the year instead of just your W-2. My company uses ADP and I noticed that on my paystub, it clearly breaks down all pre-tax deductions including health insurance, 401k, dental, vision, etc. The W-2 doesn't always show the detail. I discovered that my health insurance WAS actually pre-tax, but the W-2 doesn't itemize it separately like it does for 401k contributions (which show up in Box 12 with code D). Like the other commenter said, your health premiums should already be excluded from Box 1. I used https://taxr.ai to analyze my paystubs and W-2s and it confirmed everything was correct even though I was confused at first. The tool breaks down exactly how each deduction impacts your taxes, which was super helpful for someone like me who isn't a tax expert.

4 Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after asking about it here. My situation was exactly like the original poster - I couldn't figure out why my health insurance premiums weren't showing up where I expected on my W-2. The tool analyzed my documents and explained that health insurance premiums are indeed pre-tax but are already subtracted from Box 1 wages, unlike 401k contributions which show up separately in Box 12. It also pointed out that my HSA contributions were properly coded in Box 12 with code W. Saved me from making an unnecessary call to HR and gave me peace of mind that everything was correct on my tax forms. Definitely recommend it if you're confused about deductions on your W-2!

18 If you're still confused after checking your paystubs and W-2, I'd recommend calling the IRS directly to get clarification. It took me FOREVER to get through to them last year about a similar issue - I was on hold for over 2 hours and then got disconnected. Absolutely infuriating. Then I found https://claimyr.com which basically holds your place in the IRS phone queue and calls you when an agent is about to pick up. You can see a demo of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Since we're in tax season, IRS wait times are insane right now, and this saved me from wasting an entire afternoon on hold. I was able to confirm my health insurance premium situation directly with an IRS agent who explained exactly how pre-tax deductions work on W-2s.

13 Update on my skepticism about Claimyr: I actually tried it yesterday because I needed to talk to the IRS about a different issue with my healthcare deductions and didn't want to spend hours on hold. I was shocked that it actually worked exactly as promised. I entered my phone number on their site, and about 45 minutes later I got a call telling me an IRS agent would be on the line shortly. Within 30 seconds I was talking to a real person at the IRS. The agent confirmed that health insurance premiums paid through payroll are indeed pre-tax and already excluded from the wages shown in Box 1 of W-2s. So the original poster doesn't need to worry - those health premiums ARE reducing their taxable income even though they don't show up separately like 401k contributions.

5 Just to add another data point - I went through this same confusion last year. There are different TYPES of pre-tax deductions that appear differently on your W-2: 1. Retirement contributions like 401k show up in Box 12 with codes like D, AA, etc. 2. Health insurance premiums are already subtracted from Box 1 but aren't listed separately 3. HSA contributions appear in Box 12 with code W 4. Dependent care FSA shows in Box 10 So yes, your health premiums ARE pre-tax, but they won't show as a separate item like your 401k does. Different pre-tax deductions are reported differently on W-2s.

16 Another thing to check: look for Box 14 on your W-2. Sometimes employers will put additional information there, including health insurance premiums. It's an optional field that employers can use to provide additional information. The stuff in Box 14 doesn't directly impact your tax return calculations, but it can be helpful for understanding what went into the numbers in the other boxes.