701—40.48 (422) Health insurance premiums deduction. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1996, the amounts paid by a taxpayer for health insurance for the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse, and the taxpayer’s dependents are deductible in computing net income on the Iowa return to the extent the amounts paid were not otherwise deductible in computing adjusted gross income. However, amounts paid by a taxpayer for health insurance on a pretax basis whereby the portion of the wages of the taxpayer used to pay health insurance premiums is not included in the taxpayer’s gross wages for income tax or social security tax purposes are not deductible on the Iowa return.
In situations where married taxpayers pay health insurance premiums from a joint checking or other joint account and the taxpayers are filing separate state returns or separately on the combined return form, the taxpayers must allocate the deduction between the spouses on the basis of the net income of each spouse to the combined net income unless one spouse can show that only that spouse’s income was deposited to the joint account.
In circumstances where a taxpayer is self-employed and takes a deduction on the 1996 federal return for 30 percent of the premiums paid for health insurance on the federal return, the taxpayer would be allowed a deduction on the Iowa return for the portion of the health insurance premiums that was not deducted on the taxpayer’s federal return, including any health insurance premiums deducted as an itemized medical deduction under Section 213 of the Internal Revenue Code.
For purposes of the state deduction for health insurance premiums, the same premiums for the same health insurance or medical insurance coverage qualify for this deduction as would qualify for the federal medical expense deduction. Thus, premiums paid for contact lens insurance qualify for the health insurance deduction. Also eligible for the deduction for tax years beginning in the 1996 calendar year are premiums paid by a taxpayer before the age of 65 for medical care insurance effective after the age of 65, if the premiums are payable (on a level payment basis) for a period of ten years or more or until the year the taxpayer attains the age of 65 (but in no case for a period of less than five years). For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1997, premiums for long-term health insurance for nursing home coverage are eligible for this deduction to the extent the premiums for long-term health care services are eligible for the federal itemized deduction for medical and dental expenses, irrespective of the limitations set forth in Section 213(d)(10) of the Internal Revenue Code. For example, a 55-year-old taxpayer who paid $1,050 in premiums for long-term health insurance for nursing home coverage for the 2004 tax year would be allowed a deduction for Iowa purposes for the entire $1,050, even though the limitation for the federal itemized deduction for medical expenses in Section 213(d)(10) of the Internal Revenue Code for these premiums for this taxpayer is $980.
Amounts paid under an insurance contract for other than medical care (such as payment for loss of limb or life or sight) are not deductible, unless the medical charge is stated separately in the contract or provided in a separate statement.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code section 422.7 as amended by 1997 Iowa Acts, Senate File 129.