Your gym membership is a step closer to being a tax break

JonesBones

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@Steel
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Haha. Fuck yeah. Got a nice position in Planet Fitness. Great news.

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  • A bill that was voted out of committee on Thursday would give favorable tax treatment to things like exercise classes and workouts at the gym.
  • If the measure were to become law, taxpayers could use qualifying costs toward the medical expense deduction, which is one of the remaining few tax breaks for individuals. However, you must itemize to get the deduction.
  • People with a tax-advantaged health savings account or flexible savings account would be able to use the funds toward the qualifying fitness costs.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/12/your-gym-membership-is-a-step-closer-to-being-a-tax-break.html
 
This is awesome news. I know a lot of people won't agree with me, but we've had little focus on preventive healthcare for many years. Healthy eating, exercise, good sleep, immunizations, healthy patterns (like not using tobacco, drugs, and alcohol), and the sort are all key in preventing so many of today's most common maladies. This seems like a no-brainer to me.
 
Hell yea.

This is great!
 
This is awesome news. I know a lot of people won't agree with me, but we've had little focus on preventive healthcare for many years. Healthy eating, exercise, good sleep, immunizations, healthy patterns (like not using tobacco, drugs, and alcohol), and the sort are all key in preventing so many of today's most common maladies. This seems like a no-brainer to me.

yea, i think about this all the time. go to almost any buffet restaurant, and you can watch diabetes rotting people's bodies. theyll go to the doctor for pills and potions one day if they already havent. a lifestyle change could prevent it all, though.
 
you have to itemize tho.....

which means you must have some egregious costs to itemize to make up for not taking the Standard Deduction, right?
 
Exercise is good and tax breaks are nice but this is a dumb idea imo. I don't think it changes a persons choice in having a gym membership or not, especially when you consider there is a floor on the medical expenses before you start getting deductions.
 
you have to itemize tho.....

which means you must have some egregious costs to itemize to make up for not taking the Standard Deduction, right?

Yep and furthermore, you have to have a certain percentage of expenses for it to count toward that itemized amount. The medical portion is pretty much for incredibly sick or disabled people who are more likely to be doing physical rehab or something instead of a gym membership. I could be wrong on the new tax law though. I don't follow it as much now.

Edit: found it
"The IRS allows you to deduct qualified medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income for 2017 and 2018. Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, all taxpayers may deduct only the amount of the total unreimbursed allowable medical care expenses for the year that exceeds 10% of their adjusted gross income."
 
you have to itemize tho.....

which means you must have some egregious costs to itemize to make up for not taking the Standard Deduction, right?
That's just being lazy. I itemize every year. It saves me a lot of money to do it that way. I would bet that most people could if they were a bit more fastidious.
 
I like what my health insurance does, which is the insurance pays for my gym membership as long as I go a certain number of times. That’s a nice little idea imo.
 
Planet Fitness? Do you even scream when power lighting bro?
 
That's just being lazy. I itemize every year. It saves me a lot of money to do it that way. I would bet that most people could if they were a bit more fastidious.

omg stop finding loopholes you 1%er
 
omg stop finding loopholes you 1%er

Don't worry. Once I hit 150 posts, I'll stop posting stupid shit and continue lurking like I have been for the past 12 years.
 
omg stop finding loopholes you 1%er
If I were richer, I'd totally have offshore accounts like all the really wealthy people do. I aspire to one day be so wealthy that I can hide most of my income while condescendingly tell other people that they should pay more taxes. That's the dream.
 
you have to itemize tho.....

which means you must have some egregious costs to itemize to make up for not taking the Standard Deduction, right?

Given the small amount that a gym membership represents in your taxable income, you're going to probably have to be fairly well paid to have enough of those deductions.

I thinks it's a good thing to give people a tax break for but, cynically, it's also only going to be available to help people with fairly high incomes in the first place.
 
That's just being lazy. I itemize every year. It saves me a lot of money to do it that way. I would bet that most people could if they were a bit more fastidious.

What @HunterSdVa29 said is correct.

They raised the standard deduction which will render itemizing useless for most people. So, unless you have allowable deductions over $24,000, let's say for someone filing MFJ, itemizing would be disadvantageous. Unless you have insane mortgage interest, the likelihood of you itemizing will be extremely low (with the new tax laws).
 
What @HunterSdVa29 said is correct.

They raised the standard deduction which will render itemizing useless for most people. So, unless you have allowable deductions over $24,000, let's say for someone filing MFJ, itemizing would be disadvantageous. Unless you have insane mortgage interest, the likelihood of you itemizing will be extremely low (with the new tax laws).
Actually, I still think I qualify, but point noted for the average American. Most will take the standard deduction.
 
That's just being lazy. I itemize every year. It saves me a lot of money to do it that way. I would bet that most people could if they were a bit more fastidious.
depends on the job, and if one doesn't own a house I don't really see the reason for the average person to itemize although admittingly i'm not some expert on taxes
 
Exercise is good and tax breaks are nice but this is a dumb idea imo. I don't think it changes a persons choice in having a gym membership or not, especially when you consider there is a floor on the medical expenses before you start getting deductions.

Worked pretty decently in alberta iirc.
 
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