client does not know if his health insurance contributions are pretax or after tax. He brought in his pay stub, how do I figure out if the ontributions are pre tax or after tax in order to deduct them on schedule A.

Thank you in advance

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Most larger companies show anything pre-tax very clearly. If not shown that way, perhaps it is then after tax.

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You might want to make a call to the payroll department of the company.

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You have his final pay stub.

I assume you have his W-2?

Reconcile box 1 of the W-2 to the amounts on the final paystub.

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thanks but, unfortunately I do not have his final pay stub

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Use the FICA and/or Medicare tax rates to test whether the health insurance has been included in FICA and Medicares wages for computing the Soc Sec and Medicare taxes withheld....

Call the employer!

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If it's pretax, box 1 of the W-2 would be less than box 3. However there might be other pre tax deductions is which can happen.

If the only deduction is health ins, and box 1 is less than box 3, add box + health ins = box 3.

If box 1 and box 3 on the W-2 are the same amount, then the health ins is after tax and can be deducted on sched a.

If it is a pre-tax deduction, there is no sched a deduction for it.

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Pre-tax health benefits are part of Sect 125 plans, and they are not subj to fed, state OR FICA taxes, so you cannot tell from looking at the W-2 since it would not reflect that information. Boxes 1 & 3 would be the same barring other adjustments like 401K's, etc. If his paystub does not show it, have him call the employer. He should know whether he participates in an annual enrollment for benefits that cannot be changed unless there is a change in lifestyle, (marriage, divorce, etc.

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As long as you have his paystub, multiply his gross by .0765. If it equals his FICA deduction, it's post-tax. Subtract his health from gross then multiply that number by .0765 - if that equals FICA, it's pre-tax. As of October of 2007, all employee contributions are required to be pre-tax, so assuming the employer is in compliance (which we can't assume unfortunately) it will be pre-tax.

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